Can international flights be filed with Leidos Flight Service via web services?
Yes. An international flight can be filed from an allowable departure using the ICAO flight plan form. Leidos has a connection to the FAA systems which distribute both IFR and VFR flight plans to both domestic and international facilities.
All flights that depart from within an allowable foreign airspace or intersect foreign airspace must be filed with the ICAO flight plan form (not the Domestic flight plan form).
Flights can be filed from an allowable foreign location into the U.S. or to another foreign destination.
You can file the U.S. portion of the flight plan via Leidos as long a valid destination is entered. Also, Leidos has a worldwide airport database; you may want to attempt to file the entire route via Leidos. There are certain destinations that are not allowed.
Which countries are considered as allowable departures?
The following countries are considered allowable foreign departure locations: Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Pacific Rim, Turks & Caicos, and U.S. Virgin Islands. The Pacific Rim area includes Marshall Islands, Guam, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Kosrae, and Kiribati. This may not be an exhaustive list.
How can I determine if an airport is an allowable departure?
To determine if an airport is an allowable departure:
For valid U.S. airport identifiers, you can use the retrieveFAAAirportID web service. It will return true for all airports in U.S. and U.S. regions and territories that are allowable departures.
Airports in Canada and Mexico are also valid departures.
Leidos Flight Service evaluates a departure in context with the rest of the flight plan. Leidos does not have a specific endpoint that allows querying for allowed departures.
The best method is to file the flight plan and handle the error response. If it is validated in our system, and is a VFR flight plan for Canada/Mexico or if it is an IFR flight plan, it will be forwarded on to the appropriate facility at a specific time before the estimated departure. The flight plan may be accepted or rejected by Canada, Mexico, or U.S. facility upon receipt.
The following publications are the best sources for determining valid airport identifiers:
US – For valid departures and destinations:
FAA Location Identification publication
NASR (public domain)
Canada – For valid departures and destinations:
ICAO location identification publication - ICAO airports
Non-ICAO identifiers for Canada from NavCanada publications (licensed).
Mexico – For valid departures and destinations:
ICAO location identification publication - ICAO airports
Can reach out directly to Mexican aviation authorities.
Global – For valid destinations (Only U.S., Canada and Mexico are allowable departures.)
ICAO Location Identification publication (licensed)
What happens when an IFR flight plan to a foreign destination is filed? How is it activated?
IFR flights will be forwarded to the controlling ARTCC/FIR which will activate it. The IFR flight will also be forwarded to the foreign facility which will activate it when in communication with the pilot.
For IFR flight plans, Leidos transmits the flight plan to only the departure ARTCC. ATC will forward the IFR flight plan to downstream ARTCCs.
Flight Service will receive an immediate response whether the flight plan has been accepted/rejected from the departure ARTCC.
An acknowledgement for the flight plan from Canada, Mexico, or other foreign destination is not required and therefore may not be received. The pilot must contact foreign ATC for the status of their flight plan.
Flight Service does not receive notification when the flight has departed (is activated) or arrived.
An IFR flight can be amended or cancelled up until 46 minutes prior to ETD.
For an IFR flight plan to a foreign destination, if the web service request returns true, has the flight been accepted by the FAA?
The web service return value indicates only initial validation of the flight plan fields by Leidos Flight Service; it does not indicate that the flight plan has been accepted by the FAA. There are several ways to determine whether an IFR flight plan has been accepted by the FAA:
Retrieve the Flight: After filing, retrieve the flight plan using the RetrieveFlightPlan web service.
The response will also contain the current state of the flight (PROPOSED, ACTIVE), all flight plan fields, the ARTCC status (ROGERED or REJECTED), and the last transmitted and received messages
Push Notifications: It is recommended to set up push notifications to subscribe to changes in the flight plan which includes the ARTCC response.
