Definition
Published instrument flight procedures used in the airspace surrounding an airport, including departure procedures (DPs), standard terminal arrival routes (STARs), and instrument approach procedures (IAPs). They are issued by the FAA and collected in the Terminal Procedures Publication (TPP), which pilots reference when departing from, arriving at, or approaching an airport under instrument flight rules.
Plain English
The published step-by-step routes and approaches pilots fly when leaving, arriving at, or landing at an airport on instruments. They are gathered into a booklet of charts pilots carry or display in the cockpit.
Context Anchor
A pilot encounters terminal procedures in instrument flight charts, FAA terminal procedure publications, and aircraft navigation databases when selecting a departure, arrival, or approach.
Derivation
Terminal' comes from the Latin terminus, meaning 'end' or 'boundary.' In aviation, 'terminal' refers to the airspace at the end points of a flight -- the airport environment where flights begin and finish -- as opposed to the en route phase between airports.
Why Pilots Care
They give a standardized, safe path through busy airspace near airports and reduce pilot workload during critical phases of flight.
Intuition Check
Do not read “terminal” as the passenger terminal building. Here, “terminal” means the airport-area phase of flight: departing, arriving, or approaching to land.
Example Sentence 1
Before the flight, she pulled up the terminal procedures for the destination to review the approach and missed approach.
Example Sentence 2
Following terminal procedures kept the aircraft on a published path that maintained separation from traffic.