Hi,
On flightaware.com/live/flight/N…. there are many cases of simple “Flown Route” (solid green line), where the corresponding “Planned Route” shown by flightaware (dashed blue line) is very complicated (sometimes with 20 or more "Waypoints), when the actual Flightaware Route Decode for those flights shows many fewer waypoints. I’m sure that the pilots of those flights never actually filed such complicated routes, with say 30+ waypoints, and they certainly didn’t follow them once in the air.
So what are those “Planned Routes”? How does Flightaware come up with them?
Thanks,
Rohan
What was that tail number, it appears the link was chopped off. Depending on the equipment on board the aircraft, the route may be complicated or simple. The complicated departure procedures are usually handled by GPS and autopilot so the route is not actually manually flown. For aircraft with less technical equipment, those would be hand flown, and the routing is typically less complicated.
Ok then, see the following two examples.
First flightaware.com/live/flight/N222 … /KVNY/KBFL
Flightaware shows 16 waypoints on the map for the “Planned Route”, but the “Route” description has only one waypoint (called TWINE “Reporting Point”) in the “Decode” table. Also the actual “Flown Route” follows none of the waypoints.
QUESTION: Where do the 15 additional FlightAware “Waypoints” on the map come from?
Second example, see flightaware.com/live/flight/N253CX
FlightAware shows approx. 65 waypoints for the “Planned Route” on the map, but the “Route” description flight plan has only 10 points (KWANG5 GINNA HEC J60 DBL J80 FQF J128 OBH HOWRY1, plus the “Decode” has a few more). So
QUESTION again: Where does FlighAware get the 55 additional waypoints from?
Thanks, Rohan
Sorry i misunderstood your question slightly. The waypoints on the map are not correlated to the routing. The waypoint dots are used by the FAA on defining the route that is displayed, but is not tied to the textual route.
Also a side note about the route displayed. Any amendments to the route will be displayed prior to departure. Once the aircraft departs, the route stays fixed and any amendments are only shown on the map.
“… waypoint dots are used by the FAA on defining the route that is displayed, but is not tied to the textual route”
That still begs the question of where the FAA (or whoever) gets the waypoints from? Do they grab them from thin air 
? Look again at the above example
flightaware.com/live/flight/N253CX
How and why do they turn a simple flight plan with about 10 point, into a “Planned Route” with 65 waypoints (most of them on straight lines). It still doesn’t seem to make any sense.
So why?
Best, Rohan
I do not know where those points are generated from, all I know is it is used to model the route.
Probably not, but is there a way to turn off the planned routes? I find them annoying, especially around an airport.
Yes, turn off the Planned Route overlay.