KLAX → KJFK Transcon (J146)

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📍 Route: KLAX → KJFK via J146⏱ ~10 minutes📊 8 steps🎓 Line Flying

Los Angeles to New York the way it is actually filed: a SID, the J146 jet route, and the CAMRN arrival into JFK.

What this scenario covers

A transcon is the full exercise. INIT for a long-range flight, a departure procedure out of LAX, an airway insertion for the enroute structure, and an arrival into one of the busiest terminal areas in the world — each of which you have practised separately.

J146 is a real FAA jet route, and inserting it exercises the AIRWAYS path properly: a long airway with many waypoints, joined at one end and left at another, which is where the "not in database" failure mode gets its chances.

How it applies in flight ops

On a five-hour domestic sector there is time to program carefully, and crews use it: the plan gets loaded, cross-checked against the OFP, and briefed properly before pushback. Long flights are not harder to program, they are just longer.

The CAMRN arrival into JFK is the eastern seaboard at its busiest, and it carries constraints that shape the whole descent. Loading it early means the FMGS descent path is realistic from top of descent rather than being rebuilt on the way down.

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Step-by-step: KLAX → KJFK Transcon (J146)

On the INIT page, enter the route. Type KLAX/KJFK and press 1R.
The FROM/TO field tells the FMS the route endpoints. KLAX = Los Angeles, KJFK = New York Kennedy. Real-world airline OFPs always quote 4-letter ICAO codes (not 3-letter IATA like LAX/JFK) for navigation systems.
Enter the flight number AAL10 (American Airlines flight 10, a real LAX→JFK service). Type AAL10 and press 3L.
Flight numbers identify the flight to ATC, ACARS, and flight tracking. AAL is the ICAO code for American Airlines; the radio callsign is "American 10". On the OFP, this matches the IATA flight number AA10.
Enter cost index 80 (typical transcon airline CI). Type 80 and press 5L.
Cost index balances time-cost vs fuel-cost. CI 80 is on the higher end — used when on-time arrival matters more than fuel savings (typical for transcon morning departures hitting hub connection banks). The FMS uses CI to compute optimum climb/cruise/descent speeds.
Set cruise altitude FL350 (eastbound, odd FL per semicircular rule). Type 350 and press 6L.
The semicircular rule prevents head-on conflicts at cruise: above FL290, eastbound is odd, westbound is even. FL350 is a sweet spot for transcons — high enough for fuel efficiency, low enough that most A320/737-class jets can climb directly without step-climb.
Now press the F-PLN page key to view the route. Then click LSK 1L on the KLAX waypoint to open LAT REV.
LAT REV (Lateral Revision) is how the Airbus MCDU lets you edit the flight plan at a specific waypoint. At the origin airport, it exposes the DEPARTURE option for SID selection. At the destination, it exposes ARRIVAL for STAR selection. Anywhere enroute, it gives AIRWAYS> for airway insertion.
On LAT REV FROM KLAX, press 1L to open DEPARTURES. Then select the first SID by pressing 1L again, and INSERT* with 5R.
KLAX SIDs in this trainer are pulled from the FAA 28-day NASR data. CATALINA is one of the most-used — used on westbound departures off RWY 25R, sending traffic over Catalina island before turning south or east. Selecting and inserting adds the SID waypoints to your F-PLN between KLAX and the next leg.
Type J146 in the scratchpad and press LSK 1L on the next waypoint to open AIRWAYS, then enter JFK as TO and press INSERT*.
J146 is a real FAA jet route from KLAX east to KJFK, passing through LAS (Vegas), Colorado, the Plains, and the Midwest before arriving on the JFK arrival corridor. The AIRWAYS page expands the route through every published waypoint — verifiable on FlightAware and SkyVector.
Click LSK on the KJFK waypoint to open LAT REV, then 1R to open ARRIVAL. Select CAMRN and press 5R to insert.
CAMRN is the J-route arrival into KJFK from the south and west, terminating at the JFK 31 ILS feeder. Real flights from the west almost always arrive via CAMRN; it's on the OFP for 90%+ of LAX→JFK routings. STAR selection here completes the route programming — the FMS now has a full plan from KLAX gate to KJFK runway.

What to take away

A transcon chains everything: INIT, SID, airway, STAR.
Long airways are where the LAT REV → AIRWAYS path really earns its keep.
Arrival constraints shape the descent path — load them before you need them.
More time to program is not an excuse to skip the cross-check; it is the opportunity to do it.

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