Quote:
Originally Posted by Crockett616
The ATC ground controller issues clearances for any airplane or ground vehicle to taxi on a taxiway or runway. The controller will take care of right of way issues with their clearance (e.g. "Hold short of Victor" or "Give way to the United 737 at Gulf, then proceed on Zulu to runway 22 Right"). But it's always our ultimate responsibility to not run into something. If I see a potential conflict looming, I'll just ask the controller who should give way. There are no set "right of way" rules on the taxiway as there are, say, with two cars approaching an intersection.
There are areas of the airport, such as the ramp area where aircraft park, that are designated as "non movement" areas, which are usually under the control of a non-ATC entity, but at smaller airports might be completely uncontrolled. The ramp controller issues pushback clearances and clearance to enter the ramp and proceed to a gate. At Dulles airport, this is handled by MWAA (Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority). At JFK, Delta controls one of the ramps. Other ramps have different non-ATC ramp controllers. Each ramp has a discrete radio frequency (obv).
Ground traffic (baggage carts, tugs, fuel trucks, etc) move around the airport on their own, without clearance
unless they are going
on a taxiway or
across a runway, in which case they need clearance from Ground Control. On the ramp, they can drive wherever they want, just taking care to avoid aircraft (and heeding any marshallers giving them the hold sign while supervising a pushback).
There are lines painted on the ground for two way traffic around the airport and in these lanes, ground vehicles follows typical rules of the road with respect to other ground vehicles, but always give way to airplanes. This is typically seen on the ramp entry/exit points, which are part of a taxiway. More than one pilot has had to suddenly stop short in this area as a fuel trick or baggage cart plays chicken with the airplane and scoots across the access point. It's a pretty serious breach of the rules and pilots aren't hesitant to note the vehicle number and report it to the tower.
In the ramp area, there are often lines painted marking the "footprint" of the aircraft at the gate and all the ramp personnel know not to park inside these boundaries, and pilots won't proceed into the gate if they see equipment inside those lines.
While a plane is parked, care is taken to stay clear of the plane and this is where a lot of inadvertent damage occurs. Many airlines require ramp personnel to place pylons or barriers once an airplane has been parked to help avoid collisions.
When I was at United Express, we had an instance of a ground vehicle plowing into the wing of an RJ while it was taxiing. It was one of our recently delivered planes and did severe damage. This was just a case of a driver not paying attention. She was speeding and it was at night. If you see a situation like what's shown in your picture, it's always the fault of the ground vehicle operator.