KANSAS CITY, Mo. — From ground crews to coordination behind the scenes, everyone has to deal with snowfall at the airport. As the snow falls and piles up, workers take action.
“We got a new challenge here with a new apron space, a lot more apron space than we did in the old terminal,” said Airport Operations Aviation Manager Bob Johnson. “Our west runway out here (is) 10,800 feet long, so that's equivalent to (Interstate) 29 from the new terminal building, 13 and a half miles south on I-29. That's just run one runway.”
Just like how meteorologists look at forecast data days in advance for winter storms, airport managers devise their plan of attack to keep flights coming and going.
“What's important to us is, what kind of snow is it? Other snow — such as the heavy, wet — that's a little bit more challenging to move. As we're getting closer and closer, then we're starting to think about OK, we're going to be calling the crews in at a certain time. With our staff, we have 12-hour shifts," Johnson said.
They can track everything from impending lightning strikes to runway temperatures. With the operation being so large, it takes a team of airport employees to do a snow removal dance using specialized equipment.
Johnson explains: “So a conga line is a group of vehicles for snow removal. Typically, what happens on runways is that we have about eight to nine plows that are following each other that are just off a little bit as they're going down to ensure that they do the full width of the runway. And in the mix of the conga line, we’ll have plows, front end brooms and a snowblower at the very end — one or two — that would throw the snow over.”
Airlines are responsible for clearing the snow off of their gates, clearing and deicing airplanes. So, if your flight gets delayed, don't blame the airport, they have their own concrete to clear off.
“We own all the roads as you come on Cookingham. They apply salt, they do mechanical removal with plows,” said Johnson.
Because of the rules and regulations from the FAA, you won't find salt or heavy metal plows scraping the snow and ice off the grooved runways at KCI.
“Salt is corrosive to aircraft, which is not a good thing,” added Johnson. “So, we use potassium acetate, which is a liquid deicer or anti-icer type of liquid. When I say, 'very expensive to treat the entire airfield,' it is roughly $40,000 for one pass.”
Johnson advises passengers traveling during winter weather to — you've guessed it — arrive early.
“There is going to be other people that are delayed — potentially a little backup — with checking in luggage. Everyone is trying to rush to get out of here,” Johnson said.
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