FAA Flight Planning Information

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This web site consolidates FAA guidance for flight plan filing instructions and content. The following resources are available:

1. There is a monthly Flight Plan Filer teleconference. Information on how to sign up, and briefings from past meetings are available under Flight Plan Filer Teleconference.
2. References of use to Flight Plan Filers- including links to many of the documents- can be found in References.
3. Some frequently-asked questions and answers are documented in FAQs.
4. To contact us, use one of the methods described under Contact Information.

Flight Planning Guidance:

1. The FAA prefers users to file ICAO flight plans for all flights. An ICAO format flight plan must be used when:
   • The flight will enter international airspace (including Oceanic airspace controlled by FAA facilities
   • The flight expects routing or separation based on Performance Based Navigation, e.g. RNAV 1
   • The flight will enter RVSM airspace
   • The flight expects services based on ADS-B
   FAA guidance on ICAO Flight Plan Filing can be found under FAA ICAO Flight Planning Guidance.
2. Flights that remain wholly within domestic United States airspace and do not meet any of the above criteria may use a NAS format flight plan, i.e. FAA Form 7233-1 and the procedures outlined in AIM Section 1, Paragraph 5.1.8.