SAN FRANCISCO & ATLANTA — AeroVect, a leading developer of autonomous technology for the airport handling industry, and GAT Airline Ground Support, America’s premier national ground support services provider, today announced a strategic long-term partnership to pilot and deploy self-driving ground support equipment (GSE) across some of the largest airports it serves in the United States.
This groundbreaking partnership between a national ground support provider and autonomous driving company for airport logistics is the very first of its kind in the United States.
Initially, the partnership will focus on piloting AeroVect’s autonomous technology at a major commercial airport in the United States, where a tow tractor powered by the AeroVect Driver, a self-driving solution purpose-built for aviation, will transport cargo autonomously on behalf of GAT’s airline clients, including leading US carriers.
Over the next few years, the two companies aim to deploy as many as 50 vehicles equipped with AeroVect’s self-driving technology at major US airports served by GAT. The pilot and deployment partnership is a decisive step towards the large-scale commercialization of AeroVect’s ground handling automation solution in the United States and globally.
At the core of AeroVect’s product offering to airport ground support providers and airlines is the AeroVect Driver, a self-driving system that can autonomously operate GSP-owned ground support vehicles safely and reliably across a variety of OEMs, starting with baggage and cargo tractors.
Autonomous GSE technology enables superior safety, productivity, and cost efficiency in ground handling, propelling the aviation industry forward during a critical time of change as airlines and ground handling operators bounce back following the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The aviation industry represents one of the largest sectors of the global economy, supporting millions of jobs and enabling more than $2.7T of economic activity each year. The industry's complex ground handling operations face a slew of safety challenges. Currently, ground handling causes more than $10B in aircraft damage each year, and a worker gets injured for every 100 departures amidst growing labor shortages and highly manual operations — woes compounded by COVID-19.
“We are enthusiastic that GAT shares our long-term, forward-thinking mindset to deliver next-generation ground support infrastructure across America through technology. This key partnership represents an important milestone in the implementation of autonomous vehicles at scale to make ground operations more reliable and predictable, with safety and on-time performance benefits that also roll up to airlines, shippers, and travelers alike,” says Raymond Wang, co-founder and CEO of AeroVect.
“As an autonomy technology company built from the ground up to specifically serve airport logistics, we are thrilled that the team at GAT Airline Ground Support shares our unwavering focus and commitment to the global aviation industry. GAT shares our vision of creating an autonomous future where ground handling operations are safer, more reliable, and dramatically more productive – we look forward to jointly bringing autonomous GSE to the largest airports in America,” says Eugenio Donati, co-founder and COO of AeroVect.
“AeroVect’s autonomous GSE technology is not only useful and practical, but importantly a big step forward that enhances ramp safety. GAT Airline Ground Support has always been a first mover in the ground support industry, and we continue to invest in new frontier technologies that enable us to offer the safest, most efficient, and most reliable ground support service to our airline partners across major airports in the United States,” says Mike Hough, CEO of GAT.
