Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation - Altitude Crossing Restriction Not Met; Deviation - Altitude Overshoot; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Flight Crew Returned To Clearance
Human Factors; Procedure
After taking off 6R and flying to JJOSH on the KKIDS 1 RNAV departure the departure controller cleared us 'direct KKIDS' which is at or above 9;000 feet. With the fixes JJOSH; CAILA (at or below 6;000 feet); and AHMET no longer in our clearance or FMS since we were cleared direct KKIDS; we continued to climb via the part of the SID we were now cleared to fly so I was flying direct KKIDS and climbing to reach 9;000 feet or greater by that point per the regulations and our clearance. A minute or two later while flying direct KKIDS and climbing through approximately 7;000 feet the departure controller on 135.87 asked us if we were cleared to climb via the SID. My FO (First Officer) answered yes. I quickly got on the radio and told the controller we were cleared direct KKIDS. He said he still needed us to stop at 6;000 feet and remain at or below that altitude until passing CAILA. I again respectfully informed him that we were not navigating to CAILA and therefore were no longer required to meet that restriction since we were cleared direct to KKIDS bypassing that fix altogether. He still seemed to think we were somehow supposed to cross CAILA at or below 6;000 feet even though we were no longer flying to that fix on that part of the departure; so I asked him what altitude he would like us at now. He said we may continue climbing to 14;000 feet which we did meeting the at or above 9;000 feet restriction at KKIDS. We completed the flight without further incident. Alert the Cleveland departure controllers to keep flights on the full KKIDS 1 departure if they want us to stay at or below 6;000 feet at CAILA and not to clear us direct to a fix further ahead on the departure which negates all the prior restrictions since we are not flying to those points anymore. Alert the pilot group that this may be an issue in CLE and to verify with the controllers what altitude they want you to climb to whenever they clear you direct to a fix further ahead on the departure.
CRJ-200 Captain reported they were cleared direct to JJOSH on the KKIDS1 departure out of CLE and interpreted that to mean intermediate restrictions did not apply; but the Departure Controller disagreed.