FOMS Menu 305 (City-Pair Routes Program)

Field

Description

AIRAC Cycle / Cycle

Choose the AIRAC Cycle to use. 

Refer to: AIRAC Cycle for more information.

SIDs (Standard Instrument Departures)

Form the link between an Airport and the surrounding Airways structure. In defining a route, you may specify the exact SID that you want by name and transition point, or you may chose just the SID name or the transition point (catering to conditions where a particular SID may go to several different transition waypoints, or SIDs of different names may route through the same transition waypoint), or you may simply indicate that you want the route analysis program to select the best available route at the time of the flight.

PREFERRED DEPARTURE ROUTES

These routes begin at an airport and end at a designated Transition Waypoint. They may or may not be associated with a particular Track Structure. Typically, these routes are published by ATC authorities on a routine basis (can be daily).

PREFERRED ENTRIES

Entry routes provide the link between an intermediate waypoint between the Origin airport and the start (anchor point) of a route structure such as the North Atlantic Tracks (NATs).
Note: In some cases the Preferred Entry may start at the Origin airport.

PREFERRED EXITS

Form the link between the ends of Track Structures and some intermediate waypoint towards the destination. 

Note: In some cases the Exit may terminate at the destination airport.

PREFERRED ARRIVAL ROUTES

These routes start at a Transition Waypoint and terminate at a specific airport. They may or may not be associated with a particular Track Structure. Typically, these routes are published by ATC authorities on a routine basis (can be daily).

STARs (Standard Terminal Arrivals)

Form the link between the airways structure and specific airports. They may be included within Preferred Departure Routes, as well as Preferred Exits in those cases such routes terminate at an airport.

MTTA (Minimum Time Track - Airways) 

This is a route composed of official Airways and approved direct legs that is generated by the system using the forecast high level winds and temperatures, and the flight level and Mach number appropriate to the Aircraft type selected for the flight. 

Note: The MTTA should be used whenever you want the system to determine the optimum route.

DCT

Direct legs may be included in a route in a number of specific cases:

• If no SID, Preferred Departure, or Entry Route is specified, then the leg to the first waypoint is presumed to be direct.

• Direct legs may be specified between any two waypoints, provided that such a direct leg has already been entered into the Direct Legs database. This is to ensure that only approved direct legs are entered to avoid their indiscriminate (and potentially dangerous) use. 

  • Exception: The Flight Plan Manual Route Screen, where the user may enter a direct leg between any two waypoints. Note: Routes containing direct legs that are not in the Direct Legs database may not be saved.

• Any waypoint may be linked directly to the destination if a STAR, Preferred Arrival, or Exit Route has not been entered.

AIRWAYS

A route may be defined by a series of Airways links, provided that they conform to the Airways database.

There are file maintenance programs for each of these building blocks. The individual pieces may be assembled in the City-Pair Routes file, or in the Manual Route Screen of the Flight Plan program. If a route is defined generically (i.e. if the route is not completely hard coded) it is the task of the Route Analysis program to assemble these appropriate building blocks optimally.

Field

Description

O/D (Orig/Dest)

Enter the ICAO or IATA codes for the Origin and Destination Airports. The alternative codes and the Airport names will be retrieved and displayed in the fields to the right.

# (Route Number)

Enter a number from 1 to 99. 

Note: If you select a number that is already in use, then the list of available numbers will be displayed on the Command Line.

ETP

This field is used to force the system to warn the dispatcher that an ETP is required if this route is used. The valid inputs are <Y> and <N>.

• <Y> will cause the warning to appear to the dispatcher on the flight screen of the route being used in the plan. 

• <N> will cause the system to ignore the warning. This is a manual entry and is up to the person building the route to determine if the route will require an ETP.

ETOPS

This field is used to force the system to warn the dispatcher that the route will require ETOPS. The valid inputs are <Y> and <N>.

• <Y> will cause the warning to appear to the dispatcher on the flight screen of the route being used in the plan. 

• <N> will cause the system to ignore the warning. This is a manual entry and is up to the person building the route to determine if the route will require ETOPS compliance.

VALID DYS

This section is used to specify which days the route in question is valid for. The valid entries are as follows:

• Blank-Leaving this field blank will have the effect of allowing the route to be used on all days of the week.

• <1> Sunday

• <2> Monday

• <3> Tuesday

• <4> Wednesday

• <5> Thursday

• <6> Friday

• <7> Saturday

• <D> Weekdays

• <E> Weekends

VALID HRS

This section of the route screen is used to restrict a route for use during a specified time. 

