Investigating grand marshalling operations alternatives for guiding aircraft to their parking positions

In congested airports, where multiple aircraft operations coincide, ground marshalling becomes even more vital to prevent accidents, delays, and operational inefficiencies. Aircraft marshalling is crucial because of the intricacies and inherent risks associated with manoeuvering large aircraft on the ground, as airports are usually bustling, congested environments with restricted sight, particularly in proximity to terminal gates, hangars, and taxiways. The study successfully applied the CRITIC Weight-VIKOR technique to choose a prominent alternative for marshalling operations at airport. The weights of such criteria as the Operational Efficiency (OE), Safety Enhancement (SE), Cost of Implementation (C), Compatibility with Existing Infrastructure (CEI), Training and Human Adaptability (THA), Environmental Impact (EI), and Reliability in Adverse Conditions (RAC). were estimated using the CRITIC weight technique were 0.1055, 0.1087, 0.1904, 0.1261, 0.1077, 0.2025 and 0.1590 respectively, which were used to promote VIKOR techniques' application in appraising ranks of the airport ground marshalling operations such as Manual Hand Signals, Wand-Based Marshalling Systems, Follow-Me Vehicles with GPS Guidance, Infrared Camera Systems and Automated Docking Guidance Systems (ADGS) with the following results: 0.3232, 0.0082, 0.4823, 0.1411, and 0.9411, respectively. The result obtained from the analysis demonstrates that wand-based marshalling ranks first within the specific decision framework, criteria set, expert judgements, and weighting scheme used in this study. However, the existing awareness and willingness among aviation professionals to embrace technology provide a strong foundation for future studies in ground marshalling operations through accessing technology adoption rates, implementation barriers, and longitudinal performance outcomes. This study assessing five airport ground marshalling alternatives and optimisation of marshalling operations shows that effective marshalling can reduce aircraft taxi mishaps and improve apron traffic flow in congested airports.