Definition
In the context of FAA Operations Specifications documents, OM refers to the Operations Manual — the controlling document, approved or accepted by the FAA, that sets out how a certificate holder (such as a Part 135 helicopter operator) conducts its flight operations. It contains the procedures, limitations, and authorizations that crews must follow, and it is referenced throughout a company's Operations Specifications.
Plain English
The company's official rulebook for how it flies. It tells the pilots, dispatchers, and managers exactly how the operator runs its flying — what's allowed, what isn't, and how each task must be done. The FAA has signed off on it.
Context Anchor
Seen in helicopter instrument operations when company procedures and FAA operations specifications are being discussed.
Derivation
Outer describes its position as the farthest marker from the runway among the three marker beacons; Marker refers to the radio signal that marks a precise location along the approach path.
Why Pilots Care
It gives a positive position fix for starting descent on the glideslope and for timing segments of the approach.
Intuition Check
OM does not mean the FAA authorization itself. The FAA authorization is in the operations specifications; the OM is the operator’s written procedure manual for how the company does the work.
Example Sentence 1
Before the check ride, the new first officer reviewed the company's OM to make sure he understood the operator's weather minimums and dispatch procedures.
Example Sentence 2
Operations specifications list the OM as a required reference point for this helicopter ILS procedure.