My Airport Operations

I just read WRWAops33's comment and it jostled another technique I use.  You can view previous NOTAM's going back 2 years I believve (I think it recently changed to two years.)  Assuming previous NOTAM's were created properly, you can use them as a template.

LME didn't impress me too much this month. They messed up 3 NOTAMs in a row!!! 

ALWAYS click on the USNO site link after you get your confirmation to verify what's published

We are scheduled to start using digital notams early next year.  I expect to spend some time reading what info is available...has to be better than what we are doing now.  We (officers and our assistants) issue them...but we do it thru our operations center....: result- like anything when you add another layer...expect some things to change along the way.  Not the best method. 

LAN has been using E-NOTAM now for over 2 years. It has taken some time and adjustments but it is much easier to issue NOTAMS this way. Don't get me wrong that first year was a difficult transition because there was much to learn from the site and help in getting us trained to the way Lockheed Martin issued and Lockheed Martin trained to understand what we were looking for. You need to send a fax each time you need a new person to have access to E-NOTAM. Always call to ensure they received it because it sometimes takes more than one try.

I agree with the person that says to check the USNO site to ensure items are issued correctly. Each morning the OPS person on duty checks the site to ensure everything is accounted for. There are times things drop off of the site when they should not have or are not deleted properly. This is not as common as it once was but you always need a secondary process.

We actually find E-NOTAM is faster than calling, especially in a snow storm. Our vehicle is equipped so that we can enter the E-NOTAM system from the vehicle. I would also say that if you use E-NOTAM then everyone at your airport needs to issue through E-NOTAM becasue it becomes impossible and inconsistent if you have some people calling in and some people using the system. Calling in a NOTAM is always a back-up if there is a problem with the system. If you go to E-NOTAM always have one person that can follow-up with E-NOTAM and report problems. Follow-up is huge when first initiating. Good Luck and feel free to call anytime someone has any questions.

We are using the E-Notam system at LEX and it works very well...you have to monitor it for human error.  We have had some issues in the past but it has been running pretty smoothly now for last 9 months.

I guess it helps that I do most of our NOTAMs and like the system :)  I bang out about 20 NOTAMs per week just for nightly construction activity.  I've never called LM except when I see an issue, and those issues are getting to be less frequent (maybe 1 a month)  The fact that it spits out a properly encoded NOTAM text is a bonus.

We looked at OpsNet but didn't feel like it was a tool we would utilize. We don't have a ton of snow events (had 7 last year, you guys up north would laugh about what we had, but it was a big deal for us) and we put out info to distribution groups in outlook, so users receive email/fax/txt info. I've checked out Denver's (they gave me a log in) and it was nice and all, but just not something we would use.

I do not use the E-Notam system any longer for many of the reasons already stated, and found it much easier to just call LM and explain the NOTAM in person. Seems quicker. The OpsNet system looks impressive, and I am sure it works well.  I programmed a tool for my airport called OpenAirport which does 327, 339, and many other functions. I'm currently working on a newer version.

As for LM, calling is quick and I'd like to hear more about how to automtically push notams to LM as that would speed thing sup considerably than having to enter the NOTAM twice, once on the phone and then again into OpenAirport.

I'm not a very big fan of E-Notam.  My experience using the system would be a little different than most of yours due to the fact that at o'hare we issue a lot of notams (more than the rest of the region combined I've been told by LM)!  In short the way we use E-Notam is that our electronic logging system, made by Landrum & Brown, pushes any notam that we issue directly to LM and then they issue the notam for us.  Our main problem is that we have to regularly do an audit of our ELS, E-Notam and PilotWeb to make sure that the notams have been issued and/or cancelled correctly across the board!

Until recently we have had to call LM to go over any changes or cancellations, but now for cancellations we just click the box and select cancel for the audits we do.

I can imagine that the E-Notam system will make your life a whole lot easier, especially during the next Cincinnati snow storm, since you can issue a snotam fast and fairly efficient.  Just like I have said and others have said make sure that you audit what is actually issued by LM to ensure that it is correct.  We have had a mixup before and it wasn't pretty reporting 1 IN WSR instead of 1/4 IN WSR.  

Another option coming up is the US Digital Notam System (it's in beta form now).  It's pretty impressive what they're doing and it will eliminate the need for LM/E-Notam, because you will issue the notams directly into the national database.  Not sure how much it costs to implement E-Notam and all that comes with having a contract with LM, but this system will be great in the future.

Of course my ultimate recommendation is to get OPSnet by Passur...they have an amazing product but I know that is pricey to set up.

If you have any questions, feel free to send me a personal e-mail.

I personally like it, but the biggest dowfall is the inability for LM to integrate notams issued by e-noatm and others issued by phone call.  We have instances in snowstorms where we have to call to issue or cancel from the vehicle.  In those cases, we can't cancel or modify it from the e-notam site. 

We also have one ope mgr that won't use it at all, so anything he issues over the phone can't be cancelled online.

Lastly, If issue a NOTAM online, and it's cancelled by phone, it stays on my e-notam page.  To remove it, I have to send a cancel notice, which sometimes confuses he briefer, who's looking for a notam that's already been cancelled.

Long story short-  Awesome service, but needs to be fully integrated ot he trest of the notam system to avoid these issues.

https://www.lme-notam.com/

You have to be registered, which I think requires names on a letterhead. We've been using it for so long, I don't even remember. It's a great tool.

that's fine by me. I think my email is on my profile

Please post your questions I have thought about using the E-NOTAMs but didn't know much about them. Is there a web address how do you access the site?

I really don't like being on hold waiting to close a runway that needs to be closed NOW.

Thank you for the advice. I actually have a meeting tomorrow to discuss E-NOTAMS and will most likely have specific questions afterwards. If you do not mind, I might send some questions directly to you.

We've been using it for a few years now. I love it! Do you have any specific questions?

My advice is to ALWAYS double check what they published by going to the USNO link at the top of the enotam page. Sometimes LM and FAA (or whomever it is now) gets things mixed up.

For instance, I've issued a nightly closure for Rwy 9L (our long runway) that would read like this:  !ATL ATL Rwy 9L/27R CLSD 0330-1030 DLY WEF 1010100330-1010151030

But it came out like this:

!ATL ATL Rwy 9L/27R CLSD WEF 1010100330-1010151030

Talk about getting some carriers attention, especially the heavy cargo haulers!