Decision making:

#flightplanningfriday, “you know you’re in trouble WHEN” edition!
I got to plan a #flight of that beauty that‘s D-ABYA in her new #lufthansablue dress, to be #flying to GRU.
A #b747, bound for Brazil – clear #flightplanning favorite….unless there’s a general strike in France, affecting ATC, causing heavy slots 😩
And indeed: my most fuel- (1, black route) and cost (2, red) efficient routings (A/B) were right where @eurocontrol ‘s network map (C) showed the biggest delays.
So, time for coffee & checking my options.

There’s 3 general route options between Europe / Brazil (D): the SAT (south Atlantic tracks), a set of #airways via Canaries / Cabo Verde; random routing west of it; “AORRA” (Atlantic Ocean Random Route Area) Route east of it via Africa.
The SAT proved slow and inefficient that night.
The eastern route options were fast – but had the highest activity in ITCZ (inner tropical convergence zone – an area around the equator with frequent thunderstorms) according the satellite pic (E), while west was cheap but slow.
All plus the dynamic slot situation..and a rigid night curfew at #frankfurtairport, so sticking with a late slot was no option.
I thus prepared possible scenarios: via Marseille; via Paris; or a worst case avoiding French airspace entirely; trying to match alternatives via Italy or England with my Oceanic Route options.
This way, things sorted themselves out. A route via Dakar became super inefficient once paired with an outbound via Italy (D, yellow), and a refile via UK would not have been an option at all.
This would work for a western route however – and so would all available options via France and Spain (G).
So, I chose to plan west of the SAT due to best flexibility for slot avoidance, and comparatively lower charges(H) despite the flighttime.
In fact, I re-filed two times before releasing the briefing package for the #flightcrew – then combining lower level plus zigzag route through France did the trick (F): Slot cancelled have a nice ride ✈️
#flightplan #flightdispatch #flightdispatcher#avgeek #ilovemyjob #aviation #plane #foo #flightdispatch #flightplanningissexy #lovewhatyoudo #dowhatyoulove