Question on role of airport ops at non-towered airports in regards to air traffic

N918KT

N918KT

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Hey everyone, I have a quick question to anyone who works in airport ops at an airport without an air traffic control tower or a part time control tower when the tower is closed. What is the role of airport ops in regards to air traffic? I would assume they do not have the power to direct air traffic or issue ATC instructions to pilots, correct? But do they have the power to advise pilots of the conditions at the airport, any NOTAMs they issued, any wildlife they should be on the lookout for on the CTAF or UNICOM, etc? In other words, do airport ops at non-towered airports or part time towered airports just advise and assist pilots over the radio frequency?
 
Basically yes. They cannot act as ATC but I have been in situations where a couple guys are calling in at the same time saying they are at the same place. Someone in the office may get in on the radio, look at the window and help sort things out. Usually though they just say what the winds are (if no ASOS/AWOS) or if anything special is happening.
 
The other day I heard the crew on a jet coming in asked the FBO on the Unicom to order 2 large supreme pizzas for them, delivered.
 
I give out airport advisories and weather conditions, current runways, notams, etc. I can't really tell people what to do but I do a pretty good job of being active and asking pilots if they need fuel or a quick turn or a courtesy car. I also keep traffic informed of skydive operations since the divers only have one radio on board and talk to Okc approach right up until they jump so no one gets surprised in a bad way. I'll advise them of other traffic I have heard and direct them to parking as well if they need it.

I have only been asked once if I was a tower and it was a frazzled guy up in the soup trying to get down because he was close to overrunning his personal limitations. Helped him get down with current weather and ceilings and etc. Some people are surprised how active I am but I don't know how active other Unicom operators are for reference.

I have coordinated wildlife sightings and warnings and handled them with the help of pilots in the pattern too :)
 
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For me at my airport, after the control tower closes at 11 pm at night, traffic is almost non existent on the night shift between 11 pm and 7 am when the control tower open in the morning. There would be just one or two aircraft landing between those hours.

I would keep an eye out for incoming air traffic on Flightaware for our airport (only good for tracking IFR flights, no VFR or blocked tracking flights) and about 15 to 20 minutes before the plane lands I will check the runways for deer mainly and report to the pilot if I found any wildlife or to advise him to exercise caution if I found any wildlife near the runway that I can't chase them away.
 
A chatty unicom operator can be quite an annoyance. You are not ATC, so dont give me a long list of anyone who has flown at the airport in the last hour, you are probably going to step on a traffic report that I do care about. If I call 10mi out, feel free to give me the wind, and if there is no wind, give me the calm wind runway. Also, let me know if there is a nordo plane in the pattern. I dont need you to tell me what runway 'people are using' as I can figure that out from their radio calls, and if there are no radio calls, I don't care what the last guy used 20 minutes ago.

The role should be to be helpful but not to make an issue out of themselves.
 
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On the other hand, flying into Cloverdale, CA over the weekend -- which is nontowered and has no AWOS -- it was kinda nice that the Unicom operator was warning the guy coming in on a straight in tailwind that there was departing traffic in the opposite direction.
 
Just be aware, that person answering the UNICOM may be some CSR girl who has no interest or knowledge of aviation.
 
coloradobluesky said:
The other day I heard the crew on a jet coming in asked the FBO on the Unicom to order 2 large supreme pizzas for them, delivered.
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Nothing wrong with that. Now making the request on guard on the other hand...

There are some airport operators who think they are ATC. A good example of that was KUNV before they got the control tower. Now I can understand on football days when State College becomes the third largest city in Pennsylvania (they displace Allentown), but most of the other times I was there, the idiot on the Unicom detracted from safe operations in my opinion.
 
N918KT said:
In other words, do airport ops at non-towered airports or part time towered airports just advise and assist pilots over the radio frequency?
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Some do some don't. If they do, don't rely on it to relax your own vigilance and decision-making (yeah, I know, dont do that at towered airports either, but especially here). They have no official standing (there are probably a few exceptions) and, as Gucci, said, may know nothing about aviation.
 
I've noticed that the KHAF ops staff are often vigilant in enforcing the traffic pattern.
 
