ForeFlight Mobile app users can now receive pre-departure clearances (PDC) and digital-automatic terminal information service (D-ATIS) messages via text and email via a partnership with Satcom Direct. PDCs are available at more than 70 airports in North America, and once signed up for the ForeFlight service, pilots can receive D-ATIS and PDC messages 30 minutes or sooner before departure time.

“PDCs are official text clearances issued for U.S. IFR flight plans, and include the filed route, the cleared altitude, transponder code, departure frequency, and any special instructions,” according to ForeFlight. Using the PDC service eliminates the need for pilots to contact clearance delivery via radio. For clearance changes, however, pilots do need to contact clearance delivery.

“These two valuable tools make flight and avionics setup efficient by eliminating a set of radio communications, they reduce controller workload, and help get the aircraft to the runway faster, which improves on-time performance,” said ForeFlight co-founder and CEO Tyson Weihs.

The PDC and D-ATIS features are available for no additional charge for ForeFlight Performance Plus and Business Performance subscribers. To activate the PDC process, ForeFlight users need to send an email to success@foreflight.com or enable it through the ForeFlight website. The PDC is tied to a particular tail number or call sign, so anyone flying that aircraft can use PDC and “will also be expected by the FAA to use PDC and PDC-enabled airports,” according to ForeFlight.

There are some limitations to the new PDC service. Aircraft can currently receive a PDC at a particular airport only once every 18 hours. And aircraft can’t be signed up for PDC services from multiple service providers, just one at a time. The number of PDC-capable airports is growing and includes popular business aviation airports such as Teterboro, Westchester County, Burbank, Chicago Midway, and John Wayne Orange County.

ForeFlight users can use the app’s route advisor to help choose routing that is likely to be cleared as filed, as PDC clearances are only for as-filed routes. If ATC chooses different routing, then the pilot won’t receive a PDC but will get an expected route notification. “That’s where our route advisor is really helpful,” said director of marketing Angela Anderson, “because it presents the recommended route and altitude, looking at aircraft performance and also recent ATC history, so you have a good shot of getting cleared as filed.”

“The recommendations are based on the likelihood [of getting that route] and optimizing performance, winds, and weather,” said Stephen Newman, executive v-p of sales and marketing. “All of these pieces are valuable when viewed on their own, but when used together on the workflow as we have designed it in this flight planning tier, it ratchets up the value.”