And why should i collect the ATIS to then repeat the QNH? Makes no sense.
If you have ATIS you’re telling the tower in one word you have all the numbers, including the altimeter setting.
That’s what I think too. That’s the whole IDEA of ATIS.
Are ATIS messages published somewhere so they can be fetched digitally?
I’m able to get the latest METAR when airborne via the ADL120. But it can’t be used as a full replacement for an ATIS message, as the letter designation is missing, and also some other information, like runway in use, approach to expect, etc, is lacking.
Copying the ATIS is not always easy. Especially when flying single pilot in a busy traffic environment, it can be hard to copy the ATIS.
To make it worse, some countries do broadcast the ATIS both in their local language and in English, so it takes twice as long to receive a part in case you missed something…
Are ATIS messages published somewhere so they can be fetched digitally?
For Belgian ATIS’s, yes, on the Belgocontrol website. You need to be registered, though.
Aviate, navigate, communicate…
Copying the ATIS is not always easy. Especially when flying single pilot in a busy traffic environment, it can be hard to copy the ATIS.
To make it worse, some countries do broadcast the ATIS both in their local language and in English, so it takes twice as long to receive a part in case you missed something…
Yes – SP flying is not easy. I hate to pontificate uselessly especially to experienced pilots, but one needs to start way back. Sort out all potential terminal charts 100nm out, get the ATIS as soon as the radio is showing “RX” activity on the frequency (need two radios for that)…
This is why IR training is so damn hard: the enroute sector is almost nonexistent, so you can’t relax, you aren’t allowed to use the automation fully in a busy environment, and you can bet that if you ever feel that you are ahead of things and can breathe for 30 seconds, you have prob99 forgotten to do something 
And worse still if the English part of the ATIS is done in a thick French accent and is practically unreadable 
I have a number of times had to say that I was unable to understand the ATIS.
If you have ATIS you’re telling the tower in one word you have all the numbers, including the altimeter setting.
It used to be that way in Europe too, but my experience nowadays is that ATC will always pass you the QNH anyway. As Peter says, you should to get the ATIS as the earliest possible opportunity — long before you typically change from standard setting to QNH, so it is possible that it happened a bit too often that pilots just forgot.
What an interesting discussion evolved from this rather simple technical question.
I have limited experience, but I tend to be with @Silvaire and @Peter on this one. Maybe it’s because my initial training was in the US and I cannot comment on the workflow in IFR operations – but for the typical VFR flight, I think it’s a matter of good airmanship to always copy the ATIS if available and if safely possible (obviously following A-N-C as @boscomantico suggested – so there may be situations that forbid the pilot to listen to the ATIS in a busy situation and surely that won’t be a problem for any decent controller).
I’m a bit offended in a slightly tongue-in-cheek way if I receive the QNH after having passed the ATIS code. That’s just redundant.
get the ATIS as soon as the radio is showing “RX” activity on the frequency (need two radios for that)…
I’m not sure I agree with that. The earlier I listen to the ATIS, the more likely it will be outdated by the time I make the initial call. In fact, I prepare for the ATIS as early as possible (i.e. have the frequency on standby, etc.) but I will listen to it as late as possible with some buffer.
I’ve had the situation (landing in LYBE) that I came in with an outdated ATIS and the runway direction had changed during that time. Wasn’t a huge problem, but caused some confusion in an unfamiliar environment after a long flight…
I’m a bit offended in a slightly tongue-in-cheek way if I receive the QNH after having passed the ATIS code. That’s just redundant.
Don’t be offended. They have to do that. The QNH is just too important (less so for VFR, but certainly for IFR).
I came in with an outdated ATIS and the runway direction had changed during that time.
Not necessarily a matter of the ATIS being outdated. It happes frequently that a different runway gets used than the one on the ATIS. It’s tactical decision by both ATC and crew.
The earlier I listen to the ATIS, the more likely it will be outdated by the time I make the initial call.
Sure, but it could change anytime. So you never actually throw away the printouts for the approaches to the opposite runway, etc.
99% of the time it doesn’t change (materially) and you have saved everybody lots of work.
Again, and I hate pompous one-liners like this (some pilot forums are full of them), getting the ATIS is a part of being ahead of the aircraft. The less potential for surprises, the fewer surprises you will get. The approach phase is the highest workload phase of all. It’s like setting up the radios and navs, identing the nav sources, etc, as soon as they are receivable.
Let’s say you are going on a date and you are meeting up your gurl somewhere at 8pm, if you text her at 6pm to check all is OK, it can save you a wasted date if you wrote down the original time wrongly because she is a pilot and gave it to you in UTC
