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 primarily assigned randomly by the FAA's Aeronautical Information Services (AIS).
However, many fixes also follow themes, honoring local landmarks, sports teams, people, or even cartoon characters, provided they are five letters and easily pronounceable.
The FAA discourages public suggestions for name changes, but fixes can be renamed through a formal process initiated by air traffic control, which typically takes 7-8 months to finalize.

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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.