Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) president Jason Ambrosi urged lawmakers to provide multi-year funding for improving the notam system and stressed that it must be streamlined to ensure that the most critical information is effectively conveyed rather than “simply the volume of information.”
In a letter sent to the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee ahead of a hearing today on the notam system, Ambrosi added, “Much work is needed to improve the notam system and the information it disseminates.”
He noted that the congressional method of providing funding on a single-year basis for multi-year modernization projects such as notam upgrades is a band-aid approach that presents “enormous challenges for the FAA” to keep them on time. “This is not a reliable or efficient approach to effectively plan and execute the modernization plan for our nation’s air traffic control infrastructure. “
Even with reliable infrastructure, Ambrosi added, “The quality and sheer volume of notams in the system alone can become a safety hazard.” A fairly short flight from Washington, D.C., to Boston often results in 50 pages or more of notams, he noted, adding that pilots, controllers, and dispatchers are responsible for knowing these for every flight, he said.
“The original intent for notams was to provide operators with information that was so new or urgent that the notam was used as a temporary alert until the information could be published on charts or other aeronautical publications,” Ambrosi said. “However, that is no longer the case. It is routine for information on a notam to remain indefinitely.”
He pointed to statements such as “bird activity in the vicinity of the airport” that never expire.
Ambrosi recommended improved guidance to personnel who upload notams on appropriate use and terminology; limits on the length of time notams can stay in the system; increased graphical use; categorization that can be prioritized, sorted, and filtered; and possible depiction of notam information overlaid on electronic moving maps and/or electronic flight bags.
“For too long, notams have been inappropriately used in place of actual rules and regulations,” he further stated, citing the use of notams to process changes to aeronautic charts and “many instances where notams are used excessively as an inappropriate workaround for addressing timely but long-term airspace status issues.”
FAA acting Administrator Billy Nolen, meanwhile, updated the committee on the notam system modernization effort, estimating that "the bulk" of the work should be ready by the middle of fiscal year 2025—when everyone will be moved to the new federal system—but further improvements, such as making them consistent with the International Civil Aviation Organization standards, would continue. He told lawmakers that he has talked with the team about what resources the agency would need to accelerate the effort.
He also maintained that the improvements are not only infrastructure-related but also involve presentation. "The journey we are on, and we are about halfway through it in terms of our modernization, is designed...to ensure that notams that are delivered to pilots are relevant, they're timely, they're prioritized, and they speak to the route of flight."
The goals are to streamline the system, make it ICAO compliant, and make it relevant to the route of flight, he added.