FAA Makes NOTAMs More Masculine, Adopts “Gulf Of America” Naming

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) under the Trump administration has just published a couple of updates. With this, important safety notices for pilots will no longer be gender neutral, and Trump’s renaming of mountains and bodies of water will be reflected in official FAA charts, in order to double down on “American greatness.”

FAA updates NOTAMs, “Airmen” replace “Air Missions”

NOTAMs are notices to pilots, whereby pilots can be issued important safety advisories, whether it’s regarding a closed runway, or restricted airspace. Historically, the term NOTAM has stood for “Notice to Airmen.” However, in 2021, while Biden was president, the FAA updated that to “Notice to Air Missions.”

The FAA under Trump has now reversed that decision, as of February 2025. Per the bulletin:

Effective immediately, the term Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) is being changed to Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), and the title of FAA Order 7930.2 is being changed to “Notice to Airmen NOTAM).” All directives/publications referring to FAA Order 7930.2 must be updated as soon as practicable to reflect the order’s title. FAA Order 7930.2 will be updated as quickly as possible to reflect this change.

For what it’s worth, these advisories are almost always referred to as “NOTAMs” rather than by the full name of what they stand for, so the implications here will be quite limited. Clearly this is more symbolic, just as the change was in the first place, under Biden.

When the FAA under Biden decided to change the term “Airmen” to “Air Missions,” the goal was to be more inclusive with language. The reality is that the pilot profession has historically been dominated by men, and the idea is that language matters. If there’s an opportunity to be more inclusive, especially without taking something away from someone else, why not do it?

Meanwhile the FAA under Trump is obviously going in the opposite direction. The Trump administration has been heavily focused on battling “wokeness” and “DEI,” so clearly views this as being part of the problem.

FAA updates charts for Gulf of America, Mount McKinley

NOTAMs being updated from “Air Missions” to “Airmen” isn’t the only update under Trump’s FAA. The FAA has also announced changes to the charts that it uses, including geographic name changes. Specifically, official FAA charts will be updated to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, and for Mount Denali to be renamed as Mount McKinley.

This update reflects Trump’s recent executive order. Per the bulletin:

Please be advised that the FAA is in the process of updating our data and charts to show a name change from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and a name change from Denali to Mount McKinley. This will be targeted for the next publication cycle.

This Charting Notice implements President Trump’s direction in Executive Order 14172, “restoring Names That Honor American Greatness,” that the names be changed.

Bottom line

The FAA has just issued some updates, which impact NOTAMs and navigation charts. NOTAMs are becoming more gender specific again, with “Airmen” replacing “Air Missions.” On top of that, FAA charts are being updated to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, and to rename Mount Denali as Mount McKinley.

I have nothing constructive to add here (I’m proud of myself for the level of restraint I’m exercising, to be honest!), but rather am just reporting the details…