Gucci Pilot said:
Just be aware, that person answering the UNICOM may be some CSR girl who has no interest or knowledge of aviation.
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Which is fine if you are making the call to Smallsville Unicom for ground based assistance from the FBO. But if you are calling Smallsville Traffic on the same freq, she should not answer.

But then if she is hot, who cares?
 
I would think the airport ops personnel would have a manual / SOP outlining their duties???
 
Velocity173 said:
I would think the airport ops personnel would have a manual / SOP outlining their duties???
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All I was told was how to give airport advisories. The rest is from pilot experience - although I usually only give advisories when asked or when conditions change quickly (or a pilot lines up to land with the wind, happened about 4 times now).
 
N918KT said:
Hey everyone, I have a quick question to anyone who works in airport ops at an airport without an air traffic control tower or a part time control tower when the tower is closed. What is the role of airport ops in regards to air traffic? I would assume they do not have the power to direct air traffic or issue ATC instructions to pilots, correct? But do they have the power to advise pilots of the conditions at the airport, any NOTAMs they issued, any wildlife they should be on the lookout for on the CTAF or UNICOM, etc? In other words, do airport ops at non-towered airports or part time towered airports just advise and assist pilots over the radio frequency?
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The FBO has an FCC-issued station license authorizing the use of the Unicom frequency and dictating the allowable uses.

Bob Gardner
 
N918KT said:
For me at my airport, after the control tower closes at 11 pm at night, traffic is almost non existent on the night shift between 11 pm and 7 am when the control tower open in the morning. There would be just one or two aircraft landing between those hours.

I would keep an eye out for incoming air traffic on Flightaware for our airport (only good for tracking IFR flights, no VFR or blocked tracking flights) and about 15 to 20 minutes before the plane lands I will check the runways for deer mainly and report to the pilot if I found any wildlife or to advise him to exercise caution if I found any wildlife near the runway that I can't chase them away.
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I wish we had fuel available during those hours at night, if it was I'm sure more people would fly out of there in the late evenings. The last time I left on a flight really early in the morning I had to fly over to Greenwood Lake for self serve and then began my trip ftl
 
Sac Arrow said:
I've noticed that the KHAF ops staff are often vigilant in enforcing the traffic pattern.
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Is that a weekend thing? I go there a lot, and have never heard a single word out of them, but I usually avoid flying on weekends.
 
coloradobluesky said:
The other day I heard the crew on a jet coming in asked the FBO on the Unicom to order 2 large supreme pizzas for them, delivered.
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What's wrong with that? Corporate pilots gotta eat too...
 
coloradobluesky said:
The other day I heard the crew on a jet coming in asked the FBO on the Unicom to order 2 large supreme pizzas for them, delivered.
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Perfectly ok as long as it is secondary to the other uses of unicom:


47 CFR § 87.213 Scope of service.

 (a) An aeronautical advisory station (unicom) must provide service to any aircraft station upon request and without discrimination. A unicom must provide impartial information concerning available ground services.
(b)
(1) Unicom transmissions must be limited to the necessities of safe and expeditious operation of aircraft such as condition of runways, types of fuel available, wind conditions, weather information, dispatching, or other necessary information. At any airport at which a control tower, control tower remote communications outlet station (RCO) or FAA flight service station is located, unicoms must not transmit information pertaining to the conditions of runways, wind conditions, or weather information during the hours of operation of the control tower, RCO or FAA service station.
(2) On a secondary basis, unicoms may transmit communications which pertain to the efficient portal-to-portal transit of an aircraft, such as requests for ground transportation, food or lodging.
(3) Communications between unicoms and air carrier must be limited to the necessities of safety of life and property.
(4) Unicoms may communicate with aeronautical utility stations and ground vehicles concerning runway conditions and safety hazards on the airport when neither a control tower nor FAA flight service station is in operation.


