Definition
A written order issued by the manager of an air traffic control facility that prescribes how that facility's personnel will handle specific operations, procedures, or coordination requirements within their area of responsibility. Facility directives apply only inside the issuing facility and supplement the national rules found in FAA Order JO 7110.65.
Plain English
A local rulebook written by the boss of a control tower or radar facility that tells the controllers there how to handle certain situations in their own airspace.
Context Anchor
Seen in FAA discussions about how ATC facilities coordinate the use of airspace and apply local procedures.
Derivation
Facility' here means the specific ATC building or unit (tower, TRACON, or center). 'Directive' comes from Latin 'directus,' meaning to guide or steer. Together: a guiding instruction issued by and for one ATC facility.
Why Pilots Care
These directives can create specific local procedures that affect routing, communication, or handoff expectations when operating near or within the facility's airspace.
Intuition Check
Do not read this as any instruction from any aviation building. In FAA use, a facility directive is a written local procedure issued by a specific ATC facility.
Example Sentence 1
The tower's facility directive required controllers to coordinate with approach control before clearing any aircraft for a straight-in landing on the crossing runway.
Example Sentence 2
Before entering the area, the pilot reviewed the facility directive that outlined preferred arrival routes for that control tower.