SID & STAR: KPHX → KLAS
intermediatePhoenix to Las Vegas: enter the route, then program a departure and an arrival from the DEP/ARR page.
What this scenario covers
On the 737, departures and arrivals both live behind the DEP/ARR key, which offers the procedures published for the origin and destination in the navigation database. Selecting one inserts its legs into the route, which is then visible on LEGS.
This scenario does the route first and the procedures second, which is the order that avoids fighting the box: the procedures need somewhere to attach.
How it applies in flight ops
The desert hop between Phoenix and Las Vegas is around 220 nautical miles and is flown constantly by US carriers. Both ends are busy, and both use procedures to keep departures and arrivals apart without individual vectoring.
Expect to reload. Runway changes are common at both airports, and a runway change means a different SID — done quickly, verified on LEGS, executed. Because the sector is short, the arrival is normally programmed on the ground alongside the departure; there is no comfortable cruise in which to catch up on box work, and the descent begins almost as soon as the climb ends.
Start this scenario
Open the SimTuts 737 CDU trainer and select “SID & STAR: KPHX → KLAS” from the scenarios list to walk through it step-by-step on the simulated keypad.
Open trainer →Step-by-step: SID & STAR: KPHX → KLAS
- On the RTE page, enter ORIGIN KPHX. Type KPHX and press 1L.
The 737 CDU keys origin on RTE page 1, LSK 1L. Everything downstream (SID list, performance) keys off a valid origin being set first.
- Enter DEST KLAS. Type KLAS and press 1R.
KPHX→KLAS is ~220 nm — roughly a 50-minute block. It is one of the busiest short-haul city pairs in the US Southwest.
- Set COST INDEX 35 on PERF INIT. Type 35 and press 5L.
On the 737 the cost index lives on PERF INIT (5L), not the route page. CI 35 is a sensible mid-low value for a short leg where fuel and time roughly balance.
- Open DEP/ARR. Pick a KPHX SID from the left column.
DEP/ARR lists origin departures on the left. KPHX westbound SIDs (BUCKEYE, BROAK and others) route you out toward the Las Vegas corridor; the picker shows whatever NASR data provides for the field.
- Pick a KLAS STAR from the right column.
Destination arrivals sit in the right column. KLAS STARs feed the approach corridors into Harry Reid Intl. Selecting one completes the route programming — the CDU now has a full origin-SID-…-STAR-destination plan.
What to take away
- DEP/ARR serves both departures and arrivals on the 737.
- Enter the route first; procedures attach to it.
- Selecting a procedure rewrites part of LEGS — go and look.
- Runway changes are routine; reloading the SID must be fast.
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