New VFR procedure for Merrill Field

Called the Knik Arm Low Crossing, this route will allow aircraft to come and go without entering the Class C airspace surrounding Anchorage. This is the first in a series of new procedures that are being developed to be compatible with the expected Class C airspace revision proposed in August. This route, as the name suggests, is a "low" route, designed to provide increased separation with traffic arriving into Elmendorf Air Force Base. Other routes should allow transitions at higher altitudes.

Background

For years, aircraft wishing to stay out of the Class C airspace over Anchorage have been able to use FAR Part 93 routes, published in the Notices Section of the FAA's Chart Supplement Alaska. The changes to the airspace over Anchorage now underway will force changes to those routes. Eventually, it is anticipated that there will be VFR routes allowing pilots to avoid the Class C airspace as well as routes that will allow ADS-B equipped aircraft to transit inside the airspace, permitting them to efficiently arrive and depart from the numerous general aviation airports in the Anchorage bowl.

What's new

In addition to these routes, there will be significant changes not only to the Class C airspace, but to the boundaries of the Class D airspace that overlies each of the Anchorage airports. While some Class E airspace will continue to support these routes, it will differ significantly from what exists today.

The VFR routes are being designed to ensure that the significant volume of VFR operations into Anchorage's busy airspace has a predictable flow, deconflicted from the streams of IFR traffic that also shares the airspace. This new procedure becomes operational on July 9, so local pilots are encouraged to pick up a new copy of the chart supplement. It is also expected that the FAA will publish the new routes in the form of Letters to Airmen, which should show up in digital files and may be incorporated into pilot applications such as ForeFlight, to make it easier to select and navigate the route for that flight.