The Century Club
100 Years of Flight Service
by James Williams, FAA Safety Briefing Associate Editor
With the design life of a human body landing somewhere between 80 and 100 years, we rightly look upon 100 years as a point of celebration. The same can be said for the aviation industry. Back in 2003, powered flight celebrated its centenary with great fanfare. This summer marks another milestone in the aviation world: Flight Service joins the century club on August 20.
After the first World War transformed the airplane from an intriguing novelty to a functional tool, countries around the world sought to establish routine air mail service. The birth of Flight Service played a key role in accomplishing this goal. The U.S. Post Office Department ordered the creation of air mail radio stations on the route between New York and San Francisco. These air mail radio stations provided services similar to those that their modern descendants offer to pilots today.
Change is the Only Constant
Death, taxes, sharks, and crocodilians are about the only things in this world that seem immune to change. Like any organization that’s been around for a century, Flight Service has changed. In fact, Flight Service is now in the midst of perhaps its biggest change ever — and that’s saying something for an organization turning 100. I am not that old, but just in my lifetime, Flight Service has shifted from in-person briefings at actual physical stations (which I have received from three different Flight Service stations) to telephone briefings, and now largely to computer briefings. This signals a significant shift from largely two-way (briefer to pilot) communication to self-briefings that include automation-based information and communication.
Flight Service is now in the midst of perhaps its biggest change ever.
The FAA is monitoring this trend, watching Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flight plans filed with a specialist continue to decrease while VFR flight plans filed via web services increase significantly. The data shows a very strong correlation. In the period between 2013 and 2019, specialist-filed plans decreased from a high approaching 30,000 per month to less than 5,000. During the same time period, web-filed plans increased from less than 5,000 to a peak of over 40,000.
Of course, this isn’t a new trend. Flight Service introduced computer-based briefings and flight plan filing with the Direct User Access Terminal Service (DUATS) program in 1990. But as the internet became ubiquitous, Flight Service faced a critical juncture. DUATS had started as, and for many years continued to be, secondary to the core function of specialist briefings. DUATS has been sunsetted, but Flight Service does provide alternate web-based services for pilots. Change is rarely easy for large organizations and this is a large change for a large organization.
The Future is Now!
“Our challenge was how to provide the best possible service to our users, both today and in the future,” explains Chris Henne, Manager of the Flight Service Safety and Operations group in the Air Traffic Organization’s System Operations Services. “What can we do today that can not only improve the user experience, but also reduce the government’s cost — all without compromising safety? The unique circumstance of pilot preference for online products, combined with modern technology, provided the chance to meet both goals,” Henne continues. So the emphasis shifted to improving web services.
Today, the FAA continues to directly handle Flight Service in Alaska, while a contract service provider performs these functions in the contiguous United States (CONUS), Puerto Rico, and Hawaii. The Flight Service website (www.1800wxbrief.com) has been enhanced to include a mobile-friendly format, ICAO flight plan support, graphical flight planning, the ability to filter extraneous NOTAMs, and 45-day retention of pilot history data. “In the future we’d like to be able to better link our web briefings and those given by specialists,” Henne says. “That way if a pilot has questions about a specific item in a briefing, the specialist can see what the pilot is looking at and answer the questions faster and more directly than simply repeating a briefing the pilot has already received.” This could save both the pilot and specialist time and improve the briefing experience.
If you haven’t tried www.1800wxbrief.com or if it’s been some time since you have, it’s worth a visit. You can establish an online account with Flight Service that will allow you to obtain enhanced weather and aeronautical information services and be sure to check out the new mobile version.
Briefing Strategy
What should your briefing strategy be? How should you communicate with Flight Service? You have choices! While the emphasis is on self-briefing, specialists are still available to take your call. Start with the Flight Service website or other approved sites or apps. These portals are a great starting point. If you are confident about your grasp on current and forecast conditions, you can file and be on your way in a few clicks or taps. If you have any doubts or questions, just call Flight Service, and tell the briefer what type of forecast you already have in order to help them better answer your questions. The specialist can take you on a deeper dive into any particular concerns you might have.
Communication about weather is critical to any flight. But the nature of that communication is up to you. The FAA is focusing on web services because that’s where the users are. Also, every enhancement that makes a web briefing better can be scaled across the system without delay or much cost. Telephone briefings are great for discussion of specific concerns, but not so much for broad awareness. Your needs should drive your strategy. “Most times a web briefing will probably provide a great solution, but there are times when you might need a little extra help and that’s why we’re here.” Henne said. To paraphrase an old advertising slogan: “We’ll leave the phone on for you.”
James Williams is FAA Safety Briefing’s associate editor and photo editor. He is also a pilot and ground instructor.
