What is ATIS?

ATIS, the Automatic Terminal Information Service, is a continuous recorded broadcast at airports with a control tower. It carries the current weather, the runways and approaches in use, and any notices every pilot needs to hear. Pilots listen to it before calling the tower so the controller does not have to repeat the same information to every aircraft.

Each new version of the broadcast gets the next letter of the phonetic alphabet, and the whole thing is rebuilt whenever the hourly weather comes in, when a special observation is issued, or when the tower changes runways. At the largest airports the broadcast is also published as text called D-ATIS, which is what this site shows live on its D-ATIS airport pages.

What an ATIS broadcast sounds like

Wording varies a little from tower to tower, but the order is always the same. Here is a typical broadcast, then each line explained.

Orlando International Airport, information Kilo, one seven five three Zulu. Wind one eight zero at one two. Visibility one zero. Few clouds at four thousand. Temperature three one, dew point two two. Altimeter two niner niner eight. ILS runway one seven left approach in use, landing and departing runways one seven left and one eight right. Runway one eight left closed. Bird activity in the vicinity of the airport. Advise on initial contact you have information Kilo.

Orlando International Airport, information KiloAirport and information letter

Every update of the broadcast gets the next phonetic letter (Alfa, Bravo, Charlie...). You tell the controller which letter you heard so they know your information is current.

one seven five three ZuluTime of the observation

The time the weather in this broadcast was observed, in UTC (Zulu). ATIS is normally rebuilt from the hourly METAR, so this usually sits a few minutes before the hour.

wind one eight zero at one twoWind

Direction the wind is from in degrees and speed in knots. Gusts are read as "gusts two two." Because the runways in use are chosen from this wind, it is the number most pilots listen for.

visibility one zeroVisibility

Prevailing visibility in statute miles. Anything that limits it (mist, rain, haze) is read right after the value.

few clouds at four thousandSky condition

Cloud coverage and base height above the ground. The lowest broken or overcast layer is the ceiling, which decides whether the airport is VFR or IFR.

temperature three one, dew point two twoTemperature and dew point

Both in Celsius. A small spread means humid air and possible fog; a large spread on a hot day means high density altitude.

altimeter two niner niner eightAltimeter setting

Inches of mercury (29.98 here). You set this in your altimeter before departure and again when you arrive, so your indicated altitude is correct.

ILS runway one seven left approach in use, landing and departing runways one seven left and one eight rightApproaches and runways in use

The part a METAR cannot tell you: which runways the tower is using right now and which instrument approach to expect. This is why pilots listen to ATIS before calling approach or ground.

runway one eight left closed, bird activity in the vicinity of the airportNOTAMs and remarks

Closures, construction, hazards, frequency changes and anything else the tower wants every pilot to hear once instead of repeating it on the radio.

advise on initial contact you have information KiloAcknowledgement

Your cue. On your first call to the airport, say "with information Kilo." If the letter has changed since you listened, the controller will tell you the new one.

How to get ATIS

On the radio. The ATIS frequency is printed next to the airport on the sectional chart, on the airport diagram and in the Chart Supplement. Tune it a few minutes out, or before you call ground for taxi, and note the letter.
By phone. Many towers publish a telephone number for the ATIS in the Chart Supplement, which is handy for a pre-flight check from the FBO or from home.
Online, as text. Airports with D-ATIS publish the broadcast digitally. Every one of them has a page here that shows the live text and the current letter, and the D-ATIS list covers all of them. Third-party audio streams exist for many airports as well.
Everywhere else. Airports without a tower have no ATIS. They broadcast an automated AWOS or ASOS weather report instead, and the same observation is published as a METAR. Our airport pages decode that METAR for every US airport with a station, and the METAR guide explains the code.

ATIS vs D-ATIS vs AWOS vs METAR

These get mixed up constantly. They describe the same weather in different packages, and only ATIS and D-ATIS add the operational part: which runways and approaches the tower is using.

Service	Where	What it contains	How you get it
ATIS	Airports with an operating control tower	Recorded voice broadcast: weather plus runways, approaches and notices, updated by the tower	VHF radio, telephone at many towers
D-ATIS	Roughly 75 of the busiest US airports	The same broadcast as text, delivered digitally, so it can be read online and sent to cockpits	Datalink, text online, Telegram alerts
AWOS / ASOS	Most airports, towered or not	Automated weather only: wind, visibility, sky, temperature, altimeter. No runway or NOTAM information	VHF radio, telephone, the METAR feed
METAR	Every airport with a reporting station	The coded hourly weather observation that ATIS, D-ATIS and AWOS voice reports are all built from	Any weather site, including every airport page here

The information letter

The letter is the whole point of the system. A new broadcast means a new letter, so a controller who hears “with information Kilo” knows exactly which weather and runway picture you are working from. Most towers issue a fresh letter every hour when the METAR comes in, and again in between whenever a special observation is published or the runway configuration changes. Many restart the sequence at Alfa each morning. At the busiest airports you may hear two broadcasts, one for arrivals and one for departures, each with its own letter.

That is also what the ATIS Alerts bot watches. At D-ATIS airports it sends you a Telegram message the moment a new letter publishes, with the text of the broadcast, so you see a runway change or a new altimeter setting without having to keep listening.

Common questions

How often does ATIS update?

At least hourly, after each routine METAR, plus any time a special observation (SPECI) is issued or the tower changes runways or approaches. Busy airports in changing weather can go through several letters an hour.

Do non-towered airports have ATIS?

No. ATIS is produced by a control tower. Non-towered airports broadcast automated weather (AWOS or ASOS) on a published frequency, and pilots announce their own runway on the CTAF.

Is ATIS the same as the METAR?

The weather part is taken from the METAR, so the numbers match. ATIS adds what the METAR cannot know: the runways and approaches in use, closures and local notices.

What does “advise on initial contact” mean?

Tell the first controller you talk to which letter you have, for example “Orlando Approach, Cessna one two three, with information Kilo.” If a newer letter is out, they will read you the changes or ask you to listen again.

What is D-ATIS?

Digital ATIS: the same broadcast composed as text and sent by datalink. It reaches airline cockpits without a radio call, and it is what makes ATIS readable online and alertable. The D-ATIS page lists every US airport that publishes it.

Get the new ATIS letter the moment it publishes

Free Telegram alerts for the airports you fly: every new D-ATIS letter, or only the changes that matter, plus METAR changes everywhere else.

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