At JFK, preparations under way for ‘super plane tug’

In the United States, an airplane taking off from an airport needs to move itself from the terminal gate to its assigned takeoff runway. But that doesn’t have to be the case. At some airports in India, and soon in Amsterdam, a remote-controlled tug tows planes to and from runways without the plane expending expensive and powerful jet fuel just to move a few hundred feet on the ground.

That could also happen for the first time in this country at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), where the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is working with Delta Airlines to gain federal approval to test a semi-autonomous plane tug that would be connected to a narrow-body Boeing or Airbus plane and remotely controlled by the plane’s pilot. For several months, the Port Authority and Delta have trained staff to use a TaxiBot, short for taxiing robot, to help reduce the use of jet fuel and its accompanying carbon emissions to pull planes to and from runways.

“It’s basically a super tug except it is controlled by the plane’s pilot – not a driver in the tug,” said Ralph Tamburro, a former air traffic controller who now works at the Port Authority on air space modernization. “The idea behind it is to reduce fuel burn on an airport, which is one of the largest contributors to CO2 emissions.”

The use of a TaxiBot at Port Authority airports exemplifies one of the ways that the Port Authority is advancing its goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, as outlined in the agency’s roadmap to cut emissions. In addition to the Port Authority tackling emissions generated directly by the agency’s own activity, the Port Authority is also working with its partners – such as airlines, port tenants and others – to reduce their emissions. Such collaboration has so far yielded the installation of electric vehicle chargers both for public use in airport garages as well as airside at airport terminals for ground support equipment used by airlines. Many of the agency’s tenants are planning other electric equipment conversion projects, while the Port Authority itself builds solar energy systems to supplement power use at its facilities and enhance resiliency.

The agency’s test of the technology at JFK is the first of its kind in North America, said Peter Stearn, the head of business development in North America for Smart Airport Systems (SAS), TaxiBot’s manufacturer. “The proof-of-concept program at JFK is the first in North America, and both the Port Authority and Delta are on the cutting edge and forefront of the sustainability movement in aviation,” he said. Similar tests are ongoing at Charles-de-Gaulle Airport in Paris and at Brussels Airport in Belgium, while Amsterdam Airport Schiphol will be deploying two TaxiBots next month.

Earlier this month, the Port Authority hosted a demonstration of the technology at JFK for Federal Aviation Administration officials, who watched as a Delta Airlines crew attach a TaxiBot to a Boeing aircraft with its engines off so that Delta pilots onboard could use the tug to pull the plane from one hangar to another. For the purposes of the demonstration, a safety monitor sat inside the plane tug but did not control the TaxiBot.

If the FAA grants approval of the technology, airports across the country could follow in JFK’s footsteps. Only one other nation uses TaxiBots at its airports: India, where they have been used to move aircraft more than 4,000 times in Bangalore and New Delhi for more than five years.

The carbon emissions saved from the airplane not using its engines for ground movement are significant. Stearns estimated that one plane tug helps reduce emissions by 85 percent compared to one plane going through its regular taxiing process, while Tamburro equated the jet fuel savings to about 500 pounds of fuel per flight – or more than 1,300 car miles traveled. Plane taxiing is the biggest source of greenhouse gases from airport activity, Stearns said, so any emissions reduction is a “win for the airlines [and] the airport community, and the environment wins.”

An electric version of the plane tug is expected to be available by the end of 2026. The Port Authority plans to test the TaxiBot in passenger service with Delta once federal approval is granted, in preparation for a future that includes a zero-emissions plane tug.

“There’s a lot of potential for this technology to reduce the amount of fuel burn that we have at the airports,” said Alex Cassidy, a program manager in the Port Authority’s Office of Sustainability.