Area control center

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) defines an ARTCC as: [a] facility established to provide air traffic control service to aircraft operating on IFR flight plans within controlled airspace, principally during the en-route phase of flight.

[2] The flight information region controlled by a center may be further administratively subdivided into areas comprising two to nine sectors.

In the United States, centers are electronically linked through the National Airspace System, which allows nationwide coordination of traffic flow to manage congestion.

Pilots may request altitude adjustments or course changes for reasons including avoidance of turbulence or adverse weather conditions.

Controllers can assign routing relative to location fixes derived from latitude and longitude, or from radionavigation beacons such as VORs.

Typically, centers have advance notice of a plane's arrival and intentions from its pre-filed flight plan.

The current list of FIRs and ACCs is maintained by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

This temporary flight restriction map from the Federal Aviation Administration shows the boundaries of the regions controlled by the area control centers within and adjoining the contiguous United States , as well as the FAA location identifier of each such center operated by the United States.

Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center , United States

Controllers at work at the Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center , United States

Map of approximately the Northern Hemisphere from Japan & New Guinea (left edge) to the middle of North Atlantic Ocean. The map shows yellow over the continental U.S. and Bahamas, Alaska (and much of the Bering Sea), and a yellow circle around Bermuda. Most of the Northern Pacific is colored blue along with a small section in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, and the western half of the North Atlantic from roughly the latitude of Maine to the northern edge of the Leeward Islands (or Puerto Rico). — The FAA provides air traffic control services over U.S. territory and over international waters where it has been delegated such authority by the International Civil Aviation Organization . This map depicts overflight fee regions. The yellow regions are where the U.S. provides *enroute* ATC services (mostly over land territory). The blue regions are where the U.S. provides *oceanic* ATC services over international waters.