Guides

How the aviation system works, written for people who are curious about what they see in the sky and on the departures board.

• How to listen to air traffic controlWhat you will hear, which frequency to start with, and the small amount of law that applies.
• Ground stop vs ground delay programWhy one holds your flight at the gate and the other just makes it late.
• How to read a METARDecode the airport weather report pilots use, group by group.
• What a NOTAM isThe notices that close runways, switch off navaids and restrict airspace, and how to read one.
• Squawk codes: 7700, 7600, 7500 and 1200What the special transponder codes mean.