Within UK FIS the term Basic Service (BS) is widely misunderstood by UK VFR pilots and not understood at all by all non-UK pilots. Whilst we are given to understand that the UK BS complies with the ICAO definition for a Flight Information Service the UK-only title is often mistaken for a service in which some form of surveillance is available. This causes confusion within the UK FIR and beyond when UK pilots use UK-specific terminology. It is cited in the UKAB AIRPROX Magazine 2014 on page 45; ”a misunderstanding of the ATSOCAS regulations seemed to be a common feature of many AIRPROX”.
This could be resolved at a stroke by renaming ATSOCAS to adopt ICAO nomenclature. CAP 774 should provide for services using standard ICAO service names at least in this regard.
FASVIG would seek support for a change in title from BS to FIS, propose an amendment to CAP 774 and develop options to improve understanding.