When a push notification is received for a flight change, the flight plan should be retrieved. The response will contain the current state of the flight (PROPOSED, ACTIVE), all flight plan fields, the ARTCC status (ROGERED or REJECTED), and the last transmitted and received messages
ATC Notices: If the flight plan is filed credentialed, the pilot can register for ATC Notices from the Flight Service website dashboard. When the flight is filed, the controlling U.S. ARTCC will send an acknowledgement or a rejection to Leidos, and in turn, Leidos will send the pilot an email or text indicating that ATC has accepted the flight plan.
Note: Not all foreign countries send an acknowledgement or a rejection to Leidos.
What will happen to the non-U.S. international part of a filed flight? Will it be discarded or ignored?
ATC will forward the flight plan to the downstream foreign facility.
For IFR flight plans, the foreign facility will activate it when in communication with the pilot.
If the flight plan is sent to a facility outside the NAS, an acknowledgement is not required and may not be received.
Even though Leidos may not receive an acknowledgement or rejection from foreign FIRs, it is considered filed and Leidos stores the flight plan for future access.
Can I get a briefing for an international flight from Leidos Flight Service?
Our briefings do not stop at the U.S. borders. If we have aeronautical or meteorological information for foreign locations, we will provide the information in a briefing. However, Flight Service is not required or responsible for proving foreign location information, so the pilot in command is responsible for obtaining aeronautical and meteorological information from the appropriate foreign service provider.
Are there special rules for flights departing Canada?
All flight plans with a Canadian departure point must be filed with the ICAO flight plan form as IFR.
You can use the ICAO flight plan form to file a IFR or VFR flight plan departing the U.S. (or allowable departures) and arriving in Canada.
Leidos does not support the special Canadian form for VFR flights, which is very different from the ICAO form.
For IFR flight plans from Alaska to CONUS flying over Canada, the flight plans are automatically sent to NavCanada. Placing EETs for FIRs in an IFR flight plan causes rejects from those FIRs. Do not place FIRs in IFR flight plans. For more details, see the section below on EETs.
If you want a VFR flight plan to be sent to NavCanada, you will need to put the FIR and the crossing time in the EET/ subfield in the “otherInfo” field.
Are there special rules for flights departing Mexico?
A flight plan that starts and ends within Mexico can be filed with the ICAO flight plan form.
An acknowledgement from Canada or Mexico is not required and therefore may not be received.
What is the EET/ subfield and when is it needed?
The EET subfield in the "otherInfo" field is used to record FIR boundary designators and accumulated estimated elapsed times from take-off to each FIR boundary (estimated FIR penetration time). The format is: EET/<position><time>
The format of the EET/ subfield is described in the LFS User Guide: https://www.1800wxbrief.com/Website/resources/help.pdf
See the questions below for when to use EETs with IFR and VFR flight plans.
For IFR Flights, when do I need to put EETs (FIRs) in the flight plan?
Starting with Release 11.3, it is not necessary to place EETs in the flight plan. EETs will be automatically calculated and placed in the flight plan. For more details, see the 11.3 Release Notes for EET Subfield for International ICAO Flight Plans. If placing EETs in the flight plan, the following applies.
For a U.S. departure and a Canada destination, no FIR boundaries are necessary. Same goes for a Canada departure and a U.S. destination.
For IFR Flight plans flying to Canada or over Canada, the flight plans are automatically sent to NavCanada. U.S. ARTCCs and Canadian FIRs should not be placed in the "otherInfo" field in an IFR flight plan as it causes rejects from those ARTCCs and FIRs.
For a Canada departure and a foreign destination, you may place foreign FIR boundaries in the EET/ subfield.
If the flight overflies the U.S., DO NOT enter any ARTCC boundaries, Leidos automatically gets the flight plan from Canada.
Same goes for a U.S. departure and a foreign destination (with a Canada overflight), you may enter foreign FIR boundaries in the EET/ subfield, excluding Canada FIRs.
Contact for more questions
Please send questions to the Vendor Support Team at R-FFSP-WebServicesSupport@leidos.com.