Learn ATC / Tower operations

How to write an ATIS

July 11, 2026 · FAA JO 7110.65 2-9-3 · AIM 4-1-13

TL;DR — THE ORDER NEVER CHANGES

Airfield → information letter → time (Z) → wind → visibility → sky → temperature / dew point → altimeter → approach & runway(s) in use → remarks → “Advise on initial contact you have information (letter).”

The ATIS is the airport's continuous broadcast: weather and runway configuration, recorded once, so the frequency doesn't drown in repeated wind checks. Every pilot listens to it before calling you, then tells you which information letter they have — that's how you know their picture is current. Writing one is a rite of passage for a tower trainee, and it's entirely mechanical once you know the order.

Example from a METAR

Take this KSAN METAR:

METAR KSAN 111851Z 27008KT 10SM FEW250 24/17 A2992

Here is the ATIS it becomes, element by element:

ATIS — INFORMATION ALPHA “San Diego International Airport information Alpha. 1851 Zulu weather. Wind 270 at 8. Visibility 10. Few clouds at 25 000. Temperature 24, dew point 17. Altimeter 2992. ILS or visual approach runway 27 in use. Landing and departing runway 27. Advise on initial contact you have information Alpha.”

Element by element — what the grader checks

Element	Form	Cost if missing
Airfield	Spoken name (“San Diego International”) — the identifier works too	−5
Information letter	NATO word, stated twice: opening + closing line	−10
Wind	“270 at 8”, gusts included (“gusts 21”); “wind calm” under 3 kt; “variable” when VRB	−10 to −20
Visibility	Statute miles, straight from the METAR (“visibility 10”)	−10
Sky	Layers with bases in feet (“few clouds at 25 000”) or “sky clear”	—
Temp / dew point	Celsius, both (“temperature 24, dew point 17”)	—
Altimeter	Four digits, no decimal spoken: “altimeter 2992”	−20
Approach & runways in use	“ILS or visual approach runway 27 in use. Landing and departing runway 27.”	−15 / runway
Closing line	“Advise on initial contact you have information Alpha.”	−5

Those penalties are literally our grader's — write the ATIS in the simulator and it scores you against this exact list, line by line.

Additional checks

The letter advances, the weather doesn't lie. New METAR or a runway change → new recording, next letter (Alpha → Bravo). Pilots calling with a stale letter get “information Bravo is current” — and in a PDC, a stale ATIS letter is a graded error.
Altimeter without the decimal. The METAR says A2992; you say “altimeter two niner niner two” — never “29.92”.
Wind below 3 knots is “calm”, and a METAR VRB04KT is “wind variable at 4”.
Runways in use must match reality. If the wind swings and the configuration flips to runway 9, the ATIS that still says 27 is wrong the moment the first aircraft is re-taxied — record the next letter (in the sim: the ATIS+ button mid-session).
Cloud bases are ABOVE GROUND, in feet, from the METAR code: FEW250 = few at 25 000.

Common mistakes

Forgetting the closing line — it's what makes pilots tell you their letter.
Naming one runway when landing and departing runways differ (“landing runway 22L, departing runway 22R”).
Copying the METAR gusts but dropping them in the wind line.
Writing the identifier only (“KSAN information Alpha”) — legal, but the spoken airfield name is the standard broadcast form.

Related guides: the CRAFT clearance line by line — where the pilot's ATIS letter shows up in your PDC — and climb via SID or maintain?

Write and check an ATIS at KSAN

ProjectATC pulls the live METAR for the selected airport, you write the ATIS yourself, and the grader marks it line by line before the session starts. Re-publish the next letter mid-session when the weather turns.

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