Flying The Tracks: How Commercial Airliners Cross The North Atlantic Ocean

Long Haul by Simple Flying
Long Haul by Simple Flying
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Published 2024-05-09
From a passenger perspective, the term transatlantic might have you debating internally on whether you would prefer to book a flight with a North American carrier or a European carrier. If heading towards Europe, you might also be looking at flight times and which service might provide the best sleep.

But when it comes to pilots - traversing this part of the world offers its own intriguing experiences. Indeed, the North Atlantic is one of the most unique airspaces in the world. The NATs, or North Atlantic Tracks, are traversed hundreds of times daily in both directions, and the North Atlantic is one of the busiest oceanic airspaces. There are many discussion-worthy topics related to the North Atlantic crossings, and this video will focus on the track system and how pilots communicate with ATC while in oceanic airspace.

Article: simpleflying.com/north-atlantic-tracks-pilots-guid…

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All Comments (21)
  • @mikehenderson2039
    What an outstanding and easy-to-follow video, explaining a rather unique and complicated process! As a retired airline captain who has flown this oceanic route structure countless times, I had the opportunity to do this when constantly monitoring the scratchy HF radios was the norm and later enjoyed the phase-in of the newer CPDLC technology! Fortunately, I also had the opportunity to teach this concept and our company/airplane specific procedures for over 10 years...wish I'd had this exceptional video to lay the foundation for my students! Keep up the great work!
  • @AidanEyewitness
    This is a superbly informative presentation with excellent graphics. I find the 'tracks' system fascinating. I've seen pilots requesting oceanic clearance in various cockpit videos. How it all works and how the movements of so many aircraft is facilitated, its just fascinating. I see transatlatic flights over my head (and have occasionally been on one or two) and it's great to know how it all functions. I love the acronyms too, especially SLOP!
  • @tailsorange2872
    I see that you went off the usual tracks to get on track to getting your voice back!
  • @captainzeppos
    That was an excellent but very basic explanation of how oceanic tracks work and the procedures involved. The reality is orders of magnitude more complicated but it would cause a headache to the target audience of this excellent video so I'm sure it was omitted by choice. Everyone interested to find out more about HF comms, NAT details, reporting at select points etc is encouraged to search for more advanced videos.
  • @neillangridge862
    A beautifully written and presented video. As a private small plane pilot who has flown the Atlantic as a passenger many times I had heard of the track system from pilots but never really understood how it worked. Brilliant video keep up the good work.
  • @csbalachandran
    This is an excellent geography teaching resource. The concepts are clearly and simply articulated. Thanks for uploading this. 🙏🙏🙏
  • @TrizzGotWaves
    You guys should do a video on which airline to pick for New York to Paris like how you did New York to London
  • @Ritz-mn8qf
    What a fascinating way to manage the highways in the sky.✈
  • @alexandroalvarez2464
    Excellent presentation containing most interesting information enhancing our daily lives while traveling. Thanks for compiling this information
  • @benwilson6145
    I take it its Shannon and Prestwick. Used to enjoy flying the Prestwick to Chicago as you flew over Greenland and the uninhabited area of northern Canada
  • @user-yc2oz8kc5k
    I wonder how airlines managed these ocean crossings during the propliner era. These are signs we are in the tomorrow people in the past tried to imagine. Impressive.
  • @stickynorth
    Shanwick = Shannon, Ireland + Prestwick, Scotland for the uninitiated...
  • @iampianoman
    I sort of knew of the tracks thanks to NATS YouTube video from 2014 showing all transatlantic flights in a typical 24-hour period. Pretty fascinating! I also found it neat that NATS' video shows how the number of flights generally peak eastbound when night falls on the east coast of North America, and westbound when midday in Europe. Said video which the makers of this video captured some clips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pI77r3oAxw