On 5/15/2007 11:27:36 AM, "Marco Leon" wrote:

What gives? Can any of you ATC folks shed some light on this harmless yet
interesting experience? A little-known computer quirk, LOA, weird
procedure or something?

Marco, I can only give you another IFR pilot's experience, but right or wrong
I have concluded that ATC's computer will spit out preferred routes that are
not tolerant of any fix/VOR deviation, even if the deviations result in the
same route.

To expand a bit, to fly IFR to Teterboro (NY City's busiest GA airport) from
Syracuse, NY, there is a specific IFR that must be filed. If that route is
not filed exactly as the ATC computer requires it, the pilot will receive a
full route clearance from ATC when retrieving the clearance. It took me a few
attempts before I was able to get the "Cleared as filed" response from
clearance. To me this seems similar to your scenario.

--
Peter