What You Need to Know about

FAA Special-Route Clearances

By Juan Muniz July 11, 2012

Operators with aircraft registered in certain counties require both a TSA

waiver and special FAA route clearance when flying to the U.S. or over
U.S. airspace. This adds additional complexity and lead time to the
flight-planning process and may limit your routing options. ATC will
automatically flag all flights through U.S. airspace of operators from the
seven current ‘special interest’ countries, and there are repercussions
such as being banned from U.S. airspace if the process is not done
correctly. The good news is that FAA is accommodating and easy to work
with in terms of special-route clearance and revisions, and your 3rd-
party provider can assist in successfully navigating regulatory
requirements.

1. What is an FAA special-route clearance?

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 This is a routing clearance given by the FAA for aircraft registered in
special interest countries. A current list of special interest countries
includes: People’s Republic of China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia,
Sudan, and Syria. This process, which applies to private, charter, and
scheduled commercial flights, started in 2001 and goes hand in hand
with TSA waivers. Special-route clearance covers your departure and
arrival points and specifies all waypoints in between.

2. When is special-route clearance required?

Anytime an aircraft registered in a special interest country uses U.S.
airspace, including overflying and landing in the U.S. This covers U.S.
territories including: Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the
Mariana Islands. It’s important to note that, in the case of China, a
special-route clearance is not applicable to aircraft registered in Hong
Kong, Macau, or Taiwan.

3. Why is such a clearance required?

FAA and TSA want to be able to track the routing of aircraft registered to
special interest countries when they overfly or land in the U.S. To ensure
that such aircraft follow approved routings, the FAA will track aircraft
throughout the entire flight within U.S. territory. Operators must follow
exact point-to-point routings and cannot deviate at all. If there’s any
routing deviation, the 3rd-party provider or operator filing the flight
plan will be notified and warnings will be given. Although no fines have
been issued to date, this does not mean that FAA will not fine an
operator for such a deviation.

4. What’s the process for obtaining a special-

route clearance?
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 A TSA waiver request is submitted to TSA, and concurrently a routing
request is sent to the FAA, where it will be forwarded to the Air Traffic
System Operations Security department. After TSA does its checks, the
FAA will look over the TSA waiver and proposed routing to ensure that
all information correlates and matches. In almost all cases, the FAA
modifies the routing request. The FAA then sends the waiver back to TSA
for final checks prior to waiver approval.

5. What are lead time requirements?

A TSA waiver, or revision to a TSA waiver, requires five business days to
process. Short- notice requests – anything less than five working days –
are up to the discretion of TSA. TSA is only open Monday-Friday EST
0700-1700 local and closed on weekends and bank holidays.
A FAA special-route request can usually be processed in just a few hours
and the FAA department is available 24/7. During evenings and
weekends, however, staffing level is lower and routing requests may be
processed slower. Keep in mind that if an operator changes departure or
arrival points, the TSA waiver may have to be resubmitted. In this case, a
new special-route request will not be approved by FAA until a new TSA
waiver has been requested and processed.

6. What information is needed to process a TSA

waiver?
A TSA waiver requires the following information on a special form:

Aircraft description
Type of aircraft
Maximum Takeoff Weight (MTOW)
Call sign and tail number
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 Crew and passenger info
Departure point(s)
Arrival point(s) in the U.S.
Company information
Security statement
Purpose of flight
Digitally signed/dated

All information is submitted online. Confirming that passports will be

checked usually suffices for the required security statement. For
overflights, TSA waivers list departure and destination points outside the
U.S. The actual TSA-waiver authorization will only list pilots and not
passengers or other crew members.

7. What information is needed to process an

FAA special-route request?
FAA special-route requests are submitted by e-mail in a special format
with:

Operator information
Itinerary (including date and time of departure and arrival and
all waypoints for the flight plan)
Aircraft information (type, tail number, and call sign if using
one)

No crew or passenger information is required for a special-route request.

FAA will normally hold your special-route approval until 48 hours out to
ensure that the approved routing avoids issues with NOTAMS and
closures, etc. The special-route confirmation will be received via e-mail.
The operator or 3rd-party provider must file the flight plan exactly as
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 authorized on special-route confirmation, but no notes need to be added
to remarks 18 on the flight plan. If an operator needs to deviate from the
approved route due to circumstances such as weather, the FAA needs to
be advised.

8. How long is the special-route clearance valid?

FAA special-route clearance has a validity period of -24/+72 hours. If
there’s any delay beyond this deviation, a new special-routing request
must be submitted.

9. What is unique regarding the routing

involved with a special-route clearance?
With the special-route clearance process, the operator will not always get
the desired/requested routing. If an operator does not like the approved
FAA routing, a request may be made to modify the routing, but operators
have no control over ultimate routing. If weather or winds become a
factor, the FAA is usually accommodating in terms of route modification.
If an operator flying an aircraft registered in a special interest country
operates in the U.S. without required special-route clearance, the
operator may be subject to fines or banned from U.S. airspace.

10. What are some additional tips pertaining to

the special clearance?
Lead time issues for operators required to use special-route clearance
have more to do with the TSA waiver rather than special-route clearance
approval. So long as you have a valid TSA waiver, a special-route
clearance can be obtained within a short turnaround. Best practice for
operators with aircraft registered in special interest countries who fly
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 frequently to the U.S. is to obtain a multi-entry TSA waiver for 89 days,
which is the maximum duration at this time. You should include as many
non-U.S. departure and U.S. arrival points as possible in your TSA
waiver request, as any revision requires a new TSA waiver application
and approval.

Conclusion
FAA special-route clearance is a manageable and straightforward
process, particularly for operators working with experienced 3rd-party
providers. While special-route clearance does add complexity to the
flight planning process – and you’ll very rarely get the actual routing you
request – the FAA is easy to work with, available 24/7, and
accommodating regarding re-routing due to day of operation, adverse
weather, and upper wind scenarios.

Questions?
If you have any questions about this article, contact me at
juanmuniz@univ-wea.com.
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