A number of the big, globally active pushback manufacturers explain to Mike Bryant how the market for their product is changing, and how they themselves are evolving their product offerings as a result
Morgan Gresens, vice president and general manager at US supplier Textron GSE, tells Airside that, while the company is constantly striving to improve its product range, there have been no specific updates to its ALPHA range of pushback tractors made over the past year.
But, looking forward: “As the market moves more and more towards electrification, Textron GSE plans to expand its electric range of pushback tractors, along with other equipment. The company will continue to make incremental improvements to the ALPHA product line as needed.”
That process of improvement will not leave its conventionally powered pushbacks behind. As Gresens explains: “Textron GSE is seeing strong demand for electric pushbacks, but the demand for internal combustion equipment is also holding steady.
“As of early 2024, the company is seeing an even split between the two. Geographically, there is higher demand for internal combustion in the North American market, while Europe shows higher demand for electric drivelines.
“The continuing demand for internal combustion can be attributed to the infrastructure restraints preventing full electrification of the GSE industry. Operators have an immediate need for new equipment; therefore, many are opting for internal combustion vehicles,” she says.
Right now, the TUG ALPHA 1 is the only electric pushback model available in the Textron GSE range. The company plans to expand its electric line-up to include more pushbacks, along with other electric GSE, marching towards the goal of 80% of its range being available with electric or hybrid drivelines by 2035.
Aftermarket support
That strong demand in the market to which Gresens alludes is being encouraged by an aviation industry on the rise. “As passenger air traffic continues to surge to pre-pandemic levels and higher, operators are in the market to replace aged GSE and grow their fleets,” she points out.
One of the biggest considerations for the operators of that GSE right now is aftermarket support – they want to be confident that an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) can support their equipment throughout its lifespan, Gresens continues.
She declares: “Textron GSE prides itself on being not only an equipment manufacturer, but a long-term service partner throughout the life of the equipment it provides.
“Across its family of brands, Textron GSE brings decades of experience and technical knowledge to the table through its global network of technicians and on-site maintenance personnel, along with the company’s airport shops.
“In addition to technical support, the company has an engineering team dedicated to aftermarket support to ensure that its customers see longer lifespans in their ageing equipment.
“In an ever-growing international market, Textron GSE is committed to supporting its global network of customers,” Gresens adds. “Utilising its network of manufacturing facilities and business partners, the company offers strategically-placed stocks of service parts and technical support to its international customer base and plans to continue to expand its reach.”
Ongoing evolution
Germany-based manufacturer Goldhofer offers a wide range of both conventional and towbarless aircraft tractors to the international aviation market. Luca Köhler, product manager in Goldhofer’s Airport Technology division, notes that the company is continuously monitoring the market for changing trends in demand and developing its tractor portfolio as a result of what it sees.
With the aviation industry having bounced back so vigorously from the Covid pandemic, today there is “huge potential” within the wider GSE business and particularly for pushbacks, he believes.
Köhler points to two current areas of focus for Goldhofer Airport Technology. The first is the growing demand for electric tugs – demand that is being met by electric variants of models in Goldhofer’s PHOENIX towbarless tractors and BISON conventional tractors.
Different markets are converting to greener equipment at different rates – with Europe and North America leading the charge ahead of the Middle East and Southeast Asia – but supporting customers’ wishes to become more environmentally friendly is a key priority for the company, Köhler confirms.
A second focus, and one linked to the first, is Goldhofer’s investment in supporting technology that maximises the value of its pushbacks. At the heart of this effort is its LINK telematic system that provides data to enable operators to optimise the operational parameters of their pushbacks while minimising their repair and maintenance downtimes.
Moreover, the extensive data that Goldhofer has collected on the performance of its various pushbacks is of particular support to those customers considering the switch from diesel to electric.
Goldhofer can offer advice on the charging infrastructure that will be required for any given customer, for example, how many electric tractors they will need to efficiently handle the required number of pushbacks, and so on.
One of Goldhofer’s PHOENIX E electric pushbacks
Goldhofer can also supply customers with wide-ranging KPI (key performance indicator) data on its pushbacks, as well as the sort of carbon emission savings that an operator can make by implementing the change.
“Safety is one of the key issues that Goldhofer stands for and we are continuously working on this,” Köhler says. “We have a holistic understanding of safety – from the specific vehicle, with the requirement for a robust and above all a long-life vehicle, to the areas of instruction and training.”
