Definition
Specific headings issued by air traffic control (ATC) radar after takeoff to guide a departing aircraft from the airport onto its planned route of flight. The controller monitors the aircraft on radar and assigns headings, altitudes, and sometimes speeds until the pilot is established on course or handed off to the next controller.
Plain English
Headings the radar controller gives you after takeoff to steer you out of the airport area and onto the route you filed.
Context Anchor
Used during radar-controlled departures, when a controller gives heading instructions shortly after takeoff.
Derivation
A vector, in radar work, is a heading assigned by ATC to guide an aircraft along a desired track. The word comes from the Latin vector, meaning 'one who carries or conveys' — here, a direction that carries the aircraft where the controller wants it to go. 'Departure vectors' simply means those headings used during the departure phase of flight.
Why Pilots Care
These vectors keep departures safe and orderly by maintaining spacing and transitioning the aircraft efficiently to its en route clearance.
Intuition Check
Do not read “vectors” as a charted route you choose yourself. Here, departure vectors are specific directions assigned by air traffic control after takeoff.
Example Sentence 1
After takeoff, the tower handed us off to departure, and we received departure vectors to join the filed route.
Example Sentence 2
The pilot flew the assigned departure vectors until established on the airway and cleared for the next segment.