Pre-Departure Clearance or PDC is an FAA computer service that provides clearance information in text form to your tablet in the cockpit via Boeing ForeFlight or Garmin FltPlan. No copying the ATIS or clearance calls are required. Great, eh?
Clearances issued via PDCs are official text clearances issued for U.S. IFR flight plans. A PDC is the same as a verbal clearance from Clearance Delivery and includes the filed route, the cleared altitude, transponder code, departure frequency, and any special instructions. In addition, your tablet will show digital ATIS—not just the latest METAR, but the actual ATIS—since the FAA packages PDC and D-ATIS as one service. (It’s common, but not universal, that both PDC and D-ATIS are available at the same airport.)
