A towbarless tractor for towing an airplane having a nose landing gear includes a chassis, a body supported on the chassis, a tractive assembly, a driveline configured to drive and steer the tractive assembly, a braking system configured to apply a brake force to the tractive assembly, a capture system configured to facilitate capturing the nose landing gear, and a controller. The controller is configured to command the driveline and the braking system to autonomously navigate to a capture location, at the capture location, command the capture system to autonomously capture the nose landing gear, and command the driveline and the braking system to autonomously navigate from the capture location to a pushback location.

A system can include a pushback tractor and a remote control device. The remote control device can include an operator interface, an indicator, and one or more processing circuits. The one or more processing circuits can establish communication with the pushback tractor, cause the indicator to provide a first indication of establishment of the communication with the pushback tractor, and control operation of (i) a prime mover of the pushback tractor and (ii) a capture system based on inputs received via the operator interface.

A vehicle for towing an airplane having a nose gear includes a chassis, a front tractive assembly, a rear tractive assembly, wherein at least one of the front tractive assembly or the rear tractive assembly is a steerable tractive assembly, a driveline configured to drive and brake at least one of the front tractive assembly or the rear tractive assembly, a capture system configured to engage with the nose gear, and a control system configured to monitor a current speed of the vehicle, determine a steering angle of the steerable tractive assembly, and limit operation of the vehicle based on the current speed and the steering angle.

A system for coordinating aircraft servicing tasks of a plurality of ground support equipment at an airport includes a plurality of beacons and one or more processing circuits. The plurality of beacons are configured to couple to the plurality of ground support equipment. The one or more processing circuits include one or more processors storing instructions thereon that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processing circuits to acquire signals from the plurality of beacons and coordinate movement of the plurality of ground support equipment based on the signals and in accordance with an aircraft servicing plan.

An aircraft recognition system includes a ground support equipment including a sensor configured to acquire data regarding one or more external characteristics of aircrafts and one or more processing circuits configured to: at least one of: (a) acquire a location of the ground support equipment or (b) acquire the data from the sensor regarding the one or more external characteristics of a respective aircraft proximate the ground support equipment, and determine a type of the respective aircraft based on at least one of the location of the ground support equipment or the data.

An aircraft recognition system includes a ground support equipment including a sensor configured to acquire data regarding one or more external characteristics of aircrafts and one or more processing circuits configured to: at least one of: (a) acquire a location of the ground support equipment or (b) acquire the data from the sensor regarding the one or more external characteristics of a respective aircraft proximate the ground support equipment, and determine a type of the respective aircraft based on at least one of the location of the ground support equipment or the data.

A ground support tractor for providing ground support services at an airport. The ground support tractor has a cab forward configuration and a cab aft configuration. The ground support tractor includes a common chassis having a forward mounting location and an aft mounting location. An operator tub is coupled to the common chassis. In the cab forward configuration, the operator tub is coupled to the forward mounting location. In the cab aft configuration, the operator tub is coupled to the aft mounting location.

An aircraft tug comprises a steerable forklift device that is powered for travel in a forwards and backwards direction and has a pair of forks that can be raised and lowered, the tug further comprising an adapter that is secured between the forks to provide spaced abutments for a wheel such that, in use, the forks can be positioned at opposite sides of an aircraft wheel with the abutments fore and aft of the wheel, whereby the wheel may be lifted by the forklift device and then moved by powered travel of the forklift device.