Definition
A standing agreement between adjacent ATC facilities or sectors that authorizes specific actions — such as transfer of control, route deviations, or altitude changes — to occur without the need for individual case-by-case coordination at the time the action takes place. The agreement is documented in a Letter of Agreement or facility directive and defines the conditions under which the prearranged action is permitted.
Plain English
An agreement worked out in advance between two air traffic control facilities so they don't have to call each other every single time a routine handoff or change happens. The rules are written down ahead of time, so the controller can just act within those rules.
Context Anchor
This is mainly an air traffic control term. A pilot may see it in the Pilot/Controller Glossary or notice its result when ATC issues a clearance or vector that crosses a control boundary smoothly.
Derivation
"Prearranged" combines "pre-" (before) with "arranged" (set up, agreed). Together with "coordination" (working out an action between two parties), it literally means "the working-out has already been done in advance." The word origin matches the operational meaning exactly: the coordination work is finished before the situation arises.
Why Pilots Care
Pilots rarely interact with prearranged coordination directly, but it's the reason a controller can sometimes clear you across a boundary, change your altitude, or hand you off smoothly without an audible delay. Knowing it exists helps explain why some transitions feel seamless while others require a pause.
Intuition Check
Do not read this as a casual agreement or a quick informal shortcut. In this FAA use, Prearranged Coordination means an approved procedure set up ahead of time that controllers may use instead of coordinating verbally for each individual case.
Example Sentence 1
Under prearranged coordination between the two centers, aircraft on that route can be cleared direct to the fix without an additional handoff call.
Example Sentence 2
Thanks to prearranged coordination, aircraft crossing the boundary between centers moved smoothly with no added radio workload.