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Aviation vocabulary · Airports & Ground Operations

Pushback

Meaning in aviation, with examples

/ˈpʊʃbæk/nounCore term

In aviation, pushback means: The procedure in which a tug pushes an aircraft backwards out of its parking stand, because airliners do not normally reverse under their own power.

In Turkish: geri itme, pushback

How it is used

Pilots 'request pushback' from ground or apron control, which answers 'pushback approved', often with a direction such as 'facing east'. The ground crew talks to the cockpit by headset during the push. The verb is 'push back'.

Example sentences

  1. Ground, Fastair 345, stand 12, request pushback.

  2. Pushback was delayed because the tug driver was handling another aircraft.

Common collocations

  • request pushback
  • pushback approved
  • pushback tug
  • pushback crew
  • expect pushback
  • standA marked parking position on the apron where an aircraft is parked for boarding, loading, refuelling and other ground services.
  • taxiTo move an aircraft slowly on the ground under its own power, for example from the parking stand to the runway or from the runway back to the stand.
  • ground handlingAll the services an aircraft and its passengers need at the airport between landing and departure, such as check-in, baggage loading, cleaning and pushback.
  • APUAuxiliary power unit: a small engine, usually in the tail, that provides electrical power and air for air conditioning and engine start when the main engines are not running.

More terms: Airports & Ground Operations

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