Major Field Checkout

Please read the DFW ATCT SOP. All information contained in this page is a supplement to the SOP, and might not contain every procedure/operation.

DFW has seen over 20,000 operations a year on the VATSIM network since 2008!

The Dallas Fort Worth International airport serves the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the largest hub for American Airlines, which is headquartered near the airport. 2023 was a record year for DFW, as the airport served 81,764,044 passengers.

It is the third busiest airport in the world by aircraft movements and by passenger traffic in 2023. It is the busiest airport in the state of Texas by both passenger enplanements and by aircraft movements (takeoffs and landings). It is the tenth busiest international gateway in the United States and busiest in Texas. With nearly 900 daily flights, American at DFW is the second largest airline hub in the world and the United States, only behind Delta's Atlanta hub.

DFW is larger than the island of Manhattan and is the second largest in acreage (17,207 (6,963 hectares or 26.9 square miles)) among U.S. airports, after Denver

Area of Jurisdiction

Control Area

Ground control is responsible for all movement areas between runways 17R/35L and 18L/36R. Aircraft calling for taxi outside of this area should call the appropriate tower controller for taxi. Clearances should still be given by ground (If combined) regardless of aircraft position.

Splits

Ground can be split east/west. GCE owns taxiways B, Z, and all other taxiways between spine road and 17R/35L. GCW owns taxiways A, Y, and all other taxiways between spine road and 18L/36R.

Clearance can be split by flight data and clearance. Flight data will sign on as DFW_DEL, but will not "Activate." Flight data shall send TDLS to capable aircraft and mark those strips appropriately. Clearance delivery will sign in as normal, on the correct frequency, and issue voice clearances to aircraft that need an amended clearance or aircraft who aren't PDC/TDLS capable (GA airplanes).

Runway Configurations

South (Wind < 5KT)

Land 13R, 18R, 17C, 17L
Depart 18L, 17R, (13L props/local transit)

North Flow

Land 36L, 35C, 35R, 31R
Depart 36R, 35L (31L overflow)

Terminal Parking Locations

Terminal A - American

Terminal B - American Eagle

Terminal C - American

Terminal D - American, Sun Country, Westjet, International Carriers

Terminal E - United, United Express, Delta, Alaska, Frontier, Spirit, Jetblue

1E Corporate - Boutique, General Aviation

East Air Freight - FedEx

West Air Freight & West Cargo - All other cargo

Initial Altitudes

Jet Aircraft:

1. Assign 10,000 feet to all IFR jet departures, except:

i. Assign 4,000 feet to IFR jets landing within D10 airspace, exiting the south gates requesting at or below 12,000 feet, exiting the north, east, or west gates requesting at or below 10,000 feet.

Note - All RNAV jet departure procedures should receive “climb via SID” as their departure instruction.

Prop Aircraft:

1. Assign 2,000 feet to all IFR prop departures.

Clearance Delivery/Strip Marking

Responsibility

It is the clearance delivery controller's job to ensure all departing aircraft have received a correct and valid clearance as per their flight rules, SID, aircraft type, cruise altitude, etc. Use the DFW cheatsheet to quickly reference DFW related information. CD shall:

a. If able, prepare the arrival/departure ATIS.

b. Issue IFR and VFR clearances to departing aircraft.

c. Ensure that all departing aircraft are routed through an appropriate departure gate or departure procedure.

d. Create an appropriate flight strip for all VFR aircraft. This shall include aircraft ID, type, altitude requested and assigned, as appropriate, and direction of flight, if no destination was given.

Strip Marking

It is required during events for the CD controller to appropriately mark all aircraft flight strips using vStrips so that GND and TWR can move airplanes more easily and efficiently. Mark flight strips as follows, and push the strip to GND whenever the clearance has been received.

