Cutting Corners

Editorial Staff

Friday, August 01, 2014 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Shortcuts through Special Use Airspace (SUA) are often granted based on military activity and timing, with ATC sometimes offering them when the airspace is inactive or at off-peak hours.
The ability to get a shortcut is heavily influenced by air traffic density, facility coordination procedures (like "gates" or "miles-in-trail"), and the complexity of the specific airspace (e.g., highly structured routes around major airports).
Pilots can increase their chances of obtaining shortcuts by being polite, making realistic requests considering airspace limitations (such as altitude or multi-center routing), and using flight plan remarks to communicate specific routing needs if a shortcut is undesired.

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It’s Food Network’s fault. You and your buddies from Jacksonville have a hankering for some Cajun food from New Orleans. Hundred dollar gumbo, here you come.

Your Saturday morning flight from Florida’s Atlantic coast to Louisiana traverses two hundred miles of military Special Use Airspace from Tallahassee to Mobile. You file a route inland—KJAX..SZW..MAI..CEW..SJI..KNEW—that takes you north of all that SUA via Victor 198.