Narrative:

Dispatch routed flight around known weather and the initial route was acceptable. After pushback; ground control advised us that the flight had been rerouted by some washington dc central air command group. The reroute put the flight in direct path of the weather and potential severe weather in the event the weather moved onto the new route. I found the route unacceptable and stated so to the ATC folks. They told me that we were not able to change the route as washington dc had mandated all flights fly this new route. I was completely dumbfounded that a person who I could not speak with was unwilling to stay on the filed route to the destination. Instead; some person in a room without the knowledge and experience of flying has determined which direction a pilot was to fly. I find this counter to the fars that specifically allow for pilots to make decisions as to the direction of flight. I would like an answer as to when this far changed and the dynamic that constitutes a ground ATC person to direct this type of action against the flight I am in charge of.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A319 Captain reported receiving a rerouted flight clearance by ATC due to weather.

Narrative: Dispatch routed flight around known weather and the initial route was acceptable. After pushback; Ground Control advised us that the flight had been rerouted by some Washington DC Central Air Command group. The reroute put the flight in direct path of the weather and potential severe weather in the event the weather moved onto the new route. I found the route unacceptable and stated so to the ATC folks. They told me that we were not able to change the route as Washington DC had mandated all flights fly this new route. I was completely dumbfounded that a person who I could not speak with was unwilling to stay on the filed route to the destination. Instead; some person in a room without the knowledge and experience of flying has determined which direction a pilot was to fly. I find this counter to the FARs that specifically allow for pilots to make decisions as to the direction of flight. I would like an answer as to when this FAR changed and the dynamic that constitutes a Ground ATC person to direct this type of action against the flight I am in charge of.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.