Patent ID: 9708078
Date: 2017-07-18
CPC Classifications: B64F

Claim:
1. A method for managing aircraft gate traffic and parking at an airport to increase safety and efficiency, improve flow of aircraft traffic, and reduce aircraft time at an airport terminal, comprising; a. providing at an airport tow vehicles comprising tow vehicles attached to aircraft with tow bars, tow vehicles attached to aircraft without tow bars, remotely controlled tow vehicles, tow vehicles remotely attached and detached to and from aircraft, and aircraft-moving transfer modules to move one or more aircraft in only a forward direction during ground operations to gates, stands, or parking spaces at the airport without operation of the aircraft's engines or consideration of jet blast and engine ingestion; b. attaching a tow vehicle to one or more aircraft after landing and controlling the tow vehicle to move the aircraft in a forward direction without aircraft engines to a gate, stand, or parking space at an airport terminal building defined to provide at least a minimum clearance for the aircraft to enter the defined space, turn in the defined space, and leave the defined space while the aircraft is moving in only the forward direction; c. providing at least two jet bridges rotatably attached to the airport terminal building and extendible perpendicularly from the airport terminal building to form simultaneous perpendicular parallel connections between front and rear doors of the aircraft and the airport terminal building; d. moving the aircraft with the tow vehicle in the forward direction, parking the aircraft with a longest axis of the aircraft parallel to the airport terminal building within the defined space so that cargo doors are facing toward or away from the airport terminal building, and rotating and extending the at least two jet bridges to form the simultaneous perpendicular parallel connections between the front and rear doors of the aircraft and the airport terminal building; e. at departure, rotating and retracting the at least two jet bridges to the airport terminal building, moving the aircraft in the forward direction within the defined space with the tow vehicle to a tow vehicle detachment location, and detaching the tow vehicle prior to engine start and takeoff.