The 9 boxes on the right side of the flight strip are label from top left to bottom right 1-9
These boxes will have critical information about the flight including
- Box 1 - Current ATIS code if the aircraft has reported it
- Box 2 - Current runway assignment
- Box 4 - A checkmark upon the takeoff clearance being issued
- Box 5 - Intersection of runway assigned if the aircraft is not a full length departure

VFR Departures

Issue a clearance to include the following items:

a. VFR props:

1. Class B clearance via radar vectors.

2. Maintain VFR at or below 2,000 feet.

3. The appropriate departure or satellite controller frequency for direction of flight.

b. VFR jets landing within D10 airspace or remaining below 10,000 feet (or 12,000 feet if initially departing south):

1. Class B clearance via radar vectors.

2. Maintain VFR at 4,000 feet.

3. The appropriate departure or satellite controller frequency for direction of flight.

c. All other VFR jets:

1. Class B clearance via radar vectors.

2. Maintain VFR at 10,000 feet.

3. The appropriate departure radar controller frequency for direction of flight.

Pre-Departure Clearances (PDCs) / Tower Data-Link Services (TDLS)

Directional Dependent Departures

This procedure is utilized to prevent aircraft from overlapping each other on departure. Controllers shall send aircraft to the appropriate directional runway, as shown below, during high volume operations . This procedure's use is not typically conducted in low traffic periods. The diagram below highlights what runways feed what departure gates.

Departure gates east of the half-way division use the east departure runway and vise versa.

Bridge Flows

Four taxiways are responsible for connecting the East and West halves of the airport together. These bridges are "One way" designated, regardless of flow.

Aircraft needing to use the bridges should be instructed to taxi no further than the bridge and monitor or contact the next controller on top of the bridge.

Example – “Taxi via F, A, hold short of K and contact ground 121.65 on top of the bridge”

Taxiways A and Y are Eastbound Only

Taxiways B and Z are Westbound Only

Taxiway Usage

Generally Taxiway K and G or "the inners" are used for the opposite direction of travel as the runway. While taxiway F and L or "the outers" are used for the same direction of travel as the runway.

If the airport is in south flow, taxiway K and G should travel north, while F and L should travel south

If the airport is in north flow, taxiway K and G should travel south, while F and L should travel north

*Expectation to this rule is rarely needed outside of events.

ASDE-X

DFW has ASDE-X (Airport Surface Detection Equiptment model X). This ground radar allows controllers to see squawk code information for aircraft on the ground. Ensure all aircraft operate their transponder with the correct code and altitude reporting mode on while in movement areas.

Phraseology - SQUAWK ALTITUDE/NORMAL

DFW departures shall have scratchpads entered into the data block. This can be done by right clicking and then clicking the "enter" key and tab to SP1 or SP2.

SP1 shall have holding pad assigned entered.

SP2 shall have initial RNAV fix entered.

Holding Pad Sequencing

DFW is designed with one primary thing in mind: traffic flow. The holding pads were designed to stack traffic by their first RNAV fix. This allows tower clear aircraft for takeoff much more closely together since they are on diverging courses with the departing aircraft ahead of them. Aircraft are to be given directional dependent departure runway assignments to prevent cross complex departures.

Figure 1 denotes the green holding pad lanes. Aircraft shall be sequenced by lane and handed off or told to monitor tower frequency when entering the pad.

Taxiways like F, G, H, J, K, and L are utilized to feed the various lead up taxiways like WF, WG, WH, EF, EG, and EH for their respective departure runways they serve.

Figure 1

The diagram below explains how the taxiway network is laid out and how aircraft are assigned to each proper lead up taxi lane. Gray taxiways denote what taxiways are linked. Example: Taxiway J does not join EH.

**Note** Heavies, cross complex departures (aircraft departing from the wrong side of the airport), aircraft that need extra time/sequencing, or aircraft that will initially be given a radar vector are given full length.*

Examples:

BAW92 Heavy: S Flow

First fix: SPERA
Assignment: Runway 17R @ EF
"SpeedBird 92 Heavy, Runway 17R taxi via G Y J EF"

Delta 789: S Flow

First fix: LARNN
Assignment: Runway 18L @ WG
"Delta 789, Runway 18R taxi via K Z G WG"

Envoy 4516: N Flow

First fix: GVINE
Needs 1 min. to pull pizza out of oven
Assignment: Runway 36R @ WR
"Envoy 4516, Runway 36R taxi via G WR"

American 566: N Flow

First fix: MECHL
Assignment: Runway 35L @ EP
"American 566, Runway 35L taxi via K A L EP"

Read up on the DFW SOP and complete the DFW DEL/GND Quiz on VATUSA prior to scheduling your lesson!

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