What is ATIS?
ATIS (Automatic Terminal Information Service) is a recorded broadcast at airports that gives pilots the current weather, active runways, NOTAMs, and other information they need before contacting ATC. It plays on a loop on a dedicated radio frequency.
Every major airport has one. It saves controllers from repeating the same weather and runway information to every single pilot who calls in.
What's in an ATIS broadcast
A typical ATIS includes:
- Airport name
- Information letter (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc.)
- Time of the observation
- Wind direction and speed
- Visibility
- Cloud cover and ceiling
- Temperature and dewpoint
- Altimeter setting
- Active runways for arrivals and departures
- NOTAMs (notices about closed taxiways, construction, etc.)
- Approach type in use (ILS, visual, RNAV)
Here's what one actually sounds like: "Atlanta Hartsfield information Golf, 1853 Zulu. Wind two seven zero at one two, visibility one zero, few clouds two five thousand, temperature two eight, dewpoint one four, altimeter three zero zero two. ILS approaches in use runways two six left and two seven right. Departing runways two eight left and two eight right. Advise on initial contact you have information Golf."
Information letters
Each new ATIS recording gets the next letter in the NATO phonetic alphabet. When the weather changes or the runways switch, a new ATIS is recorded and the letter advances. Alpha becomes Bravo, Bravo becomes Charlie, and so on through Zulu before cycling back to Alpha.
When a pilot calls ATC, they say which letter they have: "Atlanta approach, Delta 1423 with information Golf." This tells the controller the pilot has current information. If the ATIS has moved to Hotel, the controller knows the pilot might not know about a runway change or wind shift.
Why it matters for controllers
ATIS is the reason you don't have to brief every pilot individually. But it also sets the operational picture.
The active runways listed on the ATIS drive everything. Arrival routes, departure procedures, approach types, sequencing plans. When ATIS updates and the runways change, the entire traffic flow reconfigures. That's called a runway configuration change, and it's one of the most disruptive events in ATC operations.
Controllers monitor ATIS updates closely. A wind shift from 270 to 090 means runways flip from west-facing to east-facing. Every arrival in the sequence is now pointing the wrong way.
D-ATIS
Digital ATIS (D-ATIS) sends the same information as text data uplinked directly to the aircraft's cockpit displays. Pilots read it instead of listening to the voice broadcast. It's faster and less prone to mishearing a number.
In radarcontrol.io
radarcontrol.io has live ATIS data for airports where it's available. The weather panel shows the current ATIS information letter and decoded METAR data. Wind information from ATIS drives automatic runway selection.
In tower mode, you'll see the current conditions update in real time. The runways the sim assigns match the actual wind at that airport right now.
Check the weather system in action at these airports:
- Atlanta (KATL) - Five runways, so wind direction has a big impact on configuration. Play now.
- JFK (KJFK) - Two parallel runway pairs, frequent ATIS updates in real life. Play now.
- Los Angeles (KLAX) - Usually westbound operations, but wind shifts do happen. Play now.
Related: What is a METAR? | How runway selection works | Weather system guide
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