When FAA Airspace Flow Programs (AFPs) begin popping up so controllers can meter air traffic, seasoned business aviation flight crewmembers have a few tricks of the trade that help them spend less time sitting on the ground waiting for a green light for takeoff.
Rich Products Chief Pilot Mike Mulawka – who operates a Dassault Falcon 7X and two Falcon 2000s out of Buffalo, NY – knows well the helpless feeling that accompanies long ground delays when heading to South Florida.
In addition to the weather, there are three variables Mulawka’s crews consider during flight planning.
“Over the last few years, we’ve seen a significant uptick in space launches out of Cape Canaveral,” Mulawka said. “And of course, snowbird travel picks up quite a bit, as do [Presidential] TFRs in the West Palm Beach region.”
When headed to Florida, Mulawka said his crews try to file offshore as much as possible. “But when there’s convective weather, we’ll often be rerouted when we hit Wilmington, NC,” he said. “By the time we hit Florida, we’ll often receive another reroute back inland.”
Leverage All the Tools
The day before each trip, crews should use every available resource to optimize flight plans. Those sources include NBAA Air Traffic Services (ATS).
NBAA ATS’ guidance, available by subscription, comes from an NBAA staffer at the FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center in Warrenton, VA.
Mulawka uses NBAA ATS because it produces email traffic updates four times daily. “That’s the email I read at night before a big trip south,” he said, “because it offers updates on convective weather, Presidential TFRs, space launches and airports with expected arrival delays.”
AFP restrictions work both ways, said Orlando, FL-based Matthew Olafsen, a captain flying Johnsonville LLC’s Bombardier Global Express. “We’ll visit the FAA website and check the National Airspace System status page. It provides information on real-time delays, airport closures and ground stops. It also forecasts future events.”
“We can throw more fuel on the aircraft and request a lower altitude sector when they have a delay program from 18,000 feet up to 46,000 or 50,000 feet.”
Matthew Olafsen Bombardier Global Express Captain, Johnsonville LLC
Identify Preferential Routes
Becoming familiar with preferential routes to use when filing a flight plan is also critical.
“We can throw more fuel on the aircraft and request a lower-altitude sector when they have a delay program, from 18,000 feet up to 46,000 or 50,000 feet,” Olafsen said.
Filing low altitude isn’t efficient, but “when the low sector is not as saturated as the high sector, they’ll work you in, as long as it’s not a broader airspace issue.”
File as Early as Possible
He acknowledged that filing early – ideally 24 hours in advance – gives the FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center a heads-up for next-day operations.
However, Olafsen said pilots should be aware that filing a route west of Florida to bypass congestion related to Jacksonville Center and going directly to Miami probably won’t work. “ATC’s getting wise to that one.”
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.