ENR 7.13 New York Oceanic Control Area (OCA) West Flight Level Allocation

  1. Background
    1. The primary air traffic flows in the New York OCA West airspace are between Northeast and Mid- Atlantic U.S. airports and Caribbean and South American destinations.
    2. This primary flow is regularly crossed by the flow of traffic transitioning to and from the Southeast U.S./Caribbean and the North Atlantic and New York OCA East airspace.
    3. The ATS routes that comprise the West Atlantic Route System (WATRS) are bi-directional. Therefore, it is important that the northbound flows are procedurally separated from the southbound flows to the maximum extent possible.
  2. Altitude Filing
    1. A Flight Level schema has been designed as a guide for operators and dispatchers to determine what altitudes to file to transit the OCA West airspace.
    2. The following aircraft should file ODD flight levels:
      1. Aircraft operating South or Southeast bound on the following routes: L451, L452, L453, L454, L455, L456, L457, L459, L461, and L462;
      2. Northeast bound on M201, M202. M203, M204; and
      3. East or Northeast bound on L375, L435, M325, M326, M327, M328, M329, M330, M331, M593, M594, M595, M596, M597, and M525.
    3. For aircraft operating opposite direction to that listed above on the same routes - aircraft should file EVEN flight levels.

      NOTE-

      Due to the amount of crossing traffic throughout the region, final altitude assignments will always be determined dynamically by ATC, based on the current traffic and operational conditions.