Definition
An FAA or contract facility located at an airport that provides air traffic control services to aircraft operating on the runways, taxiways, and within the airport's surface movement area, as well as to aircraft operating in the immediate airspace around the airport. Controllers in the tower issue takeoff, landing, and taxi instructions, sequence traffic, and coordinate with other ATC facilities such as approach control and ground control.
Plain English
The control tower at an airport. The people working there talk to pilots by radio and tell them when it is safe to take off, land, and move around on the ground.
Context Anchor
Seen in communication facility discussions, airport information, approach planning, and radio procedures for tower-controlled airports.
Derivation
The abbreviation is built from the first letters of airport traffic control tower. The word “tower” matters because controllers are usually positioned high enough to see runways, taxiways, and nearby aircraft clearly.
Why Pilots Care
Pilots must receive instructions from the ATCT before taxiing, taking off, or landing to maintain safe separation from other aircraft.
Intuition Check
Do not think of an ATCT as only the physical tower building. In aviation use, ATCT means the control facility and the controllers providing airport traffic control service.
Example Sentence 1
Approaching the airport, the pilot contacted ATCT and was cleared to land on runway 27.
Example Sentence 2
ATCT issued a takeoff clearance on runway 22 after the preceding aircraft departed.