Operational Information System (OIS)

The OIS is a web page managed by the ATCSCC that provides current information to customers about the status of the National Airspace System (NAS). It can be found at http://www.fly.faa.gov/ois/.

The OIS displays information on numerous subjects pertinent to the NAS, including ground delay programs (GDP), ground stops (GS), airport closures, deicing, delays, etc.

Users can find assistance with interpretation of the OIS by clicking on the ‘Help’ buttons in the various fields on the page.

• There is a GDP at New York (JFK) in effect beginning at 2000z and ending at 0159z.
  • The program’s scope is based on distance – flights departing from airports within 1000 miles of JFK, plus flights from any of the eastern Canadian centers, that are destined for JFK will be included in the program. Learn more about on scope.
  • The reason for the program is weather, specifically wind.
  • The average delay (AVG) is 37 minutes.
  • The Airport Acceptance Rate (AAR), or the number of flights that JFK is able to accept at this time is 42.
  • The program rate (PR) is also 42 – this is the rate that this GDP has been designed to deliver to JFK.
  • The details of the GDP are in Advisory 014. Learn more about the FAA Advisory Database.
  • The DA (Delay Assignment) link will take users to a chart showing the number of delays per 15 minute increment.
• There is also a San Francisco (SFO) ground stop in effect. Ground stops are laid out on the OIS a bit differently than GDPs. The main differences are the ‘Update’ field and the “POE’ field.
  • The update for this ground stop is 1800z. This time is not necessarily the time at which the ground stop will end, but is simply the time at which ATC will evaluate whether to extend it or cancel it.
  • The POE field (Probability of Extension) indicates a medium probability of being extended (this field can also show either a low or a high probability that the stop will be extended).
  • The scope field is similar to that for the GDPs. For this ground stop, it indicates that any traffic departing for SFO from either Oakland Center (ZOA) or Los Angeles Center (ZLA) will not be allowed to depart until the stop has been lifted.
  • The reason for this ground stop is low visibility
  • The details can be found in Advisory 017.
• There are departure delays (DD) of 15 minutes and decreasing out of Detroit (DTW), reported at 1745z, due to low ceilings/low visibility. There are no arrival delays (AD) reported. Note that the OIS does not always refresh these delays in a timely fashion. Therefore pay attention to the time the delays were reported – you may be looking at very old information.
• There are no airport closures at this time.
• There are de-icing delays at Detroit (DTW) at this time, which began on November 24th at 1527z.
• There are no runway or equipment closures being reported at this time.
• The next planning telcon will take place at 1815z. This is significant to watch because it is common for significant changes to be made to existing programs, or for new programs to be implemented, after the telcons.

It is important to note that, while the OIS gives a national overview of the NAS, it does not provide all information that could affect a particular flight. It should be used in conjunction with other FAA web resources, including the Advisories Database, the Current Restrictions page, and Current Reroutes page.