While neither rain nor snow nor gloom of night will impede the postal service, the elements pose many challenges at Cherry Capital Airport. Not only do runways and taxiways need to be clear of snow and ice for safe landings and takeoffs, the planes have to be safe as well. Pilots need to know the specific conditions that could impact their aircraft.

With 1,025 acres, that’s a lot of space to clean, plow, blow, sand and deice – but the airport is ready for most anything. It boasts a staff of 16 on the maintenance crew (12 full-time and four seasonal part-time), not including others who are also qualified to run the equipment in a pinch (and yes, even Airport Director Kevin Klein).

What do they all do? With some 30 different pieces of snow removal equipment, a lot. “We sand, sweep and plow,” says Assistant Airport Director of Operations and Maintenance Dan Sal – and that’s with just one piece of equipment, a 67-foot-long monster called appropriately enough a mauler.

Equipment-wise, at the other extreme from that beast, there’s your basic SUV – which turns out to be not so basic after all. It has a tablet mounted on the dashboard and a laptop suspended above the front passenger seat, as well as an additional wheel that drops through a hole in the trunk to measure the amount of friction on the runways and taxiways. “We have to test anytime conditions change. We can check every ten minutes if needed,” says Sal. When the weather doesn’t cooperate, that kind of heavy-duty equipment and constant scrutiny may be exactly what the pilot ordered.

Sal notes that the airport doesn’t purchase equipment every year, but when it does, watch out. “This year we are buying one piece of equipment, a plow/sweeper multi functional unit that is $750,000. That is our most expensive piece of equipment.  We hope to get 20 years out of our snow removal equipment.  

“We also purchased a smaller tractor for sweeping sidewalks and pulling parking spaces in the parking lots,” he continues. “The tractor also has a snowblower on it.  The tractor with all the attachments was $75,000.”

As anyone who flies knows, winter weather can cause all kinds of havoc with schedules. Sal says any decision to delay or cancel flights is made by the airline or pilot in command – not the airport. The conditions causing such a decision can be based on everything from visibility or wind to cloud height.

On the other hand, any deicing decisions depend on whether it’s the equipment or the ground that needs attention. “We (airport operations) determine whether or not to deice the pavement.  We have to make sure the conditions warrant the deicing,” says Sal. “The airline or pilot in command makes the decision on whether or not to deice the aircraft.”

When the weather produces those icy conditions, it’s not like the staff can go next door to Costco to get a couple buckets of road salt. “It’s all FAA approved,” says Sal of both the solid and liquid products used.

And it’s not just the chemicals that have to pass muster. The sand too has to be appropriate, of a small enough size that it won’t clog any of the spreading equipment or bind airline tires. It also has to be warmed enough that it can be easily loaded into the spreaders, so the barn in which it is stored has heaters.

Though there's more than enough weather equipment on-site to determine and measure the conditions, like all technology, sometimes it breaks down. When that happens, the airport must provide alternatives. “The airlines need current weather conditions to operate (take off and land). When the weather equipment fails, we ask a weather observer to come in and report the conditions so that the airlines can continue to operate,” Sal says.

When the storms do hit, it’s all hands on deck. If the inclement weather is long-lasting, Sal says they need to be aware of the perils of driver fatigue. That’s why it’s prudent to have extra staff on-hand qualified to operate       equipment in any emergency.