I have just read the report and focused specifically on the issue of Pre-Flight Information Bulletins (PIB) and in particular to recent introduction of the AES tool which offers web access to the ADIMS database. The now infamous web tool was introduced last year and several issue were raised with the rollout. These have now been honestly accepted by NATS AIS management.
There is still ongoing work in order to increase the intuitive nature of the AES tool and perhaps even provide an output in a format to enable users to devise their own systems for selecting, sorting and display of data. It is heartening to read that this work gains support from Paragraph 7.5, Problem Statement 4.
Also noted is the pragmatic council that plain English be used. NATS/AIS to a certain degree have their hands tied by ICAO SARPS Annex 15. Notwithstanding this, further work could be done to provide a better visual output and presentation of the NOTAM data.
We are clearly reminded as stated paragraph 7.5 “…many GA pilots report flying without a pre-flight NOTAM brief, significantly increasing the risk of infringements”. Without delving into the ANO legalities of flying without proper pre-flight planning, this statement is true in the practical real world. It is better to address this through training and awareness along with intuitive tools than to rely on any legal instrument to increase effective pre-flight planning.
With a consolidated effort by the GA community to raise awareness of the correct use of the existing web tool, coupled with help from NATS AIS Management and IS team in agreement with the CAA an acceptable intuitive graphical method could be introduced either by NATS/AIS or perhaps via third party under licence if necessary to reduce the workload in obtaining and displaying PIB NOTAM information.
The report supports the current work and the future actions and this can only be a good thing as far as the PIB/NOTAM issue is concerned. I will be interested to hear about the results of the AIWG review and any resulting actions agreed.