What You Need to Know to Create an IFR Approach

Establishing one at your airport just takes some persistence.

Meg Godlewski

Friday, July 24, 2026 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

When you break out of the clouds, it’s important to always follow the airport’s published approach for a safe landing. [Credit: Adobe Stock]

Key Takeaways:

Published instrument approaches are crucial for aviation safety, allowing pilots to operate in adverse weather and preventing dangerous improvised flights.
Initiating a new instrument approach requires a formal request to the FAA, which can be submitted by anyone with an aeronautical interest, from individual pilots to airport management.
The development of an instrument approach is a complex and lengthy process, involving detailed applications, FAA operational and safety assessments, extensive stakeholder and community coordination, potential infrastructure upgrades, and final flight verification, often taking 12 months to over two years.

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It was November in Seattle. The ceiling had been going up and down all morning. A pilot was heard on the unicom asking for a runway advisory—he was still 6 miles out.

Although he was instrument rated, and the airplane was IFR equipped and legal for instrument flight, he chose to divert to a nearby airport and have his wife pick him up. The reason? The airport lacked a published instrument approach. He was not the first pilot to have this experience.