• The user has the option of leaving the From and To field blank which will have the effect of allowing the route to be used during all hours. 

• The user can also add a From and To time that will restrict the use of the route between those times. Note: If you are adding a valid time range to a route, there is a difference between using the Weekdays option and selecting days of the week, see Valid Days for more information.

A/C TYPE

This field is used to allow the user to designate an aircraft type that the route can be used for. The valid entry is any valid aircraft type id (i.e., B737, B757, and L1011). 

Note: Leaving the field blank will allow the route to be used for all aircraft types.

Aircraft Series

This field is used to allow the user to designate an aircraft series that the route can be used for. The aircraft type must be designated to use this field. A valid entry is any valid aircraft series id (for example, 800, 900, 1000). 

Note: Leaving the field blank will allow the route to be used for all aircraft series of aircraft type specified in the A/C TYPE field.

FIN

This field is used to designate the route as only being valid for a particular FIN. The valid entry is any valid FIN id (e.g.,301, 168, 552, etc). 

Note: Leaving the field blank will allow the route to be used for all FINS.

EQUIP

This field is used to allow the user to specify what equipment is required on board the aircraft for the route to be used in the planning of a flight. The valid entries are any text character. The behavior of this field is that it must match the information stored in the Equip field of the aircraft characteristic record for the fin being planned for the flight to use the route. 

Note: The field was designed to allow the user to define their own special equipment codes, thus the reason for allowing any text character to be entered.

USAGE

This field is used to indicate how the route is used. Options are: Main, Alternate, Blank.

• Main <M> indicates that the route can only be used in the main route. 

  • Main-only city-pair routes will not appear in the Alt-route drop-down

• Alternate <A> indicates that the route can only be used in alternate routes. 

  • Alt-only city-pair routes will not appear in the route list in the Plan screen.

• Blank indicates that it can be used in any route.

When creating a flight, the 1st non-alt-only city-pair route will be used for calculating permit

In FOMS 171 menu, the Pref Route No field will not accept Alt-only city-pair routes and '?' will not list Alt-only routes.

Note: A compute will fail if the Alt-only city-pair routes are assigned to main or if main-only city-pair routes are assigned to alternate.

PROD

This field is used to specify the route in production and thus usable by the dispatcher in planning. The valid entries are Y and N:

• “Y” indicates that the route is usable by the dispatchers in flight planning. 

• “N” restricts the route from being used in any flight planning mode. Also, the use of N will eliminate the route from being used in the generation of the route analysis for the flight in question.

J/P (Jet/Prop)

This flag allows you to restrict the use of this route to Jet or non-jet (loosely called prop) aircraft.

CAP

If you want to impose a flight level cap for this route, enter the flight level (e.g. 250 for FL250).

TRK

Enter the appropriate Track Structure abbreviation (e.g., NAT for North Atlantic Track, or PAC for Pacific.)

SID/DEPT (SID, Departure or DCT)

• Entering <S> in this field indicates that you want to use a Standard Instrument Departure in the route. 

• Entering <D> indicates that you want a Preferred Departure route to be used. 

• Entering <X> indicates that you want a direct MTTA route and do not want to use the SID.

• Optional to leave this field blank if you want.

SID/DEPT NAME

If you have indicated in the previous field that you want to use a SID or Preferred Departure, then you may name the specific procedure in this field. The <?> Search function may be used to select from the available options. This field is optional.

SID/DEPT WAYPOINT

Use this field to define a particular transitional Waypoint for the SID or Preferred Departure. You must select a waypoint that is in the SID database for the Origin Airport, and if you have named the SID, then the waypoint must correspond with the named procedure. The <?> Search function may be used to make this selection. This field is optional.

Note: If left blank, then the Route Analysis program will determine the best choice for the current conditions.

SID/STAR DSP

Enter whether or not waypoints removed from disabled route still show in the expanded view, yes <Y> or no <N>. See, Modified SIDs and Stars - City Pair Routes for more information.

STAR/ARV (STAR, Preferred Arrival or DCT)

• Enter <S> if you want a STAR to be part of the route, or <A> for an EXIT.  

• Enter <X> to not use a STAR and generate a DCT MTTA route. 

This field is optional.

