FLPLN amendments by Pilots while airborne
 

In airline commercial environment is it possible for pilots to amend elements of their flight plan while airborne (by informing ATC ) ?
To be more precise :
Can you ask for a specific airway segment(s) not part of your original flight plan ?
Can you nominate while you are airborne your destination airport as a non-alternate destination (If it satisfies the criteria)?
Or all of the above have to be done by the company filing that on your behalf while you are airborne (assuming you can reach them to ask for it)

We can do that in Australia. It depends on controller workload though.

Edit: Actually you can change pretty much anything for your active plan, request direct to a waypoint, tracking via a different route etc. That stuff won’t always be approved though. You can also ask nicely and have the controller make amendments to a later plan, that is what depends on controller workload.

It doesn't even have to be an airway segment, I can ask for direct to a fix. I can ask for a different STAR, I can ask for all sorts of stuff. Doesn't mean ATC will approve it, but I can always ask.

Yes. But, the bigger question is how far does your request to ATC change from your Operational Flight Plan (OFP) filed by your dispatcher?

Remember: Crew Sched controls your month. Dispatch controls your day. The Captain controls the hour.

The case for an alternate change is easy, always get Dispatch to do that for you (during normal ops). Not only does this ensure they're in the loop, it ensures any flight watch they are required to conduct is met, as well as handing off a task that is better handled by them anyways. This lets you focus your time on more important things. With that said, if you're out of comms with dispatch, and you need this change in a hurry, then amend the alternate yourself with ATC and tell the dispatcher as soon as possible.

As far as airway changes go, most ops manuals will state that the dispatcher needs to be consulted after a change in distance and/or time of x value from that specified in the OFP. This permits them to maintain proper flight watch and to run new numbers as the OFP might now be invalid. At my operator, there is enough latitude given that we normally don't have to call them for such changes - but I'm not dealing with NAT, PACOTS, or similar type operations where such airway changes could be counted in the hundreds of miles.

Well, the dispatcher thing is mainly a US thing. In EASA land the flightplan is usually prepared by a computer without human involvement and no active flightfollowing is being done, in the biggest airline in europe it is actually technically impossible as RYR doesn't have ACARS. It is the commander and the commander alone who decides about stuff like extra fuel and alternate change, preflight and during the flight.

Of course, a rerouting preflight, for whatever reason, would require a new OFP and would mean that someone has to tell the computer to do so, which is some person in any kind of operation center.

Having spent 90% of my career in either the military or corporate, two areas where decisions are made “on the fly”. Many, many times changed all kinds of routings. My prize was a change in destination, airborne, from home station to Brussels, BE. Everything had been planned for Belgium where the new helicopters were destined, but we had a maintenance problem during pre-flight. TACC decided to send to either Dover or Westover for the work. Magically, C-5 fixed itself airborne, asked Indy Center for Brussels. The controller cleared us to BRU and said, “hope it works”. Sure enough, Gander had the oceanic clearance.

Another time, we changed destination on the East Coast so many times, Washington Center gave up and said, “do what you want MAC, and keep us informed”. ORIs are fun, if you’re flying.