Definition
A control tower position responsible for transmitting departure clearances to IFR flights before taxi, and at busier airports, also issuing pre-taxi VFR clearances and assigning departure routes, altitudes, and transponder codes.
Plain English
The person in the tower whose job is to read you your route, altitude, and squawk code before you start moving. You call them first, copy what they give you, then switch to ground for taxi.
Context Anchor
You encounter this at a towered airport before taxi, usually before contacting ground control.
Derivation
The word 'clearance' comes from 'clear' — to make a path open and free of obstruction. A clearance is permission for the aircraft to use a specific path through the airspace system. 'Delivery' is used in its everyday sense — handing something over — because this position's job is to deliver that clearance to the pilot.
Why Pilots Care
Receives correct departure routing and altitudes early, preventing runway delays and route conflicts.
Intuition Check
Do not read “position” as the airplane’s location. In this term, “position” means a controller’s assigned job or radio station in the tower.
Example Sentence 1
Before requesting taxi, the pilot contacted clearance delivery and copied the IFR route, initial altitude, departure frequency, and transponder code.
Example Sentence 2
At larger airports the clearance delivery position coordinates with multiple aircraft to issue routes efficiently.