Definition
A detailed published diagram of an airport's movement areas, showing runways, taxiways, ramps, gate locations, hold-short lines, and other surface features used by pilots to navigate on the ground. At larger or more complex airports, the taxi chart is published separately from the airport diagram to provide additional ground-movement detail.
Plain English
A map of the airport's ground layout that pilots use to find their way between the runway and the gate without getting lost.
Context Anchor
Seen in airport diagrams, instrument approach chart booklets, and pre-taxi planning before moving the aircraft on the ground.
Derivation
From 'taxi,' the term used in aviation since the early 1900s for an aircraft moving under its own power on the ground (originally borrowed from taxicabs, which moved slowly through city streets). A 'taxi chart' is therefore a chart for taxiing.
Why Pilots Care
Correct use reduces the risk of runway incursions and ensures safe, efficient ground navigation.
Intuition Check
A taxi chart is not about road taxis, fares, or passenger cars. In aviation, “taxi” means aircraft ground movement, and the chart is the map used for that movement.
Example Sentence 1
Before taxiing out at an unfamiliar airport, the pilot pulled up the taxi chart and traced the route ground control had assigned.
Example Sentence 2
Hot spots marked on the taxi chart require extra caution during low-visibility operations.