Airportman.id – The boarding bridge or Garbarata, as it is called in Indonesia, is a walled and roofed bridge that connects the passenger waiting room to the airplane door to make it easier for passengers to enter or leave the aircraft.

In Indonesia, the word garbarata comes from Sanskrit, namely garba, which means stomach, womb, or container, and ratha, which means carriage. While in Javanese, garba has another meaning, namely holding/connecting. So, in other words, it can be interpreted as a container or a connecting train.

The history of the boarding bridge cannot be separated from the role of Frank Der Yuen, an American aeronautical engineer. Der Yuen is the inventor of the boarding bridge concept along with Francis B. Johnson. The initial concept was named Aero-Gangplank.

Charles Waldheim wrote the history of Aero-Gangplank in "Aero-Gangplank and the Avant-Garde" in 2019 in LOG 46. Aero-Gangplank was first installed at O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, on March 28, 1958. The historical event was recorded on the Chicago Tribune news page titled "Folding Bridge Used at O'Hare: Public Boards Plane Under Shelter."

The Aero-Gangplank was developed by Lockheed Air Terminal, Inc. based on the concept created by Frank Der Yuen. It was then licensed by United Air Lines to be manufactured and installed at O'Hare Airport. After the successful installation and operation of the Aero-Gangplank, Frank Der Yuen and Lockheed filed a design patent for the Aero-Gangplank on July 27, 1960, and were granted an official patent on October 30, 1962, with patent number US3060471.

According to the patent and installed at O'Hare, the initial design of the Aero-Gangplank is a bridge designed with three main sections, namely the Aircraft Entry Vestibule, Covered Passageway, and Terminal Vestibule.

In the Aircraft Entry Vestibule, there is an operator control console to manually operate the controls to actuate the power mechanism and steer the mobile support structure underneath. This Aircraft Entry Vestibule can be rotated, raised and lowered, and moved back and forth to adjust its position with the aircraft door. So that the plane does not suffer damage when the vestibule is attached, a bumper is installed with a shape that adjusts to the contours of the fuselage around the door.

The Covered Passageway or a closed passageway structure has three parts that can move telescopically (lengthwise) to reach aircraft at a considerable distance from the terminal.

Terminal Vestibule is the part attached to the terminal building. This section can be rotated to reach the aircraft being served and can also be rotated back to a position closer to the terminal when not in use.

After its successful debut at O'Hare Airport, the Aero-Gangplank became the new standard for boarding bridges worldwide and was widely installed throughout the United States at the time.