Definition
A traffic management procedure issued by the Air Traffic Control System Command Center that assigns a specific ground delay to flights bound for an airport or airspace where demand is forecast to exceed capacity. The delay is expressed as a revised departure time the flight must hold for before taking off.
Plain English
A message telling a flight it must wait on the ground for a set amount of time before departing, because the airport or airspace it's heading to is too busy to accept it on schedule.
Context Anchor
You may see DAS in traffic management information, dispatch planning, or notices explaining why a flight is being held before departure.
Why Pilots Care
The assigned delay changes departure time and fuel calculations, and pilots must meet the slot to avoid further holds or penalties.
Intuition Check
Do not read “delay” here as just being late. In this context, it is an assigned delay used to manage traffic flow safely.
Example Sentence 1
Dispatch called to say we picked up a DAS with a new wheels-up time of 1845 due to weather flow into the northeast.
Example Sentence 2
After receiving the DAS, the pilot adjusted the estimated time of arrival to match the assigned slot at the destination.