Phraseology for Standard Instrument Departure (SID) and Standard Arrival (STAR) procedures has, over time, diverged from that originally published in Doc 4444 PANS-ATM and Doc 9432 Manual of Radiotelophony, and this has the potential to confuse air traffic controllers and pilots alike, introducing safety risks.

ICAO continually seeks to improve worldwide aviation standards, so in order to resolve this issue, they have published Amendment 7 to PANS ATM. This introduces changes to SID and STAR procedures, primarily through the use of new phraseology. The amendment anticipates a worldwide implementation of 12 months from 10 November 2016. However, the UK's implementation is not expected to be completed before late 2017. This has been notified in UK AIP GEN 1.7 as at AIRAC 12/2016 (effective 10 November 2016).

During this period, pilots should expect to encounter the revised phraseology as it is progressively introduced elsewhere in the world, and will be expected to understand and react correctly to its use. Controllers also need to be aware of the potential for visiting foreign aircraft operators and their pilots to expect this phraseology as they may have been exposed to its use elsewhere and may not be aware of the UK's implementation plans.