Further: “We are working in various areas to make the use of our products as intuitive and therefore as safe as possible, both in terms of operation and in workshops during maintenance. Safety in all its various aspects is a top priority for Goldhofer.”
One reason for the growing demand for towbarless tractors in comparison to conventional tractors may be the greater safety that the former vehicles offer in their operations, Köhler considers.
Healthy demand
Also in Germany, GSE supplier TREPEL Airport Equipment likewise offers a wide range of conventional and towbarless tractors, as well as high loaders and transporters, to the aviation industry.
Managing director Carsten Schimkat tells Airside that demand for its pushbacks is more than healthy. In fact, the company’s order book is almost full for 2024. Customers now have liquidity and access to cash that they didn’t have during the Covid pandemic, he notes, and are definitely now looking to invest in more equipment. Schimkat asserts that “business came back much faster than we expected after the pandemic.”
Nearly a year ago, TREPEL launched its CHARGER 380 towbarless tractor in electric form to meet the increasing demand for more environmentally friendly pushbacks. The CHARGER 380 is a mid-sized pushback able to handle aircraft as large as the B777 and A340, as well as other types as small as Embraers.
The battery-powered vehicle has a high-endurance battery capacity of more than 200kWh, complementing the diesel variants of the CHARGER 380 that TREPEL also offers the market.
TREPEL is currently seeing a surge in requests for electric towbarless tractors, Schimkat declares, with increased demand for greener vehicles coming from airports, airlines and ground handlers.
While the company also offers hybrid versions of its tractors alongside its CHALLENGER 150e and CHALLENGER 280e electric models, many of its customers are now looking to make the complete change to pure battery power, he observes.
Whether they can all make the change as they would like depends largely on the ability of airports to provide the necessary GSE charging stations, Schimkat considers.
TREPEL customers are also asking whether the manufacturer might be able to supply an environmentally friendly conventional pushback that can handle aircraft as big as the A380 super jumbo.
Many of these huge aircraft were grounded during the Covid pandemic but are being brought back into service, and handlers are looking for equipment both to push them back and to reposition them for maintenance and repair, for example.
TREPEL is currently looking seriously into offering that capability in the future. Its biggest diesel-powered vehicles at the moment are the 60-ton CHALLENGER 550, able to handle aircraft up to B747-8 size, and the CHALLENGER 700, that is able to push back a fully loaded A380.
While TREPEL can and does offer anti-collision technology on some of its tractors, and its CHARGER 380 in particular can operate with “a high degree of autonomy”, Schimkat is firmly of the opinion that responsibility for safety can never be transferred away from a vehicle’s operator.
Hence he is always at pains to stress to GSE operators the importance of intensively training employees who use pushbacks in all safety-related matters.
Another of Schimkat’s priorities is after-sales service. Providing operators with all the after-sales support that they want is absolutely vital, he says, including quick response times to customer enquiries and ready access to any spare parts that may be required by TREPEL vehicle users.
TLD: Calculation, not dogma
Alexandre Printanier, chief operating officer at TLD’s Sorigny factory in France, confirms that one of the major developments of the past year for TLD – as for the other pushback manufacturers Airside has spoken to – has been the acceleration of the electrification of airport aircraft tractors.
Models traditionally powered by internal combustion engines are giving way to electric versions, offering a cleaner, more sustainable alternative. Or, in TLD’s words, ‘Leaner & Greener’. But, by going electric, machines become much more efficient and energy consumption is reduced accordingly. The benefits of the transition are therefore twofold: environmental and performance-based, Printanier notes.
A TLD TPX-200-MTX pushback produced at TLD’s Sorigny factory at work
“From now on, customers will be able to find the machine best suited to their needs in our extensive range of tractors for aircraft with more than 100 seats, in both diesel and electric versions,” he says. “Plus, since this year, we have been offering an additional range of tractors for business and regional aviation (aircraft with fewer than 100 seats). The TPX-50-E looks very promising for TLD. Its performance is the best in its category.”
Only TLD’s biggest tractors are not yet available in an electric version. The electrification of such machines will not necessarily bring any improvement in terms of carbon emissions, Printanier points out. Energy transfers are very important and the technologies are at their limits. Sometimes, a latest-generation, pollution-free internal combustion engine can be just as efficient.
“Our aim is not to flaunt our environmental commitment, but to demonstrate it. Our choices are not dictated by dogma, but by calculations that demonstrate their environmental relevance.”
