How are flight path determined and by whom?

Question

How are flight path determined and by whom?

Answer 1

the flight path is determined at least 1 month before the flight. lets say you are going from frankfurt germany to dallas tx usa. you would go through the greenland. flight paths are always tilted towards the north and made electronically

Answer 2

Longus, for commercial aircraft, a flight plan is made, usually by a computer, reviewed by a dispatcher, and approved by the captain of the flight. It is transmitted to the FAA, and when the crew calls for clearance, the FAA gives it to them. The FAA is responsible for maintaining a clear air space around the aircraft, so its computer checks for traffic considerations.

A computer is needed to optimize fuel costs, and it considers the planned weight of the aircraft, including cargo and passengers, and fuel weight, plus winds and temperature. All of these factors make the actual route the optimum one for the flight. For a long distance flight, say between Chicago and Hong Kong, the difference between routes can be 20,000 pounds of fuel, or more.

So, it is not one person, or organization, but many that determine flight paths for commercial airliners.

For small aircraft, like the single engine props, the pilot looks at an enroute chart, picks his route and plans his fuel. He can fly VFR, visual flight rules if the weather permits, and tell the FAA that he is going VFR. He is responsible for avoiding other aircraft and the ground and obstacles along the way. He must stay in contact with the ground all along the way, that is he must be able to see the ground.

The pilot may also file an IFR  flight plan, under instrument flight rules, provided he is IRG-qualified. Then, he files an IRF flight plan with the FAA, and he can follow the airways under Air Route Traffic Control guidance, which will tell him when do change altitude and headings. The ARTC will keep him under radar survailance and warn him of any traffic conflicts, and help him land at airports that are not available for VFR operations due to weather. Some airports are not available at any time for VFR due to traffic, such as ORD, ATL, and others .

OK?

Regards,

Dan

Answer 3

Initially, all commercial flights in the US have the flight path determined by an Aircraft Dispatcher, assigned to the flight.

This is determined by several factors, but usually the most commonly used ones are "ATC pref routes".  There is a large database of routes that the FAA has determined would let traffic flow the most expidiciously from airport to airport.  When you are going into conjested  areas (DC to Boston, Chicago, Houston, Southern California, Bay Area (San Fran) you 99% of the time will use these pref routes, unless weather is an issue.

In addition, there are also several offload routes to choose from.  So, going from Florida to NY, you can file off the coast to avoid areas of heavy volume or weather enroute.

For long trips, there are some pref routes, but many flights follow NRP (National Route Program) rules.  In short, they are basically to fly coast to coast any way they want to.  There are some limitations like having to file an arrival or departure procedure on each end into busy airspace and having a waypoint on your route of flight within 200nm of entering a new Center, if not on a jetway, etc...  but for most of the flight you have a lot of flexability.  As a result, on these routes the dispatcher will look mostly at winds enroute as a factor for the route of flight.

As a rule of thumb, you have many more choices:

(a) the farther you fly

(b) the higher you can go

(c) the less busy airspace you are operating into.

Enroute, if there is going to be a change made by the Captain, it is most usually due to turbulence in terms of alttude and a lateral change would most likely to get a little shortcut on the route.

If the flight is not dispatched under part 121, depending on the size of the operation (as small as just you wanting to fly to a friends house) the pilot will plan the route.

This is done using online tools which can provide you routing (AOPA, Flightaware, DUATS) as well as enroute charts and ATC pref routes located in the AFD (Airport Facilities Directory).  The choices for the routeing there are the same as above... winds aloft, weather, ATC pref routing, etc....

I hope this helps answer your question.

Answer 4

The flight path is determined by the guy who is responsible for the flight. That would be the pilot. Air traffic controllers don't really control airplanes, pilots do.

Answer 5

the FAA determines flight paths in the USA and there are international agreements on use of air space. The actual travel path, in other words.

Recently, the FAA indicated they would open up more flight paths and airspace to commercial jet liners that had only been reserved for military transport, to ease the congestion of commercial flights.

The flight on arrival is determined by the air traffic controller, to avoid collisions. However, they have very select flight paths onto which they can tell pilots to navigate to.

Answer 6

It depends on the type of flight.

For an IFR (instrument flight rules) flight, a flight plan must be filed in advance. This includes your desired route.   When the plan is ready to depart, the pilot contacts a ground controller for the route that the plane is cleared to fly. Some times that is the same route requested ("cleared as filed"), often is is changed to accommodate other traffic.  Once airborne, the clearance may be changed by ATC.   For some shorter flights, and once close to your destination airport, the controller will start "vectoring" the plane - telling the pilot which  way to steer the plane ( turn  right to 270, turn left 20 degrees, etc).

   For a flight under VFR (visual flight rules) most of the time the pilot can chose any path they feel like flying. A flight plan is not required.  They still must follow ATC commands when in the different types of controlled airspace that surrounds larger airports.  

   All airline flights operate under IFR. Private aircraft may operate under IFR or VFR, but VFR is restricted to when weather allows reasonable visibility and lower altitudes.

Answer 7

Well said John.  The PIC/Captain is in charge.  The Feds may not like it, but he has total control.

Answer 8

The flight path are put in the computer

Answer 9

You or an airline can request a particular path, but the FAA system can either allow you to go that way or give you a different route depending on traffic.  I am assuming you are talking flying above 18,000 feet.

Answer 10

i think that the air line govemert thinks up the flight paths

Answer 11

I determine mine. ATC may not like it but they'll get over it.