Having supplied its JetAire PCAir and Jetpower 400 Hz products for several years, officials at JBT AeroTech note the company’s commitment to saving fuel and reducing aviation’s carbon footprint.
More recently, points out Gary Walter, vice president – global sales and customer care at JBT AeroTech, JBT has introduced a series of electric pushback tractors, mobile stairs, cargo transporters and 15k to 30k cargo loaders in addition to environmentally focused defense products.
JBT is continuing to broaden its green focus beyond its family of eGSE with its AmpTek, iOPS and JetDock solutions.
JBT aims to reduce the challenges and costs associated with ramp electrification through its AmpTek solution.
“For example, charging stations can be too far from work zones, electrical grids may need upgrading, and laying power lines and civil works can prove disruptive. All these realities are expensive and time-consuming and act as impediments to going green,” Walter says.
AmpTek gets power to battery chargers in a unique way that avoids or reduces infrastructure costs and minimizes GSE transit times to remote charging locations.
“AmpTek intelligently uses excess power available at the boarding bridge gate and distributes that surplus power to the battery chargers. Battery chargers can be located at the gate close to the work, grid upgrades are avoided, there is almost no construction work involved and the AmpTek devices intelligently monitors battery status and health,” Walter says.
JBT officials have also sought a solution for getting the most out of current GSE fleets while using a minimum of fuel. Walter says the iOPS Fleet Management telematics system can make a difference.
“With iOPS you can manage your fleet in real time on your mobile or desk-mounted devices,” he says, noting tracking engine idle time, for example, can save money and fuel by eliminating wasted hours of engine run time.
iOPS users can reduce GSE travel time and related wear and tear by monitoring fleet traffic patterns and establishing efficient fleet use plans. Unexpected maintenance and downtime can be avoided with notifications for pending preventive maintenance (PM) needs and status updates. What’s more, aircraft auxiliary power unit (APU) burn time can be reduced.
“Our customers are aggressively monitoring their gate processes for hooking up their PCAir and ground power devices so that APUs can be shut off,” Walter says.
“These are a few samples of what iOPS Fleet Management telematics can do for managers,” he adds. “The savings can be tremendous and the benefit to the environment incalculable.”
JetDock is designed to provide environmental benefits through faster turnaround times by assisting operators of cargo loaders, boarding bridges and more to dock quickly and safely with parked aircraft.
“With JetDock both aircraft damage and turn times are reduced. The lidar, sensors, and sophisticated adaptive software get your GSE to the aircraft door in record time so passengers and cargo move on and off the plane as expeditiously as possible,” Walter says. “This translates to a reduction in wasted fuel for your GSE and for the aircraft APU.”
According to Walter, JBT’s new eGSE has been well received by airline and cargo customers. He says the company is continuing to invest in developing new battery powered GSE while expanding research and development efforts to other, non-traditional projects that have an immediate and positive impacts on the environment.
“With AmpTek, iOPS and JetDock we augment and hasten aviation’s efforts to walk the green path and reduce our industry’s carbon footprint,” he says.
