Party line
Real-time pilot reports in the flight levels
By: J. Mac Mclellan
Every good weather briefing includes pireps. Those are pilot reports of turbulence, cloud cover, icing, and other flight conditions that have made their way through the weather reporting system. And they are useful for planning. But pilots of turbine airplanes benefit from a constant exchange of flight condition reports that are useful when it matters most—in flight.
I’m not sure why this is true, but pilots of piston-powered airplanes just don’t have the same well-developed and universal exchange of information that happens for those flying almost entirely in the flight levels.
Maybe the information exchange at the piston airplane levels is constrained by the limited altitude capability available. Most piston flying is contained in the altitudes between about 3,000 feet and 10,000 feet. When there’s turbulence, for example, in that rather narrow band of cruise altitudes there aren’t many options to climb or descend to find smooth air.
More likely, I suspect, the reason the party line is universal for turbine pilots is that pilots of turbine airplanes fly IFR all the time, are always in the system, and have become comfortable and dependent on both the controllers and their fellow pilots.
What separates the turbine pilot party line from the formalized pirep system is the constant flow of real-time information about both good and bad flying conditions. Controllers act as the moderators of the party line, and also as the old-fashioned telephone party line gossips who make sure the latest news gets passed along to everyone on the frequency.
The controllers’ job as news gatherers is most obvious during the early morning. Pilots are just entering the system, and the ATC positions that had been consolidated overnight are being divided up again for the daytime rush. Both controllers and pilots have only forecasts of conditions, but no real-world experience of others to rely on.
Controllers act as the moderators of the party line, and also as the old-fashioned telephone party line gossips who make sure the latest news gets passed on to everyone on the frequency.If weather conditions are at all in doubt, controllers start their morning shift asking pilots who check in on the frequency about their ride conditions. Before long, controllers have a handle on the weather and greet pilots who call in with the news that “rides are smooth,” or “expect only moderate chop,” or “turbulence reported” between such and such flight levels ahead.
Pilots check in with their own comments such as “smooth ride” or “occasional light chop,” and sometimes conditions much worse. They and controllers eventually come to understand the flight conditions around them.
But the situation is often fluid. Some crew may find bumps or ice that nobody had encountered yet, and they report that to the controller. That prompts the controller to both pass on the news and also to query crews who are flying near the new report of unfavorable conditions.
Then there are the days—too many, it seems like—when the controllers run out of new news, or patience, or both, and welcome each new crew that checks on with “turbulence reported at all altitudes.” So, keep the seat belt sign on and let your passengers know it’s probably going to be bumpy for a while.
As controllers have time, they will enter the data to create an actual pirep that can be read across the weather reporting network. And they always create a pirep for any significant threat to safety such as severe turbulence, moderate or greater icing, strong mountain waves, and low-altitude wind shear.
Controllers’ standard practice is to pass on any report of severe conditions even when they are very busy. Also, pilots are expected to report any severe conditions so they can be passed on. The routine commentary on ride conditions is carried on as time permits, but there is almost always frequency time available to share the news.
On those not too common but so welcome days when broad areas of the country have clear and smooth air at almost all altitudes the party line quiets down. But when you do find some unfavorable conditions it’s the polite thing to pass on that news. In the flight levels we’re all in it together to give our passengers the smoothest and safest possible ride. So, be sure to join in and share your experience, whenever it’s not good, but also when you’ve found that smooth ride we’re all looking for. 
J. Mac McClellan is a corporate pilot with more than 12,000 hours and a retired aviation magazine editor living in Grand Haven, Michigan.
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