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 assigned by the FAA's Aeronautical Information Services office, primarily on a randomized basis.
Despite being largely random, many fix names are deliberately chosen to honor local landmarks, sports teams, food, people, or cartoon characters.
All fix names must adhere to specific criteria: they must be five letters, easily pronounceable, and not sound similar to existing navaids or fixes within a wide radius.
Changing a fix name is a complex, time-consuming official process (approximately 7-8 months) that is not encouraged for public suggestions.

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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.