FAA AIM Change 3: four practical updates for pilots

The FAA's Aeronautical Information Manual dated 9 July 2026 includes Change 3. It is worth downloading or bookmarking the current edition instead of depending on a saved copy from an earlier cycle.

Items that stand out

• References to authorisation B054 have been updated to B036.
• Prior-permission-required conditions can be applied to civil airports through NOTAM.
• When flying VFR while following an IFR procedure, the AIM now advises loading intended GPS waypoints while on the ground.
• Missed-approach wording has been revised, so pilots should review the current procedure and ATC expectations.

The bigger lesson

A change page is a prompt, not a substitute for the full publication. Check the current chart, procedure, NOTAMs and aircraft navigation approval for the flight you are planning.

What this means in practice

The AIM change record helps a pilot locate altered material, but the operational meaning sits in the amended paragraph and in the procedure, chart or authorisation that applies to the flight. A bullet-point summary can identify where to look; it cannot preserve the definitions, exceptions and cross-references that make an instruction usable.

This matters most when software makes an old workflow feel normal. A saved route, avionics profile or company note may continue to produce a plausible plan after the governing publication changes. Version awareness should therefore extend beyond the document itself to the tools and local material that were built from it.

A verification workflow

• Open the current AIM change page and follow each relevant item into the full amended section.
• Check the current chart, procedure and NOTAM rather than applying a general AIM sentence to a specific airport from memory.
• Review saved GPS flight plans and ground-loading habits where the change affects waypoint preparation or procedure use.
• Confirm any required authorisation against the operation's current documents instead of relying on an old identifier.
• Brief the missed-approach path, trigger and communications before descent, including what happens after an ATC instruction changes the plan.

Scenario to rehearse

A pilot loads only the destination and expects to add procedure waypoints while airborne on a VFR flight that follows an IFR procedure. Workload rises near the airport and one waypoint is misidentified. Loading and checking the intended sequence on the ground would have created time to compare names, order, altitude constraints and chart geometry before the aircraft entered a demanding phase.

Limits of this briefing

The AIM is an important FAA operational publication, but it must be read with regulations, current charts, NOTAMs, approved aircraft and navigation-system documentation, and any authorisation governing the flight. This article highlights study areas and does not reproduce the amended text.

Debrief questions

• Which amended sections directly touch the flights you conduct?
• Which local notes or saved routes were created before the change?
• Can the loaded route be independently compared with the current procedure?
• What action follows if the clearance and the expected missed approach differ?

Use the authoritative sources linked below for the complete context and check them again before making an operational decision.

Turn reading into an auditable habit

Before the next relevant flight, write down one decision this source could change, the official document that controls it and the point at which the information will be rechecked. Keep that note with the briefing rather than relying on memory. After the flight, compare what actually happened with the assumption: was the frequency available, did the route or clearance match the plan, did the system behave as expected, or did another factor matter more?

This short review prevents an article from becoming passive entertainment. It also creates a correction loop: outdated local notes can be removed, training questions can be taken to a qualified instructor, and any discrepancy can be checked against the current first-party source before it is repeated to another pilot.