FAA Amends Jet Routes J-83 and J-85 in Eastern US Due to Spartanburg VORTAC Relocation

The Federal Aviation Administration is amending Jet Routes J-83 and J-85 in the eastern United States to accommodate the relocation of the Spartanburg, SC (SPA), VORTAC, with the final rule scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on October 13, 2026. The relocation itself takes effect December 24, 2026, moving the facility approximately 7.97 nautical miles south-southwest of its current position; the facility's magnetic variation changes from 2.0°W to 7.0°W, though its facility identification remains unchanged. The Spartanburg VORTAC is being relocated because the land on which it currently sits is being developed for other uses.

For J-83, the FAA determined that aircraft flying the segment between the Spartanburg VORTAC and the Appleton, OH (APE), VORTAC would conflict with traffic on adjacent RNAV Route Q-149 after the relocation, so that segment is being removed; as amended, J-83 will extend between the Appleton VORTAC and the Dryer VOR/DME. For J-85, which previously extended between the Spartanburg VORTAC and the Dryer VOR/DME, the relocated facility would place aircraft in conflict with traffic on RNAV Route Q-147, so the FAA is removing the segment between the Spartanburg VORTAC and the Charleston, WV (HVQ), VOR/DME; as amended, J-85 will extend between the Charleston VOR/DME and the Dryer VOR/DME.

The original Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FAA-2024-2614, 89 FR 103720, December 19, 2024) had also proposed amendments to VOR Federal Airways V-415 and V-605, but those amendments have been removed from this final rule after a project delay prompted them to be addressed separately. The rule amends 14 CFR part 71 by updating FAA Order JO 7400.11M, dated July 30, 2026, and effective September 15, 2026.

This case belongs to a routine but continuous category of airspace maintenance: when a ground-based navaid moves, every jet route and VOR federal airway anchored to it has to be re-examined for conflicts with the RNAV network built up around it. The FAA's own analysis here shows the mechanism directly — the Spartanburg VORTAC relocation would have put J-83 traffic in conflict with Q-149 and J-85 traffic in conflict with Q-147, so the agency trimmed both jet routes back to adjacent fixes rather than leave the conflict in place.

The segment removed from the NPRM — the V-415 and V-605 amendments, pushed to a separate rulemaking after a project delay — illustrates how these airspace redesign packages can be split apart procedurally even when they originate from the same facility move. Operators flying J-83 or J-85 should watch for the December 24, 2026 effective date, when the new route definitions and the relocated VORTAC's revised magnetic variation take effect, and for the follow-on rulemaking covering V-415 and V-605.