Learn what VFR flight following provides, its limits, and the exact information and radio phraseology needed to request it from ATC.
In real-world aviation, VFR flight following is a workload-permitting ATC radar advisory service, chiefly a US term. Controllers provide traffic advisories, safety alerts and frequency hand-offs where practical. Request it from departure, approach or centre with your callsign, aircraft type, position, altitude, destination and requested cruising altitude.
Flight following does not turn a VFR flight into an IFR flight. You remain responsible for weather avoidance, terrain clearance, fuel planning, legal VFR altitudes and seeing and avoiding other aircraft.
What does VFR flight following provide?
Flight following gives a VFR pilot radar-based assistance while remaining under visual flight rules. Depending on coverage and controller workload, that may include:
- Traffic advisories for radar-observed aircraft.
- Safety alerts when ATC detects a risk involving terrain, obstacles or another aircraft.
- Frequency hand-offs between departure, approach and en-route controllers.
- Limited navigation assistance or vectors when requested and available.
The service is not guaranteed. Radar coverage, radio coverage and staffing can all affect what ATC can provide, especially at low altitude or in busy terminal airspace. Our explanation of tower, approach and centre controller roles helps identify which facility to call.
How do you request flight following from ATC?
- Prepare the details. Know your callsign, aircraft type, present position, altitude, destination, route and requested cruising altitude. Describe your position relative to a recognised airport, navigation fix or landmark rather than using a vague local reference.
- Choose the appropriate frequency. At a towered airport, ask clearance delivery or ground before departure; local procedures vary. Once airborne, call the published departure, approach or en-route centre frequency for your area.
- Make the initial call. On a busy frequency, use the facility name, callsign and request:
Approach, Cessna One Two Three Alpha Bravo, VFR request. Wait for the controller to respond before giving the full details. - State the complete request. For example:
Cessna One Two Three Alpha Bravo, Cessna One Seven Two, ten miles south of Riverside, three thousand five hundred, VFR to Lakeview, request flight following at five thousand five hundred. - Read back the instructions. ATC will normally issue a discrete transponder code and may ask you to press IDENT. Read back the code, but press IDENT only when instructed.
- Wait for radar contact. Do not assume the service has started merely because ATC answered or assigned a code. The controller will normally confirm radar contact and may verify your position or altitude.
Before requesting the service on the ground, obtain the airport information and be ready to report the code; our guide to obtaining and using ATIS covers that preparation.
What should you say when ATC reports traffic?
Reply with traffic in sight when you can positively identify the reported aircraft, or negative contact if you cannot. Continue scanning even after reporting the traffic in sight; ATC has not taken over your see-and-avoid responsibility.
Do not turn solely because traffic was reported unless a manoeuvre is needed for safety or ATC issues an instruction. If the conflict is unclear, ask for an updated position, altitude or vector.
Does flight following clear you into controlled airspace?
Flight following by itself is not permission to enter airspace that requires a separate clearance or communication with a particular facility. A discrete transponder code is also not an airspace clearance.
- Class B: You must hear an explicit clearance into the Class B airspace.
- Class C: The required two-way communication must be established before entry.
- Class D: You must establish two-way communication with the controlling tower before entry.
- Restricted areas and temporary restrictions: Flight following does not grant authorisation to enter them.
A mistake we see constantly is waiting until the airspace boundary to ask for the service. Request flight following early enough for ATC to identify you, assign a code and coordinate any necessary hand-off.
What if ATC cannot provide flight following?
ATC may say unable flight following because of workload, poor radar coverage or limited radio coverage. Continue under normal VFR procedures, use the standard VFR transponder code when directed, and try the next appropriate facility later.
If a controller hands you off but the next frequency does not answer, check the frequency, try again and then return to the previous controller if possible. Do not continue towards clearance-dependent airspace on the assumption that the hand-off succeeded.
How do you cancel flight following?
Ask the controller to terminate the service or approve a frequency change. A suitable call is Approach, Cessna One Two Three Alpha Bravo, request to cancel flight following.
Remain on the assigned code and frequency until ATC replies. The usual termination includes wording such as radar service terminated, followed by an instruction to use the standard VFR code and approval to change frequency.
Is flight following the same outside the United States?
The term and procedure are primarily associated with US operations. Other countries may offer related flight information, traffic or radar services under different names, eligibility rules and radio phraseology, so pilots should use the procedures published for that state.
Simulator pilots can practise the same concise request-and-readback technique with human controllers. Our VATSIM radio-training guidance explains how to prepare calls, request clarification and avoid blocking a busy frequency.