FAA launches faster East Coast routes to avoid congestion

The Federal Aviation Administration has launched nearly 170 recent flight routes which can be shorter and faster, aiming to chop down on congestion within the eastern U.S.

It’s a part of a seven-year effort from the FAA and airlines to redraw high-altitude route maps for planes, the agency said Monday.

The FAA launched the 169 recent routes last week, and is abandoning older ones, which were longer and zigzagged more. Those longer routes were designed for planes counting on ground-based radar and never the GPS that modern aircraft use. The brand new ones can be more direct.

The brand new paths are mostly above 18,000 feet, when aircraft are cruising, and aim to cut back crowding on popular routes. A number of the recent routes are over the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.

“The change helps prevent delays by giving the agency more capability to direct traffic to specific routes based on the aircraft’s destination,” the FAA said in a release. “When weather occurs, controllers may also have more flexibility. Finally, fewer converging points and more easy flows enhance safety.”

The FAA estimated that the brand new routes would scale back about 6,000 minutes of travel time a yr.

The change comes just before the summer travel season, which airline executives expect to be busy. Pressure from the airline industry has mounted on the FAA to handle congestion and delays, though airline staffing issues have also played a job in exacerbating disruptions.

Last yr, 1.7 million flights, greater than 20% of those operated by U.S. airlines, were delayed, up from 1.5 million, or roughly 16% of flights, in 2019, before the pandemic, in line with flight-tracking site FlightAware. Thus far this yr, 22% of U.S.-airline operated flights have been delayed, in line with the location’s data.

A number of the recent routes are for flights to and from Florida, where airlines face obstacles resembling frequent thunderstorms, military activity and space launches. Last month, the FAA said it will take airline flight disruptions under consideration when approving rocket launches.

“American has long been a proponent of unlocking additional high-altitude routes along the East Coast and we’re optimistic they may have significant advantages for our customers and team members,” American Airlines COO David Seymour said in an e-mailed statement.

Individually, several airlines including JetBlue Airways and United Airlines are reducing flights within the Latest York City and Washington, D.C., areas due to the FAA’s shortage of air traffic controllers, a part of a plan to cut back disruptions.