How to Copy the ATIS: A Student Pilot's Guide

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<div class="mb mb-summary" style="--mb-accent:#5c6b7e;--mb-on-accent:#ffffff"><p class="mb-label">In short</p><p>To copy the ATIS, listen to the recorded broadcast, write down each element in order (information letter, time, wind, visibility, weather, temperature, altimeter, and runway/NOTAM info) using standard shorthand, then read the information letter back to ATC when you check in. Practising with a written format card speeds this up until it becomes automatic.</p></div>

Every flight, from a first solo to an airline operation, starts with the same small task: figuring out what the airport conditions are before you key the mic. Student pilots often freeze the first few times they try this, because the broadcast moves fast and doesn't wait for anyone. Knowing how to copy the ATIS calmly, without missing a number, is one of the first real skills that separates a confident radio call from a stumbling one.

In this article

• Why Copying the ATIS Matters
• The ATIS Format: What You'll Hear
• Step-by-Step: How to Copy the ATIS
• Common Mistakes Student Pilots Make
• Practice Makes It Automatic
• Where ATCpal Fits
• More Users: Start Practicing Today

The Automatic Terminal Information Service exists so pilots arrive at a controlled airport already knowing the wind, weather, and active runway. Controllers expect you to have this information before you call, and they'll often ask "do you have information Alpha?" If the answer is no, that's an extra radio exchange, more time on frequency, and more room for mistakes under pressure.

ATIS broadcasts follow a fixed order. Once you know the order, you can write faster because you already know what's coming next.

Letter, Field, and Time

The broadcast opens with the airport name, the phonetic information letter (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and so on), and the time the observation was taken, usually in Zulu time.

Weather Elements

Next comes wind direction and speed, visibility, sky condition, temperature, dew point, and the altimeter setting. These arrive in a strict sequence every time, which is part of why memorizing the order pays off.

Runway and NOTAM Info

The broadcast finishes with the active runway, any approach in use, and relevant NOTAMs such as closed taxiways or equipment outages.

Use a Standard Shorthand

Trying to write full words while a recording talks over you is a losing game. Use short symbols: an arrow for wind direction, "VIS" for visibility, "SKC" for sky clear. A reference sheet of common aviation and ATC abbreviations is worth keeping on your kneeboard until the shorthand becomes second nature.

Write Numbers as Numbers

Write wind speed, altimeter, and temperature as digits, not words. This keeps your notes compact and easy to scan when you're reading them back or briefing a controller.

Read Back the Information Letter

Once you've copied the ATIS, confirm it on your first call: "Request, with information Bravo." This tells the controller you have current data and saves a back-and-forth exchange. A full walkthrough, including a printable format card, is available in the guide to copying the ATIS.

The most frequent errors are missing the altimeter setting, confusing magnetic and true wind direction, and failing to update notes when a new ATIS cycle starts. Writing the information letter first, before anything else, helps you catch outdated broadcasts before they cause a problem on frequency.

Copying the ATIS gets faster with repetition, not with memorizing a trick. The skill is really about pattern recognition: once your ear knows the sequence, your hand writes almost without thinking.

Mic fright is often worse than the ATIS itself, and it rarely goes away just from reading about phraseology. ATCpal lets student pilots practice talking out loud with an AI controller and get every readback graded right, not guessed. Instead of a language model's subjective call on whether you were close, ATCpal checks your words against a fixed FAA answer key using deterministic, token-exact matching, so you know exactly which elements you dropped. With 201 lessons across 11 phases of flight and a dashboard that tracks clean-readback rate over time, ATIS copying becomes one more rep instead of one more source of mic fright.

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