Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

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The International Civil Aviation Organization updated the North Atlantic Tracks (NAT) to reflect the elimination of the Blue Spruce routes, which date back to World War II but are now rarely used. According to flight operations information specialist OpsGroup, aircraft with a single long-range navigation system (LRNS) will have to transit the NAT via Gander Oceanic airspace and the Iceland-Greenland Corridor.
Taking effect today, the changes were made through the latest update of <a href="https://www.icao.int/EURNAT/EUR%20and%20NAT%20Documents/NAT%20Documents/NAT%20Documents/NAT%20Doc%20007/NAT%20Doc%20007%20V.2025-1_Amd_0_eff_20MAR2025.pdf">NAT Doc 007</a>, the main guidance for operations over the North Atlantic. OpsGroup explained that the Blue Spruce routes, which “have been around since forever,” go between Greenland and Iceland and were designed for aircraft with limited navigation capabilities.
However, the Blue Spruce Routes Project Team decided there weren’t enough ground-based navigation aids to support the routes reliably, few operators with single LRNS rely on them, and the flight distance between Blue Spruce routes and alternative corridors was small. Also part of the reasoning was that the Iceland-Greenland surveillance corridor is a good alternative for aircraft with navigation issues.
These routes were created early in World War II for military aircraft transiting the airspace. The name is a nod to the spruce propellers with the tips painted blue on many of these aircraft.

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WWII-era North Atlantic Blue Spruce Routes Removed

Blue Spruce involved airspace between Iceland and Greenland

The North Atlantic Tracks were updated to eliminate the World War II-era Blue Spruce route.

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News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

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