Definition
The weight of an aircraft as it begins to taxi, including the empty weight, all useful load, and the fuel that will be burned during engine start, run-up, and taxi to the runway. It is greater than the takeoff weight by the amount of fuel used before takeoff.
Plain English
How much the aircraft weighs the moment it starts moving on the ground, before any fuel has been burned getting to the runway.
Context Anchor
Used in preflight weight-and-balance planning and aircraft loading calculations before departure.
Derivation
In aviation, “taxi” means to move an aircraft on the ground under its own power. The term was borrowed from the idea of a taxicab moving along the ground, but in flying it refers to the airplane’s ground movement before takeoff or after landing.
Why Pilots Care
Determines whether the aircraft meets performance requirements for takeoff after accounting for fuel burned during ground movement.
Intuition Check
Do not read “taxi” as a car ride here. In aviation, taxi weight means the airplane’s weight when it begins moving on the ground under its own power.
Example Sentence 1
After loading the passengers and baggage and topping off the tanks, the pilot calculated a taxi weight of 2,540 pounds, just under the published maximum.
Example Sentence 2
Adding extra passengers increased the taxi weight enough to require a longer runway for takeoff.