STAR/ARV NAME/WAYPOINT

These fields may be used to specify a particular STAR/Transition Waypoint or Arrival/Transition Waypoint combination if you want, or left blank. If left blank, the Route Analysis program will select the best option for current conditions whenever the route is selected.

VALID FROM

Enter a date on which you want the city-pair to become available.

J/P

This field lets you assign two plane types to a route, either Jet/Prop, Jet/Hel, Prop/Hel. 

Note: If blank all three apply.

EXPIRY DATE

Enter the time period after which this route should be purged from the file. The options are:

• DDMMYY to signify a specific Deletion Date, e.g., 311201

• ##D to signify a number of days, e.g., 12D

• ##M to signify a number of months, e.g., 02M

• FLOAT <F> to signify the route is a floating route and the delete date will automatically be reset to 12 months from the last date the route was used in a route analysis or flight plan computation.

• <N> to signify Never (i.e., to make this route permanent)

• The default entry is <F>, making the route a floating route.

DELETE DATE

This field is set by the system depending on the user input in the expiry date field. 

Note: The user has no access to this field.

DISABLED

This field is display only. 

The Disabled flag will be set automatically by the AIRAC update background checking programs whenever a route is encountered that cannot be updated automatically, but which is rendered corrupt or unusable as a result of navigation data updates. The Update field will be changed to reflect the date on which the Disabled flag was set. This flag will enable the Route Analysis program to ignore such routes, and will permit users to generate reports of routes which require editing. It will be automatically removed by the program as soon as the route has been edited in such a manner that the route verification process is successful. 

Note: If the route has not been edited to remove the disabled flag within 25 days, it will be removed from the routes data file.

SRC

Enter your initials to indicate who created this route.

UPDATE

This is a display-only field. 

Any time a route is added or edited the current system date will be written to the record.

Field

Description

WPT

• If you entered just a generic SID (i.e., if you did not specify the transition waypoint) then the first waypoint field will be filled with SID, and the AWY (Airway) field will be filled with MTTA. 

• If you specified the transition waypoint, then this field will show the transition waypoint. 

• If you have chosen a Departure Route, the Transition Waypoint will be displayed. 

• If this field is left blank, meaning you did not select either a SID or a Departure Route, the cursor will be positioned on it, ready for your entry. 

  • Enter the identifier of the first waypoint on your route. For subsequent entries you may use the <?> Search function to determine the identifier of the next waypoint along the Airway. 

  • Alternatively, you may enter the waypoint at which the Airway next changes name, and the program will fill in all of the intermediate waypoints automatically. The track and distance between the previous waypoint and the one just entered will be displayed immediately below the waypoints table to enable you to ensure that you have selected the correct waypoint. The default value for Airway is the previous Airway designation.

AWY

Enter the Airway to the next waypoint on the route. 

• If you want to have the program determine which Airway to use to the next waypoint, enter MTTA. 

• If you are unsure of what Airways are available, you may enter <?> and use the up and down arrow keys to scroll through the options. Only direct legs that are contained in the Direct Legs data file may be entered in a stored route. Exception to this rule: If there are no direct legs in the data file connected to this particular waypoint, then the program will assume that you want to go directly to the Destination.

Note: When entering the Destination, ensure that you use the four-letter ICAO designator because the program will assume that any three-letter entry is intended to indicate a waypoint.

MIN MAX

Enter a minimum and maximum flight level at which the aircraft must be at this waypoint. This means that aircraft will be in descent from the previous waypoint to reach this waypoint at the new flight level.

Note: Flight levels entered here are not restricted to direction of flight. Caution must be used when forcing a FL.

Comments

Enter any applicable comments that you may want to have attached to this particular route. It is useful to indicate how the route was created (e.g., MTTA) so that this information will be available to the dispatcher when reviewing the Route Analysis results.

Field

Description

AIRLINE CODE / (G)ENERIC / (A)LL

This field allows you to filter by the Airline Code. Options are Generic or All.

• <G> Generic (all those not linked to an airline code)

• <A> All of the City Pair Routes.

ROUTE TYPE (D/N/B)

This field allows you to filter the report on the Disabled flag. Options are D, N, or B.

• Enter <D> to select Disabled routes Only. 

• Enter <N> to report only routes that are not disabled. 

• Enter <B> for both, to report all routes.

LONG or SHORT REPORT (L/S)

Indicate whether you prefer the long or short report format.

PAGING ON (Y/N)?

If you want to have the report start a fresh page every time the departure airport changes, enter <Y>. This field will default to <N>.