Definition
Voice communications between two facilities on the ground, typically between air traffic control units (such as one ATC center coordinating with another, or a tower coordinating with an approach control facility), as opposed to communications between a controller and an aircraft.
Plain English
Talking by voice from one ground-based facility to another ground-based facility — for example, one control center calling another control center on the phone or a dedicated landline. It does not involve any aircraft.
Context Anchor
Seen in NextGen discussions about how aviation communication systems connect air traffic control facilities, service providers, and other ground-based parts of the national airspace system.
Derivation
The term is built from 'ground-to-ground,' meaning both ends of the conversation are on the ground. This distinguishes it from 'air/ground' communications, where one end is an aircraft in flight.
Why Pilots Care
Supports seamless facility coordination that reduces delays and keeps traffic flowing without extra pilot workload.
Grounding Statement
Picture one control facility calling another facility to pass along information about an aircraft before the pilot is told what to do next.
Intuition Check
Do not read ground/ground as the airport Ground Control frequency talking to an aircraft on the taxiway. Here it means ground-based aviation people or facilities talking to each other.
Example Sentence 1
Coordination between the tower and the approach control facility happens over ground/ground voice communications lines.
Example Sentence 2
NextGen upgrades include improved ground/ground voice communications between adjacent control towers.