DEL · Clearance Delivery
Issues the route, runway and squawk code before the aircraft moves.
New controller · first session
Learn one sequence, then take a seat.
Six positions run every flight. You do not need to know all six before your first session — just the order they hand off in, and what the one you pick actually does.
The two sequences
Read it as a line, left to right. Each position hands the flight to the next one.
Departure
- DEL
- RAMP
- GND
- TWR
- DEP
Clearance, then pushback, then taxi, then the runway, then the climb out.
Arrival
- APP
- TWR
- GND
- RAMP
Sequenced in, then the runway, then taxi in, then the gate.
The six positions
Start on Delivery if you are picking your very first seat: it is the first call every departure makes, and the exchange is short.
RAMP · Ramp
Approves pushback and the direction the aircraft faces once clear of the gate.
GND · Ground
Taxis aircraft between gates, taxiways and the runway hold-short lines.
TWR · Tower
Owns the runways: lines up, clears for takeoff, clears to land, keeps them clear.
APP · Approach
Sequences and vectors arrivals toward the runway.
DEP · Departure
Climbs departures out along their assigned route.
Next step
Have a session code?
Enter it to see the airport and who already has a position, then open the live radar.
Join a sessionNo code yet
Try the free demo
A 25-minute Nashville session, no account needed, so you can work one departure end to end.
Try the free demoThe radar is the real authority. This page explains the flow; the live radar and its own commands are where a position is actually claimed and worked. Want more on what each position's panel actually does? See the positions guide. Want to know the airport first? See the airports guide. Read the community rules and the Nashville procedures for the detail this page keeps short.