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When listening to ATC broadcasting (at least for ULLI), phrase "Information <Charlie|India|whiskey|etc.> on board" may be heard. Charlie, India, Whiskey, etc. refer to "C", "I", "W" but what do these codes mean? What kind of information is this?

SentryRaven
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HUB
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    Charlie is one of the controllers' boyfriends who lives out of town and can only visit every few weeks; India obviously refers to the nationality of the passengers and whiskey to the contents of the drinks trolley. ;-) – David Richerby Jul 10 '14 at 09:40
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    ...and Bravo clearly refers to the applause that comment gets for making me chuckle :) – voretaq7 Jul 10 '14 at 17:15

5 Answers5

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This is a simple versioning system used in ATIS (Automatic Terminal Information Service). ATIS messages contain information about the weather at the airport, runways in use etc. This information is transmitted on a dedicated radio frequency and repeated in a loop. The ATIS messages are updated frequently as the weather or operations at the airport change. Every time a new ATIS message is generated, the letter is changed.

Example of an ATIS message:

This is Schiphol arrival information Kilo, main landing runway 18Right. Transition level 50. Two zero zero degrees, one one knots. Visibility 10 kilometres. Few 1300 feet, scattered 1800 feet, broken 2000 feet. Temperature 15, dewpoint 13. QNH 995 hectopascal. No significant change. Contact Approach and Arrival callsign only. End of information Kilo.

Now when for example the temperature or pressure at the airport changes, the ATIS information is updated:

This is Schiphol arrival information Lima, main landing runway 18Right. Transition level 50. Two zero zero degrees, one two knots. Visibility 10 kilometres. Few 1300 feet, scattered 1800 feet, broken 2000 feet. Temperature 16, dewpoint 13. QNH 994 hectopascal. No significant change. Contact Approach and Arrival callsign only. End of information Lima.

The flight crew will listen to the ATIS often before they are in contact with the Air Traffic Control of the airport. They note the information in the ATIS, together with the information version letter.

On first contact with the airport's Air Traffic Control they will state what version of the ATIS they have listened to.

Schiphol approach, this is KLM1234 with information Lima.

The Air Traffic Controller can then determine whether this is the latest version of the ATIS or if there is newer information available that should be passed on to the flight crew.

Calum Halpin
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DeltaLima
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    This was Aviation SE information DeltaLima. – David Richerby Jul 10 '14 at 09:55
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    when does it reset? – ratchet freak Jul 10 '14 at 09:58
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    @DavidRicherby But then I would have to change my username after every edit I make! – DeltaLima Jul 10 '14 at 10:09
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    @DeltaMike Indeed. – David Richerby Jul 10 '14 at 10:19
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    @ratchetfreak It resets at the end of the range. Some airports use the entire A-Z range, others only a subset. – DeltaLima Jul 10 '14 at 10:23
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    @ratchetfreak FYI Schiphol just went from Lima to Mike and then back to Alfa – DeltaLima Jul 10 '14 at 10:28
  • @ratchetfreak And Schiphol is now (three and a half hours later) at Lima again. – DeltaLima Jul 10 '14 at 14:28
  • @ratchetfreak: I vaguely recall they restart at alpha every day (at midnight presumably). – RedGrittyBrick Jul 10 '14 at 15:29
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    One halloween, just for fun, the local airport was publishing information "Spooky", "Transylvannia", "Undertaker", "Vampire", , etc... I think the pilots enjoyed that little deviation from the regs. :) – abelenky Jul 10 '14 at 17:01
  • @ratchetfreak I'm not sure if there's a reg for resetting the ATIS letter (at least not in the US - and I've never been at the airport early enough to pick up the first broadcast of the day to see what they do - I like to sleep in!) - It does however cycle back to Alpha when information Zulu expires or is changed. – voretaq7 Jul 10 '14 at 17:18
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    Information Lima includes: "Contact Approach and Arrival callsign only." That sounds like the first contact should be "KLM1234" instead of "Schiphol approach, this is KLM1234 with information Lima" (presumably because frequency is usually busy). Is that right? – mgkrebbs Jul 11 '14 at 00:11
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    @mgkrebbs I think it's mostly to prevent complete status reports ("this is KLM1234 flying direct XXX descending through FL200 to FL120") - that takes time and in some cases is unnecessary (such as when it is standard procedure to hand off aircraft with that clearance or when controllers have been in contact "offline"). – CompuChip Jul 22 '14 at 16:51
  • @RedGrittyBrick in the US, JO 7110.65 2–9–1 a1: Each alphabet letter phonetic word must be used sequentially, except as authorized in subpara a2, beginning with “Alpha,” ending with “Zulu,” and repeated without regard to the beginning of a new day. Identify the first resumed broadcast message with “Alpha” or the first assigned alphabet letter word in the event of a broadcast interruption of more than 12 hours. – randomhead Feb 09 '21 at 17:20
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The letters refer to ATIS information, which stands for Automatic Terminal Information Service. ATIS messages are broadcast on a loop on a separate frequency from approach and tower frequencies and inform pilots of weather conditions, active runways, runway conditions, and other important data. Each time the information changes a new recording is made and the version letter increments.

