AIM

8/15/19

Basic Flight Information and ATC Procedures

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

The Federal Aviation Administration is responsible
for ensuring the safe, efficient, and secure use of the
Nation’s airspace, by military as well as civil
aviation, for promoting safety in air commerce, for
encouraging and developing civil aeronautics,
including new aviation technology, and for support-
ing the requirements of national defense.

The activities required to carry out these responsibili-
ties include: safety regulations; airspace management

and the establishment, operation, and maintenance of
a civil

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military common system of air traffic control

(ATC) and navigation facilities; research and
development in support of the fostering of a national
system of airports, promulgation of standards and
specifications for civil airports, and administration of
Federal grants

−

in

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aid for developing public airports;

various joint and cooperative activities with the
Department of Defense; and technical assistance
(under State Department auspices) to other countries.

Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM)

Basic Flight Information and ATC Procedures

This manual is designed to provide the aviation
community with basic flight information and ATC
procedures for use in the National Airspace System
(NAS) of the United States. An international version
called the Aeronautical Information Publication
contains parallel information, as well as specific
information on the international airports for use by
the international community.

This manual contains the fundamentals required in
order to fly in the United States NAS. It also contains
items of interest to pilots concerning health and
medical facts, factors affecting flight safety, a
pilot/controller glossary of terms used in the ATC
System, and information on safety, accident, and
hazard reporting.

This manual is complemented by other operational
publications which are available via separate
subscriptions. These publications are:

Notices to Airmen publication - A publication

containing data essential to the safety of flight as well
as supplemental data affecting the other operational

publications listed here. Issued every four weeks, this
publication is available in PDF and HTML format via
the Air Traffic Publication website at:
https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/ and
through subscription from the General Publishing
Office (GPO).

The Chart Supplement U.S., the  Chart

Supplement Alaska, and the Chart Supplement
Pacific  

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 These publications contain information on

airports, communications, navigation aids, instru-
ment landing systems, VOR receiver check points,
preferred routes, Flight Service Station/Weather
Service telephone numbers, Air Route Traffic
Control Center (ARTCC) frequencies, part

−

time

surface areas, and various other pertinent special
notices essential to air navigation. These publications
are available through a network of FAA approved
print providers. A listing of products, dates of latest
editions, and print providers is available on the
Aeronautical Information Services (AIS) website at:
http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/
print_providers/.

Publication Schedule

Basic or Change

Cutoff Date

for Completion

Effective Date
of Publication

Basic Manual

2/28/19

8/15/19

Change 1

8/15/19

1/30/20

Change 2

1/30/20

7/16/20

Change 3

7/16/20

12/31/20

Basic Manual

12/31/20

6/17/21