How IFR Fixes Get Their Names

The naming convention for IFR fixes sometimes seems like the FAA's version of Scrabble.

Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at 12:06 PM ET

Verified

The criteria for an IFR fix name is pretty straight forward: It must contain five letters, and it must be easily pronounceable. [Courtesy: Meg Godlewski]

Key Takeaways:

IFR fix names are five-letter designations, often randomized by the FAA's Aeronautical Information Services office, but always easily pronounceable.
Many fix names are deliberately chosen to honor local landmarks, sports teams/mascots, people, or even cartoon characters, sometimes at the request of regional air traffic offices.
Navaid names have distinct guidelines, requiring them to represent cities, prominent geographic landmarks, or local memorial names and avoid sounding similar to existing navaids.
While fix names can be changed, the FAA discourages public suggestions due to a lengthy approval process that takes approximately seven to eight months for chart updates.

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Have you taken a look at a low IFR enroute chart lately? Specifically, note the five-letter designations for IFR fixes, which are geographic positions determined by reference to navaids or lat/long coordinates. You may find yourself wondering if the people in charge of coming up with the designations are using the tiles from a Scrabble game to name the fixes.

According to the FAA, the designations come from the agency’s Aeronautical Information Services (AIS) office located in Silver Springs, Maryland. Their job is to issue five-letter names for radio fixes, waypoints, marker beacons, and compass locators.