The FAA plans to shut down the existing NOTAM system April 18, 2026, and replace it with its new system, which was developed over the last few years.
The transition will take place between midnight and 4 a.m. EDT. During that time, NOTAMs active prior to the maintenance window will be available via all normal distribution channels. The FAA recommends using FNS NOTAM search to ensure pilots receive the most timely and accurate information.
After the switchover, NOTAMs from the FNS page and third-party providers will come through the NOTAM Management Service (NMS), although pilots shouldn’t notice any differences, according to officials with the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA).
“The cutover and transition are expected to be completely transparent to operators,” said Heidi Williams, NBAA vice president of air traffic services and infrastructure. “We don’t anticipate hiccups.”
The FAA has worked to upgrade the NOTAM system for several years, but those efforts accelerated following the January 2023 system outage that grounded morning departures for 90 minutes across the National Airspace System.
While NOTAMs will continue to be presented in their current format, Williams noted the new infrastructure offers greater capability to ultimately present NOTAMs in an easier to understand layout that is more relevant and accessible to users.
“Ultimately, these changes are for the good of the system because we need redundancy and resiliency,” she said. “That is what the NMS provides above all else.”
For more information: NOTAMS.AIM.FAA.gov, NBAA.org
Having worked in IT for many years, I am happy to see this first phase of the NOTAM system upgrade. While these systems sometimes seem pretty simple from the outside, they seldom are simple. I have read there are more than 30 other systems that interface just to feed new or updated NOTAMs.
When developing systems that are critical and require 100% up time, the problems and cost go up. Fail overs to other servers and/or data centers increase the potential unexpected outages.
Hopefully this will be really smooth transition, looking forward to the next phase when they can really fix the crazy number and verbiage of each NOTAM.
Is it still NOtice To Air “Missions”? Or has it been returned to NOtice To AirMen?
It’s back to “Notice to Airmen”.