In fact, TLD is continuing to roll out its Leaner & Greener strategy across all its product ranges. In the near future, this will include expanding its offering to accommodate all forms of clean energy, though dependent on the airport infrastructure available. The power transmission chain will be electric, while electrical power generation may come from a diesel or petrol engine generator, a hydrogen fuel cell or batteries.
Furthermore: “Our machines will be ready for a new form of energy storage. We are continuing to develop technologies to simplify machine operation. Labour shortages are becoming increasingly acute and we need to anticipate our customers’ future needs.”
TLD is seeing a strong market for pushbacks. The GSE market was fairly weak during the pandemic but, today, the market has become very dynamic again, thanks to a catch-up effect combined with general growth in the sector, Printanier observes. Only the Chinese market has still not really taken off. Generally, electric GSE manufacturers are under heavy pressure from the growing number of projects in the global market, he says.
In terms of new pushbacks, customers are increasingly looking for machines that are more ergonomic and more comfortable, he continues. They’re also looking for more remote control, either by telemetry or by command.
TLD’s own LINK fleet management solution is “a great asset when we need to help a customer with a maintenance operation”, says Printanier. “It also enables us to optimise machine performance or optimise investments by rightly sizing the number of batteries in a machine, for example.”
TLD is also playing a very important role in TaxiBot, the semi-autonomous aircraft towing system that can significantly reduce environmental impact. The TaxiBot is currently being deployed at Schiphol and other demonstrations are starting in US, China and other parts of the world.
In early April, it was confirmed by Brussels Airport that it and TUI fly are conducting tests at the Belgian capital gateway with TaxiBot as part of the Stargate programme, a European Green Deal project for a greener aviation industry. Plus, Augustin de Romanet, CEO of Aéroports de Paris Group, recently reaffirmed on air his desire to invest in the TaxiBot in order to aim for clean ground operations with very little noise pollution.
An electric version of the TaxiBot for single-aisle aircraft is already available, and a version for long-haul aircraft will also be developed. “The TaxiBot is currently the only functional [and] operational solution that can drastically reduce the carbon emissions of ground operations. It therefore has a bright future ahead of it,” Printanier enthuses.
Settling in
Sean Bryan, technical sales manager at Kalmar Motor, explains that Denmark-based GSE supplier Vestergaard Company had owned shares in Kalmar Motor since 2017 prior to its acquisition of the remaining Kalmar shares in September 2022, so the Kalmar Motor/Vestergaard Company working relationship has been extremely close for many years.
Whilst there are many synergies between the two companies and the customer base is also very similar, he notes that today’s corporate ownership “recognises that the product and customer requirements differ and are careful to ensure the individualisation and values of Kalmar Motor remain intact”.
Over the past seven years, Bryan notes, Kalmar Motor and Vestergaard Company have shared sales areas as well as efforts at shows and conferences and supported each other with worldwide after-sales service from offices in Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, the US, the UAE and Thailand.
Vestergaard Company/Kalmar Motor teams at Kalmar Motor HQ, in Kalmar, Sweden
Since the full acquisition of Kalmar Motor in September 2022, this close working arrangement has been further strengthened with sales strategy meetings that take place on a regular and annual basis.
Kalmar Motor is currently working hard on project and production streamlining, with a target of greatly reducing future delivery lead times. Following the introduction of Vestergaard Company’s production processes, Kalmar Motor has implemented many new processes and more recently doubled the staff in Sweden to ensure customer demands are met, Bryan informs.
“The production process changes will see benefits for future increased deliveries and enable smoother updates and changes through a controlled change programme,” he reports.
Electric development
Engineering teams are continuing to develop electric products and most of the development here lies in battery technology and charging options, Bryan says. In 2023, approximately 85% of
Kalmar Motor deliveries were of electric-powered tractors and this ratio is expected to continue through 2024 – perhaps even at a slightly higher percentage – although sales as a whole are expected to be 20-25% higher this year than in 2023.
“In the past, GSE handlers have purchased their aircraft handling tractors with a vision to operate them for 15 to 25 years. With airports and authorities requiring handling companies to have electric powered equipment in operation by 2030, many customers are looking to start the process immediately or in the very near future.
“I think I speak for all GSE manufacturing companies by saying the demand for electric and/or sustainable options is key to our future and something we are all pushing very hard to achieve,” Bryan concludes.
