Oshkosh ground support robots take on air travel’s hidden costs

The war in Iran continues to ratchet up fuel prices, and that doesn’t just make it more expensive to drive – it’s getting more expensive to fly, too. What many don’t realize is that a significant share of an airline’s operating costs are tied to ground operations, and that’s where Oshkosh is putting automation and electrification to work.

With the short distances driven at limited speeds under relatively heavy 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 prices rise and 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 aviation industry’s fossil fuel emissions.

That’s why companies like Oshkosh are working to develop zero-emission vehicles like the Stryker Volterra Electric ARFF fire truck and the autonomous aircraft tug shown, above. All managed by the AeroTech AI ground traffic manager.

Even with the sort of high-tech angle that drives recruiting in the trucking and construction trades, there’s still a labor shortage on the ground at most airports, and that’s where autonomous GSH/GHE systems seem to be coming into their own.

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“We’re moving from enabling jobs to executing jobs with intelligent systems,” explains Nate Hoover, Senior Director Product Management, JLG Industries, an Oshkosh Corporation business. “(We’re) helping customers unlock safe, smart and productive operations.”  

Oshkosh showed off its autonomous baggage handling robot at CES 2025, and the new “Perfect Turn” autonomous aircraft tug (at top) at CES 2026, demonstrating how Oshkosh’s suite of airport equipment solutions combine elements of autonomy, AI, and electrification to modernize air travel operations without sacrificing safety or reliability – and without using a drop of diesel fuel or gasoline to do it.

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.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Oshkosh.

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