Additional Information

Preferred Routes are designed to help organize traffic between some of the busiest airports in our airspace, and in the National Airspace System.

The Route Finder above combines the FAA's system of preferred routes, including TEC routes, with local preferred routes from our airspace. The use of preferred routes is encouraged, and pilots who file their own routes may be re-routed to a preferred route by air traffic control.

Where a preferred route has not been established, pilots are encouraged to file their own routes obtained from real-world sources (FlightAware) or flight simulator planning tools like SimBrief. More information about creating and filing routes is provided on our Flight Planning page.

Using the Route Finder

To search for preferred routes, simply enter the ICAO codes of the departure and arrival airports and then click the Search button. The ICAO code is normally the four-character identifier for the airport (e.g., "KBOS", "KACK", etc.). If preferred routes have been established for that airport pair, a table listing each of the routes will appear.

Preferred Routes

All available preferred routes are displayed for the desired citypair. It is up to the pilot to select and file the appropriate route. Some citypairs may have only one route, while others may have multiple routes displayed. At times, multiple versions of the same route may appear with different restrictions.

The 'Route' block displays the route that should be filed in a flight plan. ATC-assigned Standard Instrument Departures (SIDs) are not always included, although SIDs that are to be filed by pilots do appear. SIDs and STARs may appear with a trailing number sign (e.g., "LOGAN1" would appear as "LOGAN#").

All other columns are filled only when required. If a column is blank, it does not apply to or restrict that particular route.

The 'Aircraft' block may restrict routes to particular aircraft types. The word 'Turbo' refers to both Turbojet and Turboprop aircraft, while 'Turbojet', 'Turboprop', or 'Non-Turbo' refer to each aircraft type exclusively.

The 'Altitude' block may restrict the route to a particular altitude or a range of altitudes. Altitudes shown are in hundreds of feet (e.g., 11,000' MSL is indicated by '110').

Example

A Route Finder example is shown below for routes from Boston (KBOS) to New York (KJFK). Please note these are sample routes that should not necessarily be filed.