Vanquishing the V/PD

4th Quarter 2016 

A quarterly publication from the

Safety Section

Federal Aviation Administration Airports Division

Western-Pacific Region

This publication is directed primarily towards airport management to be disseminated to 

all levels of personnel working at your airfield. Vanquishing the V/PD can be 

accomplished through a solid partnership between the FAA and airport management. The 

responsibility of making sure that the proper safeguards are in place; however, lies 

squarely on the shoulders of airport management. Please use this information and all that 

follows as a guide by which to provide a safer environment at your airfield.

In the past year, AWP has experienced two V/PDs involving Transportation Network 

Companies (TNCs) (Uber, Lyft, Sidecar, etc.) where vehicle operators drove into airport 

movement areas, searching for their customers. One incident involved a TNC vehicle that 

drove down an active runway. As the popularity of TNCs increases, so does the 

possibility that these TNC drivers will be involved in V/PDs. Airport management can, 

however, take steps to decrease that possibility. 

TNC customers request a ride from a TNC by using a smart phone mobile application. 

Location of the customer is registered by the customer entering a specific address. The 

location of the customer is then depicted as a GPS location fixed on a map. Further 

clarification of the customer location or restrictions to the pick-up area may be relayed to 

the driver by cell phone communication or a text message. Theoretically, this system of 

locating the customer should keep the driver out of trouble. Unfortunately, this is not 

always the case.

Customers who request a pick-up at a fixed base operator at a general aviation (GA) 

airport may expect to be picked-up at an inappropriate location like a ramp area. Or they 
may wait for the TNC inside of a building which skews the GPS location of the customer. 

This is where the trouble begins. The TNC driver, who is often under a time restriction 

to affect his/her pick-up, will gain access to the airfield by piggy-backing through a 

closed gate or driving through an open gate. A tenant may also allow the driver access to 

the airfield without providing a positive escort. The TNC driver follows their GPS 

navigation system in a vain attempt to find the customer. The driver is ignorant of vehicle 

operations on airports and, ultimately, drives on an active taxiway or runway. 

Larger airports with central terminal areas have negotiated very specific pick-up locations 

with the TNCs servicing their airport. Both the drivers and the customers are aware of 

these locations. These locations are published on airport websites and are identified with 

signs at the airport. At GA airports, however, these areas are either not well defined or 

non-existent. 

If your airport is serviced by a TNC you can take steps to prevent drivers from entering 

the movement areas:

• Designate a specific pick-up area where customers will meet their TNC drivers

• Communicate the location of these pick-up areas with the TNC

• Post signs identifying the designated TNC pick-up area 

• Educate tenants not to allow TNC drivers through secured gates 

• Educate tenants to be alert for TNC drivers attempting to piggy-back through 

gates

• Do not allow TNC drivers to make pick-ups on the ramp areas 

• Should a TNC gain access to the airfield educate tenants to challenge the driver 

and provide a positive escort for the entire time the TNC vehicle is inside the 

perimeter fence 

Transportation Network Companies are here to stay. By implementing a few new 

procedures at your airport and by emphasizing a few old procedures, TNC drivers can 

operate safely while conducting their business at any size airport.

Column written by:

Steven Oetzell

Lead Airport Certification Safety Inspector, AWP-620.6 

Reproductions of this, past and subsequent issues of Vanquishing the VPD are available 

on FAAWebsite: 

http://www.faa.gov/airports/western_pacific/newsletter/