Definition
A published flight path that connects a specific runway end to the common portion of a Standard Instrument Departure (SID) or, in the case of an arrival, connects the common portion of a Standard Terminal Arrival (STAR) to a specific runway. It allows aircraft using different runways to join or leave the same overall procedure.
Plain English
It's the section of a published departure or arrival procedure that links your specific runway to the main route everyone shares. Different runways feed into (or out of) the same procedure through their own runway transitions.
Context Anchor
Seen on published instrument departure and arrival charts when the route changes depending on which runway is being used.
Derivation
Transition comes from Latin words meaning “to go across” or “to pass from one place to another.” In aviation, it helps to think of a transition as the part of a route that carries the airplane from one defined part of the procedure to another.
Why Pilots Care
It tells the pilot exactly which published route to follow to line up with the assigned runway without relying on radar vectors.
Intuition Check
Do not read “transition” here as simply “changing runways.” A Runway Transition is a published route segment connected to a specific runway.
Example Sentence 1
Cleared for the ANDERSON TWO departure, we briefed the Runway 27 transition since that was our assigned runway.
Example Sentence 2
We flew the runway 22 transition and intercepted the localizer without additional vectors.