The NOTAM system is in desperate need of update. Simplification and clarification, identifying the more critical reports while deemphasizing others would improve safety. Funds were appropriated in 2023 to work on that.
And today the Federal Aviation Administration is finally making a change. Alas, it is one that does nothing to improve safety in the skies. Arguably quite the opposite.
Under an order issued on 4 February and effective Monday the Agency is changing NOTAM back to mean “Notice to Airmen” rather than “Notice to Air Missions.”
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, THE TERM NOTICE TO AIR MISSIONS (NOTAM) IS BEING CHANGED TO NOTICE TO AIRMEN (NOTAM), AND THE TITLE OF FAA ORDER 7930.2 IS BEING CHANGED TO “NOTICE TO AIRMEN (NOTAM).” ALL DIRECTIVES/PUBLICATIONS REFERRING TO FAA ORDER 7930.2 MUST BE UPDATED AS SOON AS PRACTICABLE TO REFLECT THE ORDER’S TITLE. FAA ORDER 7930.2 WILL BE UPDATED AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE TO REFLECT THIS CHANGE.
The name was previously changed in December 2021, “Per FAA memorandum on NOTAM name modification in coordination with the FAA Administrator, the acronym NOTAM is updated from Notice to Airmen to the more applicable term Notice to Air Missions, which is inclusive of all aviators and missions.”
Changing it back does not improve the safety of the national airspace. Indeed, it is hard to determine what utility the change offers. But it is what the FAA is doing these days.
Somewhat ironically, the FAA never fully completed updating its website from the 2021 change. It will be interesting to see how long it takes to change everything back, and what bits get missed along the way.
A query to the FAA for details on justification for the change remains pending at this time.
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