Definition
A formal air traffic management plan that reroutes aircraft around large areas of forecast severe weather, such as lines of thunderstorms, to keep traffic flowing safely through affected airspace. SWAPs are developed and activated by the FAA's Air Traffic Control System Command Center, often in coordination with affected ARTCCs and TRACONs, and may include preplanned reroutes, ground stops, or airborne holding.
Plain English
A pre-planned strategy used by air traffic control to send airplanes around big areas of bad weather instead of through them, so flights keep moving without flying into dangerous storms.
Context Anchor
Pilots may hear about SWAP during preflight planning, from air traffic control, or in weather-related delay information for busy airspace.
Why Pilots Care
Gives pilots a safe, pre-planned way to avoid hazardous weather without making unapproved deviations that could create new conflicts.
Intuition Check
SWAP does not mean a simple trade or exchange here. In this aviation use, it means a planned air traffic response to severe weather blocking normal routes.
Example Sentence 1
A SWAP was activated for the New York metro area, so dispatch refiled our route well south of the forecast squall line.
Example Sentence 2
The SWAP kept all arrivals on alternate routes until the weather moved east of the airport.