Definition
An official FAA publication, issued in regional volumes on a 56-day cycle, containing the instrument approach procedure (IAP) charts, departure procedure (DP) charts, standard terminal arrival (STAR) charts, and airport diagrams used by pilots flying under instrument flight rules (IFR) in the United States.
Plain English
The FAA's official book of instrument approach, departure, and arrival charts, plus airport diagrams, used for IFR flying in the U.S. It is reissued every 56 days and split into regional volumes.
Context Anchor
Pilots encounter the TPP when planning or flying instrument departures, arrivals, and approaches, and when reviewing airport-specific procedure charts.
Derivation
Terminal' refers to the airport environment — the terminal phases of flight, meaning arrival and departure rather than enroute. So a Terminal Procedures Publication is the book of procedures used near airports, as opposed to enroute charts used between them.
Why Pilots Care
It supplies the precise, up-to-date procedures pilots must follow to conduct safe IFR arrivals and departures.
Intuition Check
“Terminal” does not mean the passenger building here. It means the airport-area part of flight, where departures, arrivals, and approaches take place.
Example Sentence 1
Before the IFR cross-country, she pulled the current TPP volume and reviewed the approach charts for her destination and alternate.
Example Sentence 2
Changes to procedures in the United States Terminal Procedures Publication are issued on a 56-day cycle.