Definition
A pre-planned, pre-coordinated IFR flight route between two airports, identified by a short alphanumeric code and stored in ATC and airline computer systems. CDRs let controllers reroute traffic around weather, congestion, or airspace closures by issuing a single code rather than reading out a full new route, allowing the flight crew to load the entire revised routing quickly.
Plain English
A ready-made backup route between two airports, saved under a short code. If the original route is blocked, ATC can hand the crew the code and the new route loads in one step.
Context Anchor
You may encounter this in an instrument flight clearance, especially at busy airports where air traffic control uses standard stored routes to move departing aircraft efficiently.
Derivation
‘Coded’ because each route is stored under a short identifier code; ‘departure route’ because the routing is referenced from the departure airport. The name reflects the system’s purpose: replacing a long verbal reroute with a single coded reference.
Why Pilots Care
Speeds up clearances, reduces radio congestion, and helps keep departures flowing smoothly when airspace is busy or weather is changing.
Intuition Check
Do not read “coded” as secret or scrambled. In this term, “coded” means a short identifier that stands for a complete air traffic control route.
Example Sentence 1
Due to thunderstorms along the filed route, dispatch sent the crew a Coded Departure Route to load before pushback.
Example Sentence 2
During the ground delay program the tower issued Coded Departure Routes to every departing aircraft to keep departures moving.