Ontario airport set to spend $5.5 million on electric ground support equipment

California’s Ontario International Airport (ONT) has been awarded a $~4.15 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to expand its zero emission infrastructure and add more electric ground support equipment (GSE).

With the short distances driven at limited speeds under extreme loads, ground handling and support equipment (GHE/GSE) at airports present a nearly ideal use case for battery-electric vehicles. That’s a good thing, too. As demand for on-road fossil fuels drops, airports and airlines – historically responsible for about 4% Earth’s global warming – are becoming a bigger and bigger slice of a rapidly shrinking pie when it comes to the fossil fuel emissions generated by the aviation and air travel industries as a whole, making investment in this sector extra impactful.

“This latest investment by the FAA is a tremendous vote of confidence in the work we are doing to build a more sustainable Ontario International Airport,” explains Atif Elkadi, chief executive officer of the Ontario International Airport Authority. “Three VALE grants in three years represents meaningful progress, and this latest award will allow us and our airline partners to continue reducing emissions while investing in the infrastructure ONT will need for the future.”

The Federal Voluntary Airport Low Emissions (VALE) grant program helps airports meet air-quality goals by funding eligible projects that reduce GHG emissions. ONT’s latest award will reduce the need for aircraft and ground equipment to burn fuel while parked at the terminal, supporting cleaner and more efficient airport operations – and, after Ontario’s 25% cost match, the $4,147,752 will bring total spending on electric GSE at Terminals 2 and 4 to $5.53 million.

Electrek’s Take

Reduced operating costs, fossil fuel use, and air pollution are their own rewards, of course – the fact that GHE like refueling trucks, baggage handlers, and airplane tugs are just kind of fun and interesting on their own is a bonus. That said, I can only hope that more airports accelerate their adoption of cleaner GSE/GHE.