Establishment of United States Area Navigation Route T-550 and Revocation of Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range Federal Airway V-320
Key claim: The FAA is dropping Alaska’s unusable VOR airway V-320 and putting a new GPS-based RNAV route, T-550, near Anchorage so aircraft still have a usable path.
Abstract
(Rule · Transportation Department, Federal Aviation Administration) This action revokes Very High Frequency (VHF) Omnidirectional Range (VOR) Federal Airway V-320 in Alaska due to navigational signal limits causing portions of this route to be unusable. There are two routes with the identifier V-320, one located in the state of Alaska, and one located in the state of Michigan. This action only revokes the V-320 located in Alaska. FAA is also establishing United States Area Navigation (RNAV) Route T-550 near Anchorage, AK.
Why this matters
Alaska’s en-route airspace relies heavily on ground-based VORs that are aging out, and routine replacements like V-320 → T-550 are how the FAA keeps charted low-altitude paths available for aircraft that have shifted to GPS/RNAV navigation. The practical effect is local but concrete: pilots near Anchorage lose a VOR airway they could not reliably use anyway and gain an RNAV T-route in roughly the same corridor. It is a small data point in the ongoing VOR Minimum Operational Network transition.