The Notam Is Dead. Long Live The Notam

Friday, January 21, 2022 at 12:10 PM ET

Verified

The latest skirmish in the on-again, off-again battle over the San Francisco area’s Reid-Hillview Airport (RHV), a popular general aviation facility pictured at right, is over unleaded aviation fuel. The airport’s owner, Santa Clara County, wants to ban leaded avgas, like 100LL, in favor of an unleaded fuel which doesn’t yet exist, at least not in commercial quantities. The County was set to implement the 100LL ban on January 1, 2022, well after this magazine’s deadline.

Key Takeaways:

The FAA updated the acronym NOTAM from "Notice to Airmen" to "Notice to Air Missions" for inclusivity and to align with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) terminology.
The FAA initiated an investigation into Santa Clara County's ban on 100LL aviation gasoline at two airports, citing potential violations of grant assurances and concerns about aviation safety and a fragmented transition to unleaded fuels.
The FAA issued various alerts and directives, including NOTAMs, a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB), a Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO), and two Airworthiness Directives (ADs), to address the potential interference of 5G C-band with radar altimeters, requiring flight manual limitations in affected areas.

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This change is an extensive update to the order that includes multiple amendments and corrections. 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.” So reads a statement from the agency accompanying the December 2, 2021, update to its, umm, Notices to Air Missions document, Order 7930.2S.

According to online sister publication AVweb.com, “The agency has purged all of the relevant guidance and regulatory documents of the former long-form term Notice to Airmen. Although the acronym part is getting the most attention, the revisions also contain changes that bring FAA terminology in line with that of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).”