DOT Completes Phase 1 of NOTAM System Overhaul

Upgrade completed over a year ahead of schedule.

Meg Godlewski

Tuesday, May 12, 2026 at 01:00 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

An FAA agency flag [Credit: Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

The FAA has successfully implemented Phase 1 of a major overhaul and upgrade to its NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) system, called the NOTAM Management Service (NMS).
This modernization aims to prevent nationwide airspace shutdowns and enhance safety, following a 2023 system collapse that grounded all U.S. flights due to an accidental file deletion in the previous "prone to failure" legacy system.
The NMS provides a more reliable and resilient foundation for delivering critical flight information, with subsequent phases planned to make it the single authoritative source for all NOTAMs.

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Checking a Notice to Airmen before a flight will be a more reliable process now that the FAA has successfully implemented Phase 1 of an overhaul and upgrade of the NOTAM system.

According to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, the NOTAM upgrade, known as the NOTAM Management Service (NMS), will prevent nationwide airspace shutdowns, enhance safety, and improve communications.