It is always our assumption that the pilot wants to depart as soon as possible. The most expeditious way to get an aircraft off the ground, is to give a clearance to the lowest IFR altitude available and sort out the additional separational requirements (to get you higher) once you're in the air. If...

MANOPS 431.1 Include one or more of the following items in an altitude assignment: E. The time or location to expect higher altitude when it is not practicable to initially assign an operationally suitable altitude or flight level. NOTE 431.1 E The following may be considered operationally suitable...

Wordstwice: We can definately just clear you to the CYLW 100NM safe altitude of 12,600 and then the approach. The problem with this is that in nice weather, you might be level at 12,600 for quite a while and wanting to cancel IFR, but at 12,600 you aren't allowed to. The 100nm safe from Kamloops is ...

We've long been told not to clear aircraft to MVAs when they are not on vectors. We (as controllers) have gotten around this by giving approaches early, and informing the pilot what the MVA is (ie cleared to CYLW for an RNAV RNP RWY 16 APP, MVA 8,300 until IGSOB). Other controlers have used the phra...

Great info guys - CCR - I think it's actually a great practice to state your intentions on initial contact - then we don't spend a minute going back and forth trying to figure out where you want to go. For CYLW, coming from the west, we almost always clear aircraft to a point on the approach (IGSOB,...

About a year ago we were given Westjet RNP approach plates to study for WJ flights into Kamloops (CYKA) - but still no flights. Does anybody know if/when these are planned to start? Also, today we saw a WJ flight Edmonton direct Prince George - is this a new scheduled flight? I couldn't find it list...

I'm ATC (YVR ACC) and control the yxs sector. Right now even the RNP33 is not available (by notam), which is a pain for us and you that we have to send you all the way around via the VOR. Otherwise, Go Guns we can actually get you down to 5600 ASL (3400 AGL) around voles, or even lower if we vector ...

Also, of interest to a pilot, if we have you on radar, and you would like to change altitude or go direct somewhere, there is much more chance that ATC will be able to grant your request. If you are not on radar, the separation standards are much different and it's possible that we won't be able to ...

The way we see it as ATC is that if you're closing your plan - we are no longer responsible for alerting. We take your strip off our board and assume that your company will make sure that you arrive safely. If you cancel IFR and keep your flight plan open, we no longer provide separation for you, bu...

If an aircraft with a non-certified gps is cleared direct, airport to airport, off radar instead of using airways - one must protect 90nm of airspace. This has been said already. I would not clear an aircraft direct under these circumstances because it makes it very difficult to climb/descend aircra...

The most important variable, as cpl_atc said, is whether of not the aircraft is on RADAR. I have asked pilots who are /S (we call it slant-stupid) if they are able direct xxxxx. I have only asked this in a RADAR environment and that is because I don't feel like monitoring a vector for half an hour w...

it'sme : Good point - we do make mistakes. I couldn't imagine getting miffed at someone if I'd cleared someone to a decomissioned navaid though, but I'm sure it happened...

If you are given a discreet code by an FSS, then we don't see your data tag on our radar screens, so I don't really care if you keep your code or not. There have been times where I'm passing traffic and I notice that the aircraft involved (who I'm not talking to) has a discreet code. In this case, I...

Keep your code please. The only time that I may ask a pilot to switch to 1200 is if they're near the border. If an aircraft is landing at an airport near the US border, and they've cancelled, it's an easy way for our cousins down south to know that it's a VFR aircraft approaching the border. Otherwi...

It's very likely the controller was having a check ride (QA) at the time. We get QAs at least twice a year. A supervisor sits behind us, transmisions are recorded on CDs and placed in our file, and a report is filled out that we have to sign. I get bad readbacks all the time from pilots, but it's a ...

In the cases that I've seen, visual approaches are only issued in good VMC weather. This being the case, there is most likely what we call "auto overs" in effect with the tower in question. This means that as soon as the aircraft enters the control zone, the aircraft becomes towers control instead o...