Definition
An air traffic control sector that handles aircraft operating above flight level 600 (60,000 feet MSL). These sectors are designed for the small number of aircraft capable of cruising in this regime and are managed within the high altitude en route structure by specially designated controller positions.
Plain English
A slice of controlled airspace, run by a specific controller, that takes care of aircraft flying higher than 60,000 feet.
Context Anchor
Seen in instrument procedures and en route air traffic control discussions, especially when explaining how Center controllers divide airspace by altitude and location.
Derivation
Sector comes from the Latin sector, meaning 'a cutter' or 'a part cut off,' from secare, 'to cut.' In ATC use, the airspace is literally cut into pieces, each handled by one controller. 'Ultra high altitude' simply means above the normal high altitude band.
Why Pilots Care
Pilots flying above FL450 use procedures from this sector that account for reduced air density, different navigation performance, and adjusted separation standards.
Intuition Check
Do not read “sector” as just a general area on a map. Here it means a specific block of airspace assigned to a controller. “Ultra high” refers to very high flight levels, not to terrain height or airport elevation.
Example Sentence 1
After climbing through FL600, the crew was handed off from the high altitude sector to the ultra high altitude sector.
Example Sentence 2
Procedure design for the ultra high altitude sector uses wider protected airspace due to higher true airspeeds.