DUATS

Direct User Access Terminal Service (DUATS) was a weather information and flight plan processing service contracted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 1989^[1] for use by United States civil pilots and other authorized users. The DUAT Service was a telephone- and Internet-based system which allowed the pilot to use a personal computer for access to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) database to obtain weather and aeronautical information and to file, amend, and cancel domestic IFR and VFR flight plans. DUATS provided direct access to weather information via a National Airspace System (NAS) Data Interchange Network II (NADIN-II) interface to the Weather Message Switching Center Replacement (WMSCR) System and the Air traffic control (ATC) Facilities for filing flight plans. The pilot users could interface DUAT Services via the FTS-2001 toll free telephone numbers or via an Internet Interface into the Contractor's Facility. The service could be accessed by direct dial (using a terminal emulator like HyperTerminal), and the Internet via Telnet or HTTP.

The last DUATS service contractor was CSRA, formerly known as Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC).

Some commonly used services that DUATS provided were flight planning, flight plan filing and closing, and retrieving aviation weather, both alphanumeric and graphic, and NOTAM information, although the full list was much longer. DUATS was available free of charge to all registered U.S. pilots and student pilots who hold a current medical certificate, as well as flight instructors, ground instructors, glider and balloon pilots, and other members of the aviation community.

The FAA announced that DUATS would shut down effective May 16, 2018, recommending the 1800wxbrief.com website as an alternative.^[2] However, widespread adoption of EFB (Electronic flight bag) mobile applications has largely replaced functions provided by the service. The duats.com website is defunct, the domain name now owned by a promotional service.