Definition
An FAA initiative to review and modify the structure of the United States National Airspace System, including routes, procedures, and airspace classifications, in order to increase capacity, improve efficiency, and reduce delays. Under NAR, the FAA develops new arrival, departure, and en route procedures — many of them RNAV-based — to make better use of available airspace.
Plain English
A long-running FAA project to redraw and update how U.S. airspace is laid out and used, so traffic flows more smoothly and airports can handle more flights.
Context Anchor
Seen in FAA discussions of RNAV departures, route changes, and airspace modernization around busy terminal areas.
Why Pilots Care
It directly affects the availability of efficient instrument departure routes and reduces delays in high-traffic areas.
Intuition Check
Do not read “redesign” as just a new chart format or a small wording change. Here it means the FAA changed the actual planned structure of routes, procedures, or airspace use.
Example Sentence 1
Several of the new RNAV departures at this airport were developed under the National Airspace Redesign to reduce departure delays.
Example Sentence 2
Pilots review NAR-related changes when studying updates to instrument procedures at their home airports.