Santa Maria FIR Radio Initial Voice Contact Trial

The Santa Maria FIR (LPPO) has initiated a trial for the initial voice contact to Santa Maria Radio for flights using CPDLC. The trial of the proposed change is expected to reduce the crew workload, as the responsibility to establish the initial voice contact on HF is assigned to the radio operator. It will also allow the radio operator to better manage the air-ground communications sequence and priority, avoiding simultaneous calls from distinct aircraft. The trial is scheduled to run through 30 November 2025. For complete details, refer to the Portugal AIC A 003/2025.

CZQX OCR Procedure Update

The procedure change described below for issuing route amendment clearances in Gander Domestic airspace will be conducted as a trial between 5 May 2025 and 31 December 2025. Check current NOTAMs for any changes to this procedure.

Due to ATC workload and pilot confusion regarding oceanic route clearance changes issued through CPDLC, Gander Flight Information Region (CDQX FIR), Gander Domestic controllers will be issuing oceanic route amendments via VHF voice communications in lieu of CPDLC uplink route amendment clearance messages.

Mitigating Flight Plan vs. Clearance Errors

Flying the filed flight plan instead of the issued clearance remains a leading cause of lateral deviations and gross navigation errors (GNEs). This issue is most common when a revised clearance with a route amendment is issued. The most effective mitigation strategy is implementing robust standard operating procedures (SOPs) that incorporate dual independent verification when accepting, loading, and updating clearances in the flight management system (FMS), as well as ensuring the Master Operational Flight Plan and plotting chart reflect the latest changes.

OCR Gander Update

Gander Oceanic implemented Oceanic Clearance Removal (OCR) on December 4th, 2024. Since then (as of December 17th, 2024), there have been higher-than-normal levels of errors and questions. Gander OCA and NAT CMA have provided the following information. The reported events include:

  • 2 large height deviations whereby flights climbed or descended without an ATC clearance
  • 15 ATC Prevention of Gross Navigational Errors

RCL Explained: RCL is no longer defined as “Request for Clearance" ...

  • Submitting an RCL will not result in a clearance; it is a method for crews to advise ATC of your requested ETA, level, and speed for the OEP. 
  • RCLs must be sent 60-90 minutes prior to Oceanic Entry Point (OEP) and should contain your MAX flight level at the entry point. 
  • You will receive one of 3 responses.
    • RCL RECEIVED BY CZQX
    • RCL REJECTED. RCL TOO EARLY. REQUEST AGAIN SIXTY TO NINETY MINUTES PRIOR TO THE OCEANIC ENTRY POINT
    • RCL REJECTED. RCL TOO LATE. REVERT TO VOICE FOR RCL SUBMISSION.
  • If the Oceanic Flight Level will be more than 2000 feet lower than the MAX level contained in the RCL, pilots will be given advance notice by the Domestic controllers. Otherwise, Gander Domestic will advise pilots of the Oceanic Level, if it varies from the RCL level, just prior to entering Oceanic Airspace and will issue a clearance to the new level. 
  • AN ATC CLEARANCE IS REQUIRED FOR ALL LEVEL CHANGES.
  • If the Oceanic profile for an aircraft requires a reroute, a CPDLC clearance will be issued via UM79. These clearances have caused some confusion for pilots. UM79 message has the following format: CLEARED TO [WAYPOINT] VIA [ROUTE CLEARANCE].  For example: CLEARED TO KESIX VIA TUDEP 52N050W 55N040W 56N030W 57N020W SUNOT. There has been an increase of pilots interpreting this UM79 clearance as CLEARED DIRECT KESIX or failing to update the FMS with this new routing clearance.
  • ATC has been inundated with questions from pilots. These questions range from “requesting oceanic clearance,” “just confirming there is no oceanic clearance,” “waiting for clearance,” “can you confirm my routing,” and so on.  These questions have been creating an immensely high workload for Domestic controllers.

  1. The Importance of Following Annex 6 Fuel Guidance
  2. Oceanic Clearance Removal Procedures
  3. French CPDLC Mandate
  4. Satcom Direct (SD) and Scott IPC Integration