Definition
The Airport/Facility Directory (A/FD) is the section of the FAA Chart Supplement that lists detailed information about every public-use airport, heliport, and seaplane base in a given region. Entries cover runway dimensions and surface, lighting, fuel availability, communication frequencies, navigation aids, traffic pattern altitudes, hours of operation, services, and remarks about local procedures or hazards. Although the publication was officially renamed the Chart Supplement (CS), pilots and FAA documents still commonly refer to this airport-data section as the A/FD.
Plain English
It is the part of the Chart Supplement book that gives you all the practical details about an airport — the runway, the lights, the fuel, who to talk to on the radio, and anything unusual you should know before flying in or out.
Context Anchor
Pilots encounter A/FD information when reviewing the Chart Supplement before a flight or checking airport details during planning.
Derivation
The original publication was literally titled the Airport/Facility Directory — a directory listing airports and their facilities. The FAA renamed it the Chart Supplement in 2016, but the older name and abbreviation A/FD have stuck in everyday pilot language and many training references.
Why Pilots Care
Supplies the precise airport information required for safe takeoff, landing, and ground operations.
Intuition Check
Do not assume A/FD is a separate publication you need to buy. It is one section inside the Chart Supplement. If you have the current Chart Supplement for your region, you already have the A/FD.
Example Sentence 1
Before the cross-country flight, she checked the A/FD entry for the destination airport to confirm the runway length and the CTAF frequency.
Example Sentence 2
Before departure the instructor had the student verify the tower frequency in the A/FD.