Definition
The data shown by the aircraft's flight instruments that tells the pilot how the aircraft is actually performing at a given moment — including pitch attitude, bank attitude, airspeed, altitude, vertical speed, heading, and turn rate. In instrument flying, performance information is what the pilot reads from the instruments to confirm whether the aircraft is doing what was intended.
Plain English
What the instruments are telling you about how the airplane is actually flying right now — how fast, how high, climbing or descending, turning or straight, and at what attitude.
Context Anchor
Seen in instrument cross-check: the pilot sets the aircraft’s position and power, then checks the instruments for performance information to confirm the result.
Derivation
"Performance" comes from the Old French parfornir, meaning to carry out or accomplish. In aviation it refers to what the aircraft is accomplishing — its actual behaviour — as opposed to what the pilot is commanding. "Information" is simply the data being read off the instruments. Together: the data showing what the aircraft is doing.
Why Pilots Care
Allows precise aircraft control when outside visual references are unavailable.
Grounding Statement
Performance information is the instrument feedback that connects a pilot’s control inputs to the aircraft’s actual flight path.
Intuition Check
Do not read this as general performance data from a chart. Here, it means live instrument feedback about what the aircraft is actually doing.
Example Sentence 1
The pilot scanned the panel for performance information and noticed the altimeter was slowly winding down, indicating an unintended descent.
Example Sentence 2
Cross-checking confirmed that actual performance matched the information listed for the approach.