Taxibot systems are welcome additions to airports of sizeable magnitude, not smaller regional types. Anywhere where taxi times exceed 15 minutes could be considered favourably for the Taxibot, however, lesser time to would add more complications and hus add time to the process of departing.
Add to this the fact that smaller airports do not have the infrastructure to return the Taxibot to its next location (e.g. parallel roads for instance clear of taxiway to next pushback location), which in turn requires an infrastructure change far exceeding cost benefit for airlines.
What would we be saving in 17 minutes:
- Normal operation 60kg Jet-A taxi fuel
- Taxibot operation 30kg Diesel(?)
Considering the difference of 30kg is roughly $30, I'm sure beancounters can work out how many pushback/pull movements would break even the Taxibot which costs how much? Add to that the million$ spent in procedure changes, airport layout modifications, crew training, Taxibot maintenance...
Money could be better spent on improving delay reductions using advanced sequencing from gate to runway by reducing holdups for aircraft moving under their own power.