Pilots listen to this information before contacting the approach/tower frequency so that the controllers don't spend their entire day reciting it over and over again.

GdD
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In the US, ATIS info is typically updated hourly - unless something unusual/unpredicted happens that is relevant to approaching or departing aircraft. In the US, ATIS broadcasts include:

  • Airport Name.
  • Information letter (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie...).
  • Time Hour/Minute in Zulu (GMT) when the observation was made
  • Winds - direction, speed, and sometimes gusts, variability.
  • Sky Condition - cloud cover (clear, few, scattered, broken, overcast) and altitude of the layer(s).
  • Barometric Pressure - which is used to set the aircraft's onboard altimeter to an accurate reference for the airport it's approaching/departing).
  • Other remarks, such as runway/taxiway closures, lighting or navigational aids down, etc.
menjaraz
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user3750746
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In the USA, this is defined in the FAA's Air Traffic Organization Policy, Section 2-9-1. According to that source, ATC must:

(a) Identify each ATIS message by a phonetic letter code word at both the beginning and the end of the message. Automated systems will have the phonetic letter code automatically appended. Exceptions may be made where omissions are required because of special programs or equipment.

1. Each alphabet letter phonetic word must be used sequentially, except as authorized in subpara a2, beginning with “Alpha,” ending with “Zulu,” and repeated without regard to the beginning of a new day. Identify the first resumed broadcast message with “Alpha” or the first assigned alphabet letter word in the event of a broadcast interruption of more than 12 hours.

fooot
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CJBS
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ATIS information letters always refer to the time of the information, in ATC we use UTC (universal coordinated time) which is typically the GMT (Greenwich time) for example: Information Alpha refer to time 00:00 and Bravo to 01:00 ...up to Information X-ray at time 23:00 then we use alpha for 00:00.

Retired ATC
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    Could you please specify the location for which this answer applies? It is not true for most of the world – 60levelchange May 07 '23 at 06:13
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    answer is not entirely correct. correlation is not causation. just because weather updates every hour does not mean the atis letters represent the time information. There are times when weather changes so quickly that new atis information needs to be broadcasted in less than an hour. In that case atis letter changes not because the time limit but to indicate that new information is available. – Kolom May 07 '23 at 11:08
  • @Kolom: not just weather, but runway configuration, or runway condition codes, or other pertinent NOTAMs which arriving and departing pilots ought to know... there are many reasons why "information Alpha, 0154Z" might change to "information Bravo, 0154Z." – randomhead May 07 '23 at 11:38
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    This answer is incorrect. ATIS can update multiple times per hour, and the letters simply advance, without any reference to UTC. Also, when multiple airports are in close proximity, their ATIS identifiers are offset from each other, so if BWI has ATIS "A" then IAD might have "K" and DCA "S". – Ralph J May 07 '23 at 13:14
  • Also, there are some airports (KDEN is especially notorious for this) that update their ATIS about every 10 minutes sometimes... taxiway PP9 is no longer closed? New ATIS! Now they closed PP8? New ATIS! – Ralph J May 07 '23 at 13:22