Definition
A single dashed yellow line painted across a taxiway at its intersection with another taxiway, used by air traffic control to hold an aircraft short of that intersection when required. Pilots must not cross the line without an ATC clearance to do so. When no holding instruction is in effect, the line carries no restriction and aircraft may taxi across it normally.
Plain English
A dashed yellow line painted across a taxiway where it meets another taxiway. If ATC tells you to hold short of it, stop before the line and wait for permission to cross. If ATC has not told you to hold, you can taxi straight over it.
Context Anchor
Seen while taxiing on an airport surface, especially near places where one taxiway meets another.
Derivation
Holding position' simply means the place where you hold (stop and wait). The marking is dashed rather than solid to signal that it is a conditional hold point — only active when ATC says so — unlike the solid runway holding position lines, which always require a clearance to cross.
Why Pilots Care
Maintains safe separation from traffic on the crossing taxiway and prevents conflicts or incursions in movement areas.
Grounding Statement
Picture taxiing toward a crossing taxiway and stopping with the aircraft still on your side of the yellow dashed line until you are cleared to continue.
Intuition Check
Do not read “holding position” as a general waiting area. Here it means a specific marked line on the pavement where you stop when instructed.
Example Sentence 1
Ground control instructed us to hold short of taxiway Bravo, so we stopped before the dashed yellow holding position marking and waited for further taxi clearance.
Example Sentence 2
The crew taxied up to the holding position markings for the taxiway intersection and waited for clearance to proceed.