Effective June 30, 2010, the FAA is deleting the term “taxi to” from taxi and ground movement operations as it pertains to aircraft cleared to taxi to an assigned takeoff runway. The change requires controllers to issue explicit runway crossing clearances “for each runway (active/inactive or closed) crossing.” And aircraft issued clearance to cross a runway must cross that runway before receiving clearance for a subsequent runway crossing. There is an exception: “At airports where the taxi route between runway centerlines is less than 1,000 feet apart, multiple runway crossings may be issued after receiving approval by the Terminal Services Director of Operations,” according to the FAA.
The change applies to “the Terminal Services organization and all associated air traffic control facilities.” It will be made manifest in Air Traffic Control, Paragraph 3-7-2. The FAA Runway Safety Call to Action Committee has issued the recommended change to improve runway safety and changes “will also be made to the AIM and AIP,” according to the FAA. For the full text of the notice, click through (PDF).