The same CFR section also contains a nugget for those amateur controllers who like to direct traffic and admonish people for entering the pattern in a way they do not approve of:



(c) Unicoms must not be used for air traffic control (ATC) purposes other than to relay ATC information between the pilot and air traffic controller. Relaying of ATC information is limited to the following:
(1) Revisions of proposed departure time;
(2) Takeoff, arrival or flight plan cancellation time;
(3) ATC clearances, provided a letter of agreement is obtained from the FAA by the licensee of the unicom.
[53 FR 28940, Aug. 1, 1988, as amended at 55 FR 30464, July 26, 1990]
 
My father runs an FBO and he goes back to the days when you had weather observers that would call in METARs. To this day he is still asked to provide weather to the airline if the ASOS is down. Without a "real observation"(not sure the technical term) the airline cannot land or depart.
 
Back in the day there were no METARs. Hell, you'd be lucky if you had a SA.
 
Current winds, wildlife and any other observation seems prudent..... My guess is if an accident happened, the lawyers would have a field day with you during deposition.....

Liability exposure is not getting any better...:no::redface::redface:
 
On the other side of the coin...

I just love it when a pilot tries to raise someone at the FBO...repeatedly...repeatedly...repeatedly...for an airport advisory when there is an AWOS/ASOS frequency. I always want to tell them to get a clue but typically hold my tongue.

Typically. :)
 
N918KT said:
Hey everyone, I have a quick question to anyone who works in airport ops at an airport without an air traffic control tower or a part time control tower when the tower is closed. What is the role of airport ops in regards to air traffic? I would assume they do not have the power to direct air traffic or issue ATC instructions to pilots, correct? But do they have the power to advise pilots of the conditions at the airport, any NOTAMs they issued, any wildlife they should be on the lookout for on the CTAF or UNICOM, etc? In other words, do airport ops at non-towered airports or part time towered airports just advise and assist pilots over the radio frequency?
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Typically, if anything, they man Unicom/CTAF, pass on wind check and runway advisories, altimeter settings, and take any fuel or catering orders. Sometimes at private airports they issue permission to land, Avalon is like that, so is Ocean Reef Club, and a couple others I can think of, but they don't do any traffic handling, you're still own nav. Without permission or an emergency, landing isn't advised. Catalina is just bitching out and a penalty, Ocean Reef has been rumored to have kept an interlopers plane.
 
SkyDog58 said:
Which is fine if you are making the call to Smallsville Unicom for ground based assistance from the FBO. But if you are calling Smallsville Traffic on the same freq, she should not answer.

But then if she is hot, who cares?
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As long as she gets the pizza order right.
 
timwinters said:
On the other side of the coin...

I just love it when a pilot tries to raise someone at the FBO...repeatedly...repeatedly...repeatedly...for an airport advisory when there is an AWOS/ASOS frequency. I always want to tell them to get a clue but typically hold my tongue.

Typically. :)
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Giving them the AWOS/ASOS frequency might be a constructive thing to do, especially if it is done without snarkiness.
 
I've noticed that the KHAF ops staff are often vigilant in enforcing the traffic pattern.
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I was there on Saturday with quite a few planes in the pattern, and then on departure, we were stacked up later in the afternoon... not a peep

 
Henning said:
Typically, if anything, they man Unicom/CTAF, pass on wind check and runway advisories, altimeter settings, and take any fuel or catering orders. Sometimes at private airports they issue permission to land, Avalon is like that, so is Ocean Reef Club, and a couple others I can think of, but they don't do any traffic handling, you're still own nav. Without permission or an emergency, landing isn't advised. Catalina is just bitching out and a penalty, Ocean Reef has been rumored to have kept an interlopers plane.
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I can confirm that...
 
Airport operators always have the "Highway Department" function (maintain and improve the airport) but absolutely no "Highway Patrol" (ATC) function. At many airports, staff also has the "Flying J" (FBO) function. I don't respond to unicom calls unless addressed. I provide advisories concerning unusual , or maybe not so unusual, conditions such as wildlife on or near the runway.

I do direct aircraft to parking and it is helpful if the pilot lets us know his intentions. We have the fueling line/short stay area with no tie downs, a cable tie down area, and embedded tie down area for larger planes and open shade hangars. It is also a little aggravating when we go out in foul weather to park a plane and he doesn't even come on the ramp but taxis back.

We also have the "Flying J" function so we do everything we can to make the ground experience a pleasant one.

I shouldn't have written this in the present tense. I retired 7 months ago.
 
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