Pilots to Set Own Routes Under FAA’s New ‘Free Flight’ System

Within a decade, airline pilots may be able to fly where they want, as fast as they want and at the altitudes they want under an air traffic control plan announced by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The new system, called “free flight,” will allow pilots to choose their routes, taking advantage of favorable winds and avoiding storms as they cross the nation.

Air traffic controllers, who now dictate most routes, will still keep watch to make sure planes don’t come too close.

“Free flight really means a more flexible way of managing air traffic,” FAA chief David Hinson said Friday.

But Hinson noted that instituting the plan is a complicated project expected to take at least 10 years.

Complex electronic gear will keep air traffic controllers informed about where planes are and allow them to step in and order route changes when aircraft approach one another too closely.

While free flight will be available to all pilots, it will have the greatest impact on airlines.

Currently, most airliners follow directions from ground-based controllers crossing the country from one checkpoint to another, often in zigzag paths that waste time and burn unnecessary fuel.

Having them follow these paths permits the controllers to know where the airplanes are and keeps them at least 3 miles apart horizontally and 1,000 feet apart vertically.

With free flight, planes will no longer be confined to those narrow jet routes around the country.

Controllers will monitor the traffic and step in only to make sure the planes keep a safe distance apart and avoid prohibited airspace and to prevent congestion in high-traffic areas, he said.

Free flight will use radar, global-positioning systems and electronic communications to track planes and allow pilots and controllers to be aware of two hockey-puck shaped zones around each craft. No aircraft will be allowed to enter the smaller protected zone around a plane, FAA officials said.