# Airman's/Aeronautical Information Manual

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airmans-aeronautical-information-manual/599067>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 9, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airmans-aeronautical-information-manual/599067 "2011-10-09T14:42:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airmans-aeronautical-information-manual/599067/1 "2011-10-09T14:42:44Z")

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From another thread:

> [@Legal meaning of "should" vs "shall"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-meaning-of-should-vs-shall/551394/14):
>
> One of the means for the Authority to authorize various things and to expand on the regs is the AIP which is a manual for pilots that provides a mixture of mandatory practices based on the rules, recommended practices, and general information of use to pilots.

I didn’t ask, but that sounds similar to the AIM we have here. That led me to this question: What does AIM stand for?

When I started flying, I’m sure it was _Airman’s Information Manual_. Some time ago I saw it being called the _Aeronautical Information Manual_. Is my memory incorrect, and the AIM has always been _Aeronautical Information Manual_? Or did it change at some point? ‘Airman’ has a long tradition of use in the aviation community. I can see that women might object to the term, and the meaning of AIM may have changed to become more inclusive.

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airmans-aeronautical-information-manual/599067/2 "2011-10-09T15:09:06Z")

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You nailed it. The term “airman” was determined to be sexist & has been largely expunged from the regs & other pubs. IIRC it was about the late 1980s when Airman’s Information Manual became Aeronautical Information Manual.

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**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airmans-aeronautical-information-manual/599067/3 "2011-10-09T15:24:24Z")

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However, we still have NOTAMs, which is short for “NOtices To AirMen”, preserving the sexist usage.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airmans-aeronautical-information-manual/599067/4 "2011-10-09T15:25:02Z")

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It’s good to see that my memory is intact. And it will stay that way, knock on…

Come in!

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**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airmans-aeronautical-information-manual/599067/5 "2011-10-09T15:32:17Z")

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> [@hibernicus](#):
>
> However, we still have NOTAMs, which is short for “NOtices To AirMen”, preserving the sexist usage.

They’ll probably start saying it means “NOtices To Aeronautical community Members”

There’s a gravel garden at the gate of a NASA center I frequent. It used to say “FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL MANKIND” but someone took a rake to it and now it says “FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL \*\*\*\*\*\*\*”