A Guide for Remote Boarding/Deboarding Aircraft Operations

Contact gates with passenger boarding bridges deliver a seamless, convenient, and highly accessible passenger experience, especially for those with mobility challenges or heavy luggage. In contrast, remote hardstand operations require bussing passengers to and from distant aircraft parking positions, adding time, complexity, and accessibility hurdles. As airports nationwide exhaust terminal real estate and face constraints for new contact-gate construction, they increasingly rely on cost-effective alternatives to accommodate the growing demand. These alternatives include deploying remote hardstands for routine passenger boarding and deplaning. With most of the nation’s busiest airports already using remote operations in some form—and proving their effectiveness in flexible capacity addition—remote hardstands are poised for significantly greater adoption across North American airports soon. Research is needed to equip airport practitioners with the tools and guidance required to evaluate, plan, and implement high-performing remote hardstand operations. The objectives of this research project are to (1) develop a guide; (2) create a decision-support tool that assists airports in selecting and implementing remote hardstand operations that ensure safe, efficient, accessible, and passenger-friendly performance; and (3) produce a video that provides an overview of the benefits of remote hardstand operations.

• Record URL:
  • http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=5959
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Contract to a Performing Organization has not yet been awarded.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Proposed
• Funding: $400,000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  Project 10-40

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP)

  Transportation Research Board, 500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  Federal Aviation Administration

  800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20591
• Project Managers:

  Murthy, Krishna

• Start Date: 20260501
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air travel; Aircraft gates; Best practices; Boarding; Passengers; Persons with disabilities
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Design; Passenger Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01962995
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project 10-40
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: Aug 12 2025 9:58AM