How are jet routes determined when no preferred/recent routes exist?

Andrew

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Andrew
Just out of curiosity...

Example flight: KCXY > KCRW

When I search, there are no preferred/recent routes for jet routes.

Is it then simply up to a human to determine, or is there a more prescriptive way it happens?

thanks
 
Would always just simply file for the shortest route. VERY rarely changed.

Caveat… LONG time ago.
 
Would always just simply file for the shortest route. VERY rarely changed.

Caveat… LONG time ago.
Thanks - assume that's what the person responsible would be doing, then, given 1) no existing specified routing is found, and 2) weather, fuel, tfrs, etc. are checked.
 
Garmin Pilot has some prior planned routes.

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Thanks - I don't use Garmin Pilot... are these routes only available to those filing using Garmin Pilot?
 
Just out of curiosity...

Example flight: KCXY > KCRW

When I search, there are no preferred/recent routes for jet routes.

Is it then simply up to a human to determine, or is there a more prescriptive way it happens?

thanks
Are you wondering what you should file? Or how ATC decides what Clearance to give you?
 
On fltplan.com " HAR V377 HGR MRB J6 HVQ" is the most common. On the return " EKN ESL SCAPE " or just "SCAPE" are tied.
 
FlyQ had them too.

the FAA makes them available. I’ve not dug enough to find the source.
 
Just file direct, they will tell you what they want if needed lol… Do this on the regular.
 
Are you wondering what you should file? Or how ATC decides what Clearance to give you?
How ATC decides it, which I guess could also inform how I file.... but mostly how it's determined.

Recent routes is obvious, just a matter of finding it.

But this also goes for flying into or out of an airport where you'd likely be at least partially on a well-established series of legs that aren't prescribed by an existing chart of some type.
 
How ATC decides it, which I guess could also inform how I file.... but mostly how it's determined.

Recent routes is obvious, just a matter of finding it.

But this also goes for flying into or out of an airport where you'd likely be at least partially on a well-established series of legs that aren't prescribed by an existing chart of some type.
A lot of factors go into what ATC gives you. Weather, SUA activity and other factors can change the, for lack of a better word, the basic plan. Routes to be assigned can be covered in Letters of Agreement between facilities. There are 'preferential routings.' These are available in The Chart Supplement for many 'airport pairs.' The more commonly used ones. You wouldn't expect to find that for a short flight like KCXY KCRW. Things like Foreflights Route Advisor can give you a good guess of what might give you the best bet to get a good ol' Cleared as Filed. But at the end of the day, that's what it is, a good guess.
 
I fly for a charter/fractional operator and thus have a lot of legs that are from/to unusual city pairs.

TL;DR: Preferred Routes if they exist, Previously Cleared if they exist, and then building my own route from the ends toward the middle using things previously cleared in/out of nearby airports plus choosing my own enroute fixes.

If it's in bigger metro areas, I'll check preferred routes (from the A/FD aka Chart Supplement) first. Those are what you're going to get anyway, so you might as well file them. At that point, that's the end of the process, you're getting that route, period, end of story, like it or not. Maybe a nice controller will give you direct farther down the line, or give you a better arrival route once you're in the same ARTCC as your destination, but you'll be flying it mostly as-is.

Otherwise, next I'll look at ForeFlight to see if anyone has flown between those airports, and what route and altitude they were cleared at, as well as the number of times that routing was issued - Often there are weird one-off routes that someone filed for weather, and I don't want those unless I'm the guy dealing with the weather. These routes will also often show some commonality; for example when I was planning one of today's flights I saw that there were 11 routes; two started with REVSS CTR HNK (cleared 6x total) and the other nine were all some variation on HYLND MANCH CAM or HYLND MANCH SYR (cleared 139x total). So, I have a good idea that I've gotta start with HYLND MANCH or they're just gonna give it to me anyway.

Often, if I'm not getting any previously cleared routes, I can look for busier airports nearby either the origin or the destination and figure out what the departure and arrival fixes are for a particular TRACON (if I'm landing inside a TRACON's airspace), then I can use those fixes. They exist everywhere but don't seem to be published anywhere. For example, going out of my base of KMKE, southbound I can use the UECKR6 or ACCRA5 SIDs, but eastbound I'm going to get SQUIB, northwest I'm going to get HAWKN, west will be GREAS JAYEX, etc no matter where I'm going. Likewise, on arrival I can either use the GOPAC2 STAR from the south or west, BRAVE EXARR from the southeast (usually preceded by VINNE), GETCH LYSTR SUDDS from the east, and so on. Obviously the SIDs and STARs are published, but those other routes are not and really won't show up anywhere except previously cleared routes.

Enroute, if you're not flying within a couple hundred miles of a busy Bravo or on the east coast, you'll usually get as filed... So, I'll look for either SIDs or STARS if they exist, or the above commonly used fixes (usually 2-3 fixes at each end), and then file one convenient high-altitude fix per ARTCC in accordance with the AIM. Generally there's something within a couple miles of my route, but sometimes I'll move the route line over a little more to avoid going through the corner of ARTCC airspace to make ATC's life easy. For example, I've used GORDO to get handed straight from ZAU to ZKC without having to go through ZID.

And, yeah, I've filed some fixes just because they're funny. Getting cleared "Direct Crazy Woman" or hearing "Report the Flippin' VOR" is always fun. :D (Sadly, FLP VOR does not exist any more.)

And after all of that... Sometimes it'll still get changed, because the FAA likes to act like the Wizard of Oz and keep all of their stuff behind the curtain.
 
If you file direct, they will give you a route. If you file a route, they will give you direct. Or not. Waste of time to think about it iMO.
 
And, yeah, I've filed some fixes just because they're funny. Getting cleared "Direct Crazy Woman" or hearing "Report the Flippin' VOR" is always fun. :D (Sadly, FLP VOR does not exist any more.)

But if you fly in there, you do still get to say "Flippin traffic, N123...", which I thought was pretty fun when I was there a few months ago!
 
I enter direct into FF. Then pick a preferred or previously cleared route.

I file that.

Then I go into Flight Aware and look up my flight and see what route they show. I can then forward that to FF and amend my clearance to that routing. You go to your flight, then hit More, then scroll to the bottom and there is an option to View in Fore Flight. That copies the routing into the Fore Flight FPL tab on the maps

When I call for my clearance, most times it is my amended clearance so I squirt it to the 650 from FF and done
 
I enter direct into FF. Then pick a preferred or previously cleared route.

I file that.

Then I go into Flight Aware and look up my flight and see what route they show. I can then forward that to FF and amend my clearance to that routing. You go to your flight, then hit More, then scroll to the bottom and there is an option to View in Fore Flight. That copies the routing into the Fore Flight FPL tab on the maps

When I call for my clearance, most times it is my amended clearance so I squirt it to the 650 from FF and done

It's much easier if you just file and wait for ForeFlight to send the expected route than to go through FlightAware. One button and you're done.
 
Where does it show up in FF?

I get an email with it, but it is easier to get it from FA to FF on a tablet than from an email to FF.
 
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