DUATS cancelled

[John Gaitskill]

I understand the last DUATS access will end in May. Leido will be the only FSS access. I do like the website. It has a lot of features, especially for those of us who haven't been seduced by the Ipad. From FAASafety.gov:

FAA Safety Team | Safer Skies Through Education

Flight Service Transitions to Leidos Pilot Web Portal Notice Number: NOTC7670 Flight Service Transitions to Leidos Pilot Web Portal The FAA will discontinue the Direct User Access Terminal Service (DUATS II) Program, effective May 16, 2018. Internet services, including access to weather and aeronautical information, flight plan filing and automated services will remain available at no charge to pilots at www.1800wxbrief.com. To continue to receive free services, users are encouraged to register with www.1800wxbrief.com. Over the next 60 days, the FAA will work with current DUATS II providers on transition activities, including conducting pilot outreach, establishing commercial interfaces, and providing user migration assistance. Please contact FAA Flight Service at our customer feedback website if you have any questions.https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org...fs/contact_us/

[John O'Shaughnessy [FCM]]

It was great while it lasted. What a pleasure when it was first introduced! A few years back I switched to the native ForeFlight method of filing flight plans and getting weather briefings.

[Dave Siciliano]

Yes, I recall when it really made the process simpler and provided a lot of great information. Foreflight is what I pretty much use and Fltplan.com

[Stephanie Belser]

I'd grumble if I was still flying. I've been using DUATS since it was introduced. It was a great thing when Lock Mart took over the FSS system and completely frakked everything up.

[Scott Dyer HPN/NY]

I understand the last DUATS access will end in May. Leido will be the only FSS access.

Thanks for mentioning this, John. I'll be sorry to see it go, I liked the pure text briefings for quick updates, and recall the furor back in the early 90s (?) when there was a risk FAA would cancel both Duat provider contracts. I think I did an AvCon article on it back then. Guess I'll have to reconfigure Forelight to use the non-DUATS source.

[A. Niemyer]

I should ask Jepps, which still, bless them, supports their Windoze-based flight planning program, what their plan is. It uses DUATS for the weather-briefing part of the program. It's the sole remaining Windows-only flight planning tool I use; I like the outputs and in cross-country season still fire up my coal-fired windows laptop to run it.

Best,
Andy

[John Gaitskill]

I've been using LM then Leido for briefings and flight plans: www.afss.com Set up an account with them, open-close flight plans with text, registered my Delorme with them and they track me and send weather updates. The briefing works very well I think, combination text and graphics.