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Aviation glossary

Pushback

Also: push-back, pushback tug, aircraft tug

Operations and flight

The manoeuvre in which a tug pushes an aircraft backwards away from the gate, since airliners do not normally reverse under their own power.

What it is

Airliners park nose-in at the terminal and have no reverse gear. Some could back out using their thrust reversers, but this ‘powerback’ burns fuel and blasts jet wash and loose debris towards the building, so it is rarely used. Instead, a tug pushes the aircraft back onto the taxiway.

There are two kinds of tug: conventional ones, connected to the nose wheel by a towbar, and towbarless tugs, which cradle and lift the nose wheel itself. While the aircraft is being moved, a bypass pin disconnects the nose-wheel steering, and the ground crew talk to the flight deck through a headset plugged into the nose or by hand signals. Clearance comes from ground control or apron management.

Engines are usually started during the pushback or just after it, and the moment the aircraft starts to move is logged as its off-block time, the start of the block time that airlines use to build their schedules.

Related terms

TaxiingMovement of an aircraft on the ground under its own power between the apron and the runway, along taxiways and following instructions from ground control. ApronArea of an airport where aircraft park to board and disembark passengers, load cargo, refuel and receive line maintenance. GatePoint in the terminal from which passengers on a flight reach the aircraft, whether by airbridge, on foot across the apron or by bus. Ground handlingServices an aircraft receives on the ground between flights: passenger handling, baggage, cargo, fuel, cleaning, catering and pushback. Block timeThe total time of a flight, measured from when the aircraft leaves the departure gate until it stops at the arrival gate, including taxiing and any holding.
Whole glossary

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This page was last updated on October 9, 2026

APA

Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). Pushback. Retrieved October 17, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/pushback

MLA

“Pushback.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/pushback. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Vuelopedia. “Pushback.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/pushback.

Harvard

Vuelopedia (2026) Pushback. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/pushback (Accessed: 17 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_pushback,
  author       = {{Vuelopedia}},
  title        = {{Pushback}},
  publisher    = {Fundación Poderia},
  year         = {2026},
  date         = {2026-10-09},
  url          = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/pushback},
  howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/pushback}},
  urldate      = {2026-10-17},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-17}
}

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/pushback |title=Pushback |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-17 |language=en}}

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