Originally Posted by
BERbound
Ok slightly geeky question coming up....
Currently at LPA on the terrace watching aircraft land and taxi. I note that some aircraft are assigned a follow me vehicle and others aren't.
At airports which operate these, are these at pilots request ? Or is it just down to the airport ops dependent on stand locatiion?
Normally down to airport operator and the stand, but a pilot can request assistance. I used to fly to Ascension Island where there is one ramp and we always parked in the same place. On the, very, odd occasion if there were two aircraft in that day, we would park next door. You could not get lost on the ramp at all, but the airfield operator ( USAF) insisted we had a follow me all the time, just in case we got lost. Odd but it’s their rules and their airfield.
Some stands have clever guidance that allow the aircraft to be parked without assistance, some do not, where there is no guidance a marshalled will be required, they often do a double duty as follow me drivers, so you quite often get a follow me car if you need a marshaller.