Your company rules regarding required hourly weather...

[AcarsMe]

Question for all of you.....what is your company's policy regarding being able to depart/land at an airport where the Metar may be missing certain values like altimeter or temperature? Do you have any kind of provision to use an airport's weather that is within a certain radius?

 

[pilotyip]

For destination filing we can use the area forecast if it is VFR, if it is marginal we purchase a custom forecast from Jepps for that airport. We can never use another airports wx, except altimeter when so noted on the approach plate.

 

[uhdt]

For destination filing we can use the area forecast if it is VFR, if it is marginal we purchase a custom forecast from Jepps for that airport. We can never use another airports wx, except altimeter when so noted on the approach plate.

That use to be true, however the local Federals changed things...you have to have a forecast, or be less than an hour out so that the Metar can be used. I use to work across the field, and they (Feds) decided upon that last May when we were doing proving runs. That's why KYIP reports a TAF now.
Remember....they aren't happy until you're not happy....

 

[AcarsMe]

We aren't even allowed to release a flight unless we have the temperature and altimeter for that exact airport on either the departure or arrival side of things, even though there may be a perfectly good altimeter report from an airport only a few miles away. From my understanding some airlines have exemptions that allow for use of an altimeter/temp from an airport within a certain radius.

 

[NoApu]

The new XJET allows for certain exceptions for items missing in a metar. We may use temperature reported at airports within 50NM as long as we add 3 degrees for observations no more than 25NM away and 5 degrees for observations between 25 and up to 50NM away. In both cases the temperature can not be lower than 10 degrees C and we are not allowed to use another observation if there is any kind of frontal activity between the two airports. We can depart with no wind information based on zero wind as long as there is a windsock indicating wind direction. In some cases the altimeter can be missing as long as the approach gives minimums based on a nearby field for that arrival only or any runway departing if there is an approach that allows for a nearby altimeter. Dewpoint may be missing without exception and ceiling is only required if the approach requires it. I do, however, understand that these exceptions may be going away sometime in the future.

 

[SKC]

We can use temp/dewpt at nearby airports that are designated by our DO.

 

[alpine1989]

METAR not required by reg.

121.613

reports "or" forecast

 

[OneBadLT123]

Not needed for release.

Now, when computing our preflight weight analysis, we need to do our "due diligence" when using fcst temperature, and historical data to make sure we are not over weight.

Most of the airports we fly to have a control tower, and rarely do we fly to airports after hours of operation so it really isn't an issue most of the time. The crew will get the latest wx from the controllers anyway. If it is an issue, we need to make sure the crew would be able to obtain the latest weather on ETA

Now, at the old company it was that "well it doesn't say anywhere we cant use a nearby airport so lets use it" mentality.

 

[NoApu]

METAR not required by reg.

121.613

reports "or" forecast

While it's true that a METAR may not be required to release a flight most carriers require that the PIC and dispatcher must have a reasonable expectation to have a report available before the pilots can initiate an approach. Our policies at XJet state that a current and complete report must be available from an approved source with only very specific exceptions. This policy is approved by the FAA in our OpsSpecs Part A010 and cites 14 CFR Parts 121.97, 121.101, 121.117, 121.561, 121.601(a), 121.601(c), 121.603, & 121.613.

 

[AcarsMe]

I just don't understand why their can't be a universal exception to the temp or altimeter setting being missing. I don't know if I have ever seen a significant difference in altimeter or temperature settings between airports that were within a relatively short distance of each other. It's frustrating to take a delay on a flight for something like this. Seems like different rules and exceptions apply depending on your FSDO, even though we are all 121 carriers.