This program is normally called from the Flight Plan program whenever a final or revised-final flight plan is completed. However, it can also be called up as a separate program to allow users to edit addresses and send times, or to permit information to be retransmitted.
The purpose of the program is to allow the user to transmit ATC flight plans, crew flight plans, weather data and NOTAMs, and company messages (Company NOTAMs) to flight crews at remote locations via the SITA, ARINC, and AFTN message networks.
The modes available are:
Add Mode
Use this mode to transmit flight papers for a flight that a final plan has been completed for, but no flight papers have been sent, i.e., usually where the Send Flight Papers? prompt in the flight plan was responded to by entering <N> or the flight had been canceled and subsequently reinstated. If the user attempts to add a canceled flight a message will appear at the bottom of the screen indicating the flight had been canceled.
Field | Description |
FLT#/DAY/ORIG | Enter the flight number, day, and origin for the flight in question. Note: You cannot send paperwork for a flight that has been canceled or a final flight plan has not been completed. If this is the case then the user will see an error at the bottom of the screen that states Record not found. This indicates that any previous send record has been removed (in the case of a canceled flight) or that a final flight plan has not been completed. |
ETD/CURRENT TIME | The EDT and Current Time fields are display-only and are automatically filled. Note: The Current Time field does not act like a clock which is continuously updated; rather it shows the time at which you entered the program. |
IATA CODE | Enter the two-letter IATA code for SITA reverse charging. |
ATC FIR | Appropriate addresses for ATC centers on the route of flight will automatically be copied into these fields from the final flight plan data file. These may be edited, deleted, or added to in the usual manner, if required. |
COPY ATC (DEP) | If there are any addresses in the Station Addresses file for the origin airport for departure movements, they will automatically be written into these fields. To delete any unwanted addresses, use <Ctrl>-X. Any addresses in the fields to the right of the one deleted will shift over to fill in the blank field. Note: Addresses may be either AFTN (8 character) or SITA (7 character). |
COPY ATC (ARR) | If there are any addresses in the Station Addresses file for the destination airport for arrival movements, they will automatically be written into these fields. To delete any unwanted addresses, use <Ctrl>-X. Any addresses in fields to the right of the one deleted will shift over to fill in the blank field. Note: Addresses may be either AFTN (8 character) or SITA (7 character). |
COPY ATC (FAX) | Enter the fax number to send the ATC flight plan to. |
ICAO1 | This field allows you to enter the ICAO, IATA, or FAA code for a station and retreive any addresses stored for that particular station in the Station Addresses file. This avoids having to look up and type in addresses each time flight papers are sent, thus saving time and avoiding errors due to incorrect copying of addresses. Note: This is not a compulsory entry; you may step through it and enter any addresses of your choice. |
Crew FP | Enter the addresses to which you want to have the flight plan transmitted. If you have entered a station code in the previous field and addresses have been drawn in from the file, you may enter more addresses if you want (no relationship to the station entered needed). If your system supports address aliases then a pre-stored address alias may be entered in the address field.
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FAX (Crew FP) | Enter the fax number for crew flight plans. |
Weather | Enter the addresses to which you want to have weather data and NOTAMs transmitted, or edit those that were drawn in from the Station Addresses file, as applicable. The weather/ NOTAM package transmitted will consist of the latest actual, latest forecast, and all operational NOTAMs on file for each station identified in the flight plan, i.e., Origin, Destination, Departure Alternate, Destination Alternate, Reclearance airport and Alternate, and ETP or enroute airports, as applicable. The package will also transmit all the appropriate FIR NOTAMs for the flight but will only transmit these with the last weather package transmission. If your system supports address aliases then a pre-stored address alias can be entered in the address field.
