The FAA Could Miss The Deadline To Rename Lake Ontario On Airspace Charts

Credit: FAA - Not for navigation Published Aug 31, 2026, 10:52 AM EDT Prachi is a London-based journalist with extensive experience in the aviation industry. She has worked for several leading industry publications, covering a broad range of topics. Her expertise lies in aircraft maintenance, emerging technologies, and advanced air mobility. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Journalism, focusing on data journalism and its potential to transform conventional aviation reporting. Sign in to your Simple Flying account Amid escalating trade tensions between Washington and Ottawa, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on August 27 to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America. The order requires US government agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), to use the new name in their official documents and records. However, the timing of the order could make it difficult for the FAA to reflect the change on its upcoming airspace charts. These charts provide pilots with information about the airspace they fly through and are updated according to fixed publication schedules. The FAA’s September Chart Still Says Lake Ontario Credit: FAA - Not for navigation The FAA produces Visual Flight Rules (VFR) sectional charts for airspace and airport information. Each edition follows a fixed publication schedule with separate cut-off dates for different types of information. For the September 3, 2026, edition, airspace information had to be submitted by July 7, while airport information had to be submitted by July 22. The renaming order was signed more than a month after the chart's airspace information had already been finalized. That means the September 3 sectional still says Lake Ontario; that's not surprising. It doesn't mean the FAA ignored Trump's order or is refusing to rename the lake. The chart's relevant information had already been frozen before the order was signed. With that being said, the timing could affect the FAA's next sectional as well. When Could Lake America First Appear In The FAA VFR Charts? Credit: Shutterstock The executive order gives the Department of the Interior 30 days to take the necessary steps through the U.S. Board on Geographic Names and update the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). With the order signed on August 27, that puts the 30-day period at around September 26. The next sectional is scheduled for October 29. Its deadline for airspace information is September 1, which comes before the expected completion of the federal naming process. This means the FAA could face a similar timing issue if the new name is not available to the agency in time. If the name cannot be added to the next New York sectional, then the following edition is scheduled for December 24. That would put nearly four months between the executive order and a potential appearance of “Lake America” on an FAA sectional. A lake label is part of the chart's cartographic base and hydrographic information, rather than airspace or airport data. The September 1 and September 16 cut-off dates therefore may not determine when the FAA can update the lake's name. The December 24 edition should be presented as a potential next opportunity, not a confirmed deadline. The FAA has dealt with a similar name change before. After Trump signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America on January 20, 2025, the FAA's Aeronautical Information Services issued a charting notice on February 10. The notice said the agency was updating its data and charts and that the change would be targeted for the next publication cycle. The first specific chart and data changes took effect with the April 17, 2025, publication cycle. One Lake, Two Names For Pilots Credit: Shutterstock Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that the name change applies to US federal use only. Lake Ontario sits on the border between Ontario and New York. The executive order directs US federal agencies to use “Lake America” for the entire lake, including the section that borders Ontario. That does not extend to Canadian authorities or international organizations. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names is responsible for names used by the US federal government only. It has no authority over Canada or NAV CANADA, and the International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO) also does not have to adopt the US designation. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has already rejected the name change. For pilots, this could eventually mean seeing “Lake America” on a US sectional while a Canadian VNC continues to identify the same water as Lake Ontario. The charts cover airspace on opposite sides of an international border that is only around 30 miles apart.