Clearance Delivery

Clearance Delivery is an ATC position at airports that handles the issuance of instrument flight rules (IFR) clearances to departing aircraft. Pilots contact Clearance Delivery before requesting taxi to receive their route clearance, which includes the cleared route, initial altitude, departure procedure (SID), assigned squawk code, and any special instructions.

The standard readback format follows the mnemonic CRAFT:

• Clearance limit (usually the destination airport)
• Route (as filed or amended)
• Altitude (initial and expected)
• Frequency (departure frequency)
• Transponder (squawk code)

At smaller airports without a dedicated Clearance Delivery position, clearances may be issued by Ground Control or even Tower. Some airports offer Pre-Departure Clearance (PDC) via datalink, eliminating the need for voice communication.