GS&P DIALOGUE - "Deicing"

Snow Shines a Light on Amazing Airports

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:08:45 GMT

Winter weather has been wreaking havoc at airports all over the country. New England states, including the major airports in New York, have been hit with three large winter storms since Christmas. More recently, icy conditions caused hundreds of flight cancelations at the world’s busiest passenger airport, Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta.

A recent article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution indicated that limitations to airplane deicing at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport were a contributing factor to the many flight cancelations and delays. I agree that deicing an airplane requires time not normally planned for in daily operations; however, I would add that the large deicing operation at Hartsfield-Jackson contributed to hundreds of flights taking off safely instead of remaining on the ground. For Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson, an airplane deicing system has been incorporated in a climate that typically receives less than three inches of snow annually.

Is Your Airport Ready for the Winter of 2010-2011 and Beyond?

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 09:14:58 GMT

December is here and thanks to our good friends up north (thanks Randy and Vic), early winter weather has pressed south across most of the country with near freezing temperatures in Florida to an early winter snow in Seattle. For airports, this means the start of the 2010-11 deicing season. Airports have planned for months and updated their protocols/ procedures for the application of pavement deicers, and collection of aircraft and pavement deicers as prescribed to their own unique circumstances. These protocols/procedures can be simple or highly complex, but in any case, they are an absolute necessity when it comes to (1) ensuring safe aircraft operations and (2) meeting environmental compliance requirements.

Why More Airports are Embracing Environmental Stewardship

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 10:28:15 GMT

Many within the Aviation industry understand that mere compliance with environmental regulations is not enough to address all of our social, political or management responsibilities regarding the environment. Most airports are moving toward a position of proactive environmental stewardship: a commitment to continuously and purposefully work toward reducing an organization's impacts on natural resources.