The Philadelphia Department of Aviation has collaborated with Southwest Airlines® to electrify part of their entire ground support equipment (GSE) fleet at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL). To support this effort, the Department of Aviation installed 12 electric GSE chargers with a total of 24 charging positions at Terminal E, where all Southwest aircraft operations take place. The chargers were funded via a grant award of $777,000 from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Voluntary Airport Lower Emissions (VALE) received by the airport.

“Southwest is committed to our Nonstop to Net Zero plan which includes electrifying 50% of our eligible ground support equipment by 2030” said Helen Giles, Managing Director of Environmental Sustainability at Southwest Airlines. “VALE grants are critical in helping to accelerate electrification. With this, and through important partnerships with airports like PHL, we’re making significant progress toward our goals.”

The Department of Aviation welcomed the opportunity to align Southwest’s decarbonization mission to bring those pollution reduction benefits to PHL. Southwest has installed a total of 29 pieces of electric equipment: 15 baggage tugs and 14 belt loaders. This equipment will replace Southwest's existing diesel ground support equipment as they are phased out this year, bringing PHL's total of electric GSE up to 26% of the fleet. This collaborative effort is part of the Department of Aviation's commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

“The Department of Aviation commends Southwest Airlines for investing in electric ground support equipment to reduce their carbon footprint. We invite all of our airlines and cargo tenants to partner with us on fleet electrification,” said Jessica Noon, Airport Sustainability Manager.

Using the EPA emissions factors and modeling via the Aviation Environmental Design Tool (AEDT) provided by the FAA, the Department of Aviation calculated these electric vehicles will reduce emissions at the airport by approximately 950 metric tons of CO2 and over 9,500 pounds of other pollutants each year, helping to address climate change and improve local air quality. The next time you fly on Southwest, be sure to look out a window and check out the new zero-emission equipment in action!