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FAX (Weather) | Enter the fax number for weather/NOTAMs. |
Co-NTMS | Enter the addresses to which you want to have company NOTAMs transmitted, or edit those that were drawn in from the Station Addresses file as applicable. The company NOTAM package will consist of all operational company NOTAMs. Additionally, there is a type field located on this line that will allow the user to select which types of company NOTAMs they want to send. Note: The field will default to AEFI (Admin <A>, Equipment <E>, Fin <F>, and ICAO <I>. The user can also have the main parameter file setup to alter the default categories to suit their operation. Additionally, the user can set up defaults for individual cities that may have different requirements than the master default. If your system supports address aliases then a pre-stored address alias maybe entered in the address field. To use an address alias as an address it must be preceded by the & symbol. As an example, if you had an alias set up named IND, you would enter &IND in the address field if you desired to transmit company NOTAMs to the addresses contained in this alias.
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FAX (Co-NTMS) | Enter the fax number for company NOTAMs. |
ICAO-2 | This field, and the ones adjacent to it, allow the user to specify subsequent locations to which flight papers may be sent, and provides the option of sending information to these addresses at different times. |
Send Times
Field | Description |
All ATC | Enter the time at which you want to have the ATC flight plan transmitted to the addresses identified in the ATC and COPY ATC blocks above. Note: If the current system time is later than the ETD for the flight, then the program will default to the current time and will not permit a delayed time to be entered. Similarly, it is never possible to enter a transmit time that is later than the ETD, unless the ETD has been passed, in which case the current time must be used. |
Crew FP | Enter the time at which you want to have the flight plan transmitted to those addresses in the first group. Again, a delayed transmission time may not be entered if ETD has been exceeded. |
Weather | It is possible to enter three different weather transmission times. This is to allow updated weather to be sent to a crew closer to the departure time than the original transmission of the flight plan and weather package. Note: If you do not want to send more than one package of weather, enter <N> in the second field and the program will skip to the Co-NTMS field. |
Co-NTMS | Enter the time at which you want to have the company NOTAMs sent to the crew. Regular station and FIR type NOTAMs are sent as part of the weather package, at the times specified for weather transmission. Note: The cursor will only stop on those time fields for items against which addresses have been entered. If you have entered an address for a particular item, but change your mind about sending the information, you may enter an <N> in the time field. |
Once you have entered all the transmission times, a confirmation prompt will appear.
Entering <Y> will send the information to the holding file from which the portions of flight papers will be sent to the message program queue, at the appropriate send times.
Entering <N> will return the cursor to the screen so that you can edit any of the addresses and send times.
If you enter <Q>, then you will be prompted for the next program you want to use. In this case, nothing will be transmitted.
Edit Mode
Enter the flight number, day, and origin key for the flight in which you are interested.
If the flight papers addresses and times were previously entered for this flight, the data will be displayed to screen. Any transmit times that have been passed will show as <SENT> in the applicable field.
If no addresses or times were stored for the flight, an error message to that effect will be returned. In this case, use the Add mode, as no record exists.
Addresses and times may be edited in a normal manner.
To exit the screen at any point, use <Ctrl>-E.
Resend Mode
If all the information has already been sent for a given flight, you should use the Resend mode. This will allow you to immediately re-transmit any portion of the flight papers to the existing addresses. The cursor will be positioned in the Resend ICAO-1 field. Enter <A> if you want to resend the ATC message, <F> for flight plan, <W> for weather data and NOTAMs, and/or <N> for company NOTAMs. You can indicate similar selections to be sent to the second (ICAO-2) group of addresses, if you want.
Note: A for ATC is only an option in the first group, and the ATC flight plan can only be sent to those addresses indicated in the ATC FIR and COPY DEP/ARR fields.
Quit Mode
If you select Quit from the command line, or in response to a confirmation prompt, you will be further prompted to select a program number, or to press <Enter> to return to the last menu.
Note: The following descriptions represent the typical access and privileges afforded to users designated as Dispatch Managers/Supervisors. Users with dispatcher privileges will have limited access to a subset of the screens presented.
