Definition
An ATC clearance instructing a pilot to descend from the current altitude to a specified new altitude and then hold that new altitude until further instructed.
Plain English
Air traffic control is telling you to go down to a specific altitude and stay there once you reach it.
Context Anchor
Heard on instrument flights when a controller assigns a lower altitude during the descent from cruise toward an airport or approach area.
Why Pilots Care
Prevents altitude deviations and maintains safe vertical separation from other traffic.
Intuition Check
Do not treat “descend” as permission to keep going down as far as you want. In this phrase, “maintain” means stop at the assigned altitude and stay there until cleared otherwise.
Example Sentence 1
Cleveland Center cleared us to descend and maintain one zero thousand.
Example Sentence 2
The pilot read back the clearance to descend and maintain the new altitude.