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Direct Clearances

JO 7110.65BB, Change 3, effective July 9, 2026 · Official text on faa.gov

Unless operational necessity dictates, do not issue a routing clearance that will take an aircraft off of its flight plan route if:
1. The aircraft is part of a known traffic management initiative.
2. The part of the route under consideration for the direct routing is within a protected segment. If a flight routing within a protected segment is amended, coordination must be accomplished as follows:
  1. ATCS: with TMU.
  2. Terminal facility TMU: with overlying ARTCC TMU.
  3. ARTCC TMU (for amendments outside their facility): with ATCSCC.
EN ROUTE. Do not issue revised routing clearances that will take an aircraft off its flight plan route past the last fix in your facility's airspace, unless requested by the pilot or operational necessity dictates.
Note

Nothing in this paragraph must preclude a controller from issuing a routing clearance that conforms to a letter of agreement or standard operating procedure within their own facility or between facilities, is required to maintain separation or comply with traffic flow management initiatives.