A towered airport has controllers who sequence traffic and issue clearances, which means more radio work but also more structure. You will typically talk to several different positions during one flight: ground for taxi, tower for the runway, and sometimes approach or departure for the airspace around the field. Here is how the pieces fit together and which instructions you must read back.
Part of our Radio Communications guide. If you have not yet, learn the basic call format in your first radio call.
Ground, tower, and approach
At a towered field the work is split among controllers, each with their own frequency and job.
| Position | What they handle |
|---|---|
| Ground | Movement on the taxiways between the ramp and the runway. |
| Tower | The runways and the immediate airspace: takeoff and landing clearances. |
| Approach / Departure | Radar service and sequencing in the surrounding airspace, often before you reach the tower or after you leave it. |
You are handed off from one to the next, and each handoff is a controller telling you the next frequency to call. Which of these exist depends on the airspace class of the field.
ATIS first
Before your first call, listen to the ATIS, the recorded broadcast of current weather, the active runway, and other field information. Each update is labeled with a phonetic letter, such as “Information Charlie.” When you make contact, you state that you have it, for example “with Charlie,” so the controller knows you are briefed.
Requesting taxi
To leave the ramp you call ground, give your position on the field and your request. After listening to ATIS “Information Charlie,” a taxi request might be:
- “Springfield Ground, Cessna 12345, at the south ramp, ready to taxi, with Charlie.”
Ground will issue a taxi instruction that may include a route and any runway to hold short of. You read it back.
Hold-short instructions and mandatory readbacks
Two kinds of instruction must always be read back word for word, because getting them wrong can put you on a runway you should not be on:
- Runway assignments, such as being told to taxi to or via a specific runway.
- Hold-short instructions, where you are told to stop short of a runway and wait.
For example, if ground says “Cessna 12345, taxi to runway 18 via taxiway Alpha, hold short of runway 27,” you read back the runway and the hold-short: “Taxi to runway 18 via Alpha, hold short of runway 27, Cessna 12345.” Never cross a runway without an explicit instruction to do so.
Takeoff and landing clearances
Only the tower can clear you onto a runway. You hold short until you hear “cleared for takeoff,” and you do not land until you hear “cleared to land.” These clearances include your tail number, and reading them back confirms the clearance is for you. If you are told to “line up and wait,” you taxi onto the runway and wait, but you do not take off until separately cleared.
Progressive taxi
Unfamiliar with the field or unsure of the route? Ask for “progressive taxi” and ground will give you step-by-step directions as you go. There is no shame in it; controllers prefer a pilot who asks over one who gets lost on the movement area.
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Frequently asked questions
Which radio instructions must I read back?
Runway assignments and hold-short instructions must always be read back. Reading back takeoff and landing clearances is also expected and confirms the clearance is meant for you.
What is the difference between ground and tower?
Ground controls movement on the taxiways between the ramp and the runway. Tower controls the runways themselves and issues takeoff and landing clearances.
What does “line up and wait” mean?
It means taxi onto the runway and hold in position, but do not begin your takeoff until you receive a separate clearance to take off.
What if I do not know my way around the airport?
Ask ground for progressive taxi, and they will give you step-by-step directions as you move. It is a normal request, especially at an unfamiliar field.