8.2 Anchorage Oceanic ARTCC vs. Clearance Delivery

 

Two air traffic control entities that I want to tell you about is the Anchorage oceanic air traffic control center (ARTCC) and the clearance delivery system. Both are very similar and yet very different in many ways.

            An ARTCC is one of the FAA’s largest components of the United States national airspace system. Operating seven days a week twenty-four hours a day year-round, they are also one of the most utilized services. The ARTCC is a FAA service responsible for the safe and efficient operation of aircraft 10,000’ feet or higher (F.A.A., n.d.). Utilizing surveillance data from radar sites to issue clearances, provide weather information, and traffic information ATCC’s across America are responsible for more than 100,000 flights each day (F.A.A., n.d.). Specifically, the Anchorage oceanic ARTCC is also for three sections of airspace, Anchorage domestic FIR, Anchorage oceanic FIR, and Anchorage artic FIR for a total of 2,427,971 square miles of airspace coverage and services (F.A.A., n.d.).

           Clearance delivery is another means of the FAA to provide for the safe and efficient operation of aircraft, but it instead of providing services at 10,000 feet and above like an ARTCC, clearance delivery is a service most often provided on the ground prior to takeoff. Clearance delivery is a service that helps provide a clearance for an initial routing, this relieves the workload on other ATC services like departure and even center in some scenarios who may be otherwise bust with other already airborne traffic (Skybrary, 2020).

Both ATC facilities are similar in that they provide for a safe expeditious flow of air traffic, but in different ways either in the sky or on the ground.

 

References

ATC Clearance Delivery - SKYbrary Aviation Safety. (2020). Www.Skybrary.Aero. https://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/ATC_Clearance_Delivery

F.A.A. (n.d.-a). Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center Fact Sheet. Faa.Gov. https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ato/service_units/air_traffic_services/artcc/anchorage/media/ZAN_Fact_Sheet.pdf

F.A.A. (n.d.-b). Anchorage ARTCC airspace [Photo]. https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ato/service_units/air_traffic_services/artcc/anchorage/media/ZAN_Fact_Sheet.pdf

IFR clearance. (n.d.). [Photo]. https://zseartcc.org/documents/view/130