Ground Control Priorities

[zekeigo]

Are there any ground control priorities for the aircraft ground movement such as aircrafts taxiing in and aircrafts receiving clearance to push back for the same taxiway? In case of conflict, who has the priority, the arriving aircraft or the departing aircraft? Where is it stated? ICAO?
Thanks
Zeke

[aluminium persuader]

Rather depends on the layout, revenue-source & busy-ness of the particular airfield. Eg
If the stands are close together push-backs from simultaneous stands may affect each other.
If a/c have to be pushed-back onto a live taxiway they can block others.
If there are more outbounds than inbounds at a particular time you may want to get the outies out first and vice versa.
And of course subject to any particular country's regulations re priorities, generally heavier/faster/more pax tend to get some degree of positive loading as they are our raison d'etre.

Those are just a few things off the top of my head. There are, of course, an endless amount of variables and in the end it's mostly a balance between the "rules" and common sense.

ap

[Wojtus]

In Poland we are tought to give priority to departures in ground operations. But it's not strict rule, so common sense is widely used.

[albertoli]

priorities - gla

Does not seem to be any priority at GLA, ATC will push aircraft onto the main taxiway which blocks it for a few minutes (over 5 if BA) even though you have just cleared the runway. Very inconsistent operation as I have been told to hold the push whilst other aircraft taxi on stand.

[hangten]

The priorities that I tend to exercise are that aircraft operating flights have priority over aircraft under tow who have priority over vehicles.

However, anything can sway these decisions and the number one priority is to keep the aerodrome moving. Examples may be tight slot times or other flow restrictions, an aircraft running particularly late, or the best use of the geography available. Sometimes an aircraft that is ready in a particularly awkward place has to push at some point and will delay somebody - you may just be unluckly that it's you! Finally, sometimes an event (e.g. push and disconnect) just takes longer than we might expect normally.

Very inconsistent operation

Give 5 ATCOs a problem and you'll get given at least 6 solutions... Everyone has their own way. There is almost certainly a reason for every decision, remember you don't have all the information to hand. And if that fails to convince you - final straw is that we're only human.

[zekeigo]

Thank you all for your insights.
The ICAO ATM Doc 4444 – (7.5.3.1 Control of taxiing aircraft) give some guidelines; but the commonsense plays a huge role. Imho, while taxing or pushing back, if in doubt, Stop.
Zeke

[vespasia]

Priorities change constantly depending on the traffic situation. If there are plenty of aircraft already at the holding point, then I'll tend to try and keep the inbounds moving (since the departure will only be sitting in a queue anyway) plus inbounds have more of a problem if they stop since all the punters immediately try and stand up! If you have a tight CTOT then you'll have a higher priority than otherwise. If it's very busy and three inbounds have the same route I might hold the outbound until all three have passed, rather than "threading" the outbound through (reduced RT workload). You might have high priority at one taxiway junction and low at the next, or vice versa. If you haven't been told whether to give way, then you should revert to the rules of the air (in the UK) eg give way to traffic from the right, towed traffic has priority over ac under their own power etc.

The gound situation is very dynamic at any busy airport, and priorities will change accordingly. Why not organise a visit to the tower and sit in on a busy GMC session, and the controller can explain some of the factors that affect our decisions?

[terrain safe]

Basically the least delay wins.

[TinPusher]

Priority

Goes to the company that gives me the most favourable discount.
It IS all about ME you know

[Skyjuggler]

I must agree with Terrainsafe, At my station, it's all about the least overall delay. If an aircraft has 3 minutes to go before they get to the apron, I'd push somebody else ahead of him. If they're just about to enter the apron, the push gets delayed. Not an exact science, but I try to keep the guys in the picture as much as possible.

As for ACFT under tow, they'll pretty much have to wait until I can squeeze them in/across with a minimul delay.

[criss]

Problem with GND operations is you can never tell how long it will take a given a/c to taxi from point A to B, or to be ready for taxi after pushback. APP knows pretty well how long will it take to cover next 10 nm, in GND operations you can never be sure.