Definition
Navigation aids (such as VORs, NDBs, or fixes) used to guide aircraft from the en route structure to the initial approach fix (IAF) of an instrument approach procedure. Feeder routes connect these facilities to the IAF and are depicted on approach charts with a course, distance, and minimum altitude.
Plain English
Navigation aids that act as the bridge between cruising flight and the start of an instrument approach. They give the pilot a charted path with a heading, distance, and safe altitude to fly from the en route phase to the point where the approach itself begins.
Context Anchor
Seen on the plan view of an instrument approach chart, especially when looking for how to get from an airway or nearby navigation point to the initial approach area.
Derivation
From 'feeder,' meaning something that supplies or leads into a larger system. In aviation, these facilities 'feed' aircraft into the approach structure, the same way a feeder road leads traffic onto a main highway.
Why Pilots Care
They give pilots a safe, published path to join an approach when radar vectors are unavailable.
Intuition Check
Do not read “feeder facilities” as fuel, food, or airport buildings. Here it means navigation points or navigation aids that lead aircraft into the approach.
Example Sentence 1
ATC cleared us via the feeder facility at the VOR, and we followed the published feeder route to the initial approach fix at the charted altitude.
Example Sentence 2
When cleared via the feeder route, the aircraft descended to the published altitude before reaching the IAF.