The Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) International Airport received a record amount of snow during the 22–23 snow season. This led to flight cancellations and delays as well as an exhausted maintenance labor force, chemical overruns, and excessive equipment wear. As MSP continues to climb out of the pandemic downturn, airline business at MSP has changed from air traffic that had been predominately local connector service, to air traffic that is now 70% heavy commercial service. This transformation in airline business, coupled with climate extremes, has necessitated a different approach to snow/ice removal to keep the airfield operational as much as possible 24/7/365. Following the 22–23 snow season, the airlines engaged airport leadership with the intent of minimizing winter flight disruptions by asking, “Can there be two runways open at all times?” Airport leadership tasked maintenance managers with this question, who ultimately developed a plan that included an increase in FTEs and equipment, and the use of a contractor. This plan needed to be developed within three months to receive airline and governmental approval, equipment procurement, and hiring completed prior to the 23–24 snow season. This presentation will outline the plan, as well as the thought and effort that went into producing it.
At the conclusion of this session, participants will be better able to:
• Discuss the importance of airport operations in conjunction with snow/ice removal.
• Review business influence on maintenance activities that impact customer service.
• Communicate airport snow/ice removal strategies that includes labor management, equipment use, and chemical use.
Contributor/Source
Mike Wilson
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Focuses on a general or broad overview of the topic, awareness of basic factual recall. Limited experience of the subject matter is necessary to understand content areas.
Applied
Focuses on practical implementation of technical steps or strategies, some prior knowledge and experience of the topic is necessary.
Advanced
Mastery of basic concepts associated with an area has been obtained. Focuses on understanding nuances, advanced concepts, and intricacies with implementation within knowledge area. Strong understanding of how the concept impacts other factors or areas of operations.
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