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Is AIRMET Being Phased Out?

It’s a bit more complicated than a simple yes or no.

Wednesday, January 22, 2025 at 10:12 AM ET

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Effective on or about January 27 at 1900Z, the legacy AIRMET over the six regions of the conterminous U.S. will finally be retired. [FLYING file photo]

Key Takeaways:

The transition from legacy (Traditional Alphanumeric Code) AIRMETs began nearly two decades ago, with Graphical AIRMETs (G-AIRMETs) introduced in 2008 and becoming operational in 2010.
Despite G-AIRMETs becoming the official replacement, legacy AIRMETs continued to be issued for the conterminous U.S. for an additional 14 years.
Effective January 27 at 1900Z, the legacy AIRMET for the conterminous U.S. will be retired, establishing G-AIRMET as the sole official advisory for that region, though legacy AIRMETs for Alaska and Hawaii will remain.

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Question: Is AIRMET being phased out?

Answer: It has been nearly two decades since the FAA/National Weather Service (NWS) began a formal effort to move away from what was officially called the Traditional Alphanumeric Code (TAC) AIRMET or more simply, the “legacy” AIRMET.

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