Definition
A NOTAM is an official notice issued by the FAA that alerts pilots to time-critical aeronautical information about the establishment, condition, or change in any aeronautical facility, service, procedure, or hazard. NOTAMs cover items such as runway closures, navigation aid outages, temporary flight restrictions, airspace changes, and other conditions essential to flight safety that are not yet published on charts or in standard publications.
Plain English
A NOTAM is a short, official message that tells pilots about something important and time-sensitive at an airport, in the airspace, or with a navigation system — for example, a closed runway, a broken light, or a temporary no-fly area. Pilots are required to check NOTAMs before each flight.
Context Anchor
Pilots check NOTAMs during preflight planning, often through a flight briefing, an electronic flight planning app, or the FAA NOTAM system.
Derivation
The acronym originally stood for 'Notice to Airmen.' In 2021 the FAA and ICAO updated the expansion to 'Notice to Air Missions' to use gender-neutral language while keeping the familiar four-letter acronym pilots already knew.
Why Pilots Care
Pilots must review NOTAMs before every flight because an overlooked notice can place them in conflict with a closed runway, temporary flight restriction, or other operational hazard.
Intuition Check
A NOTAM is not general airport news or optional background reading. It is official flight information that may change whether, where, or how a flight can safely operate.
Example Sentence 1
During preflight planning, the pilot reviewed the NOTAMs and saw that Runway 27 at the destination airport was closed for maintenance.
Example Sentence 2
A new NOTAM warned of temporary flight restrictions near the stadium during the event.