Eisenhower National Airport preps for winter weather beginning in early fall (+video)

When snow or ice strikes the area, Wichita Airport Authority staff already has marshaled its staff and fleet of snow-and-ice-removing equipment days in advance.

That’s the message officials who oversee the operations of Wichita Eisenhower National Airport aimed to convey Monday at the authority’s Airport Winter Weather Informational Forum.

“We want you to know that we are ready,” said Brad Christopher, assistant director of airports. “We have staff out here babysitting the pavement.”

Christopher also wanted to emphasize that the airport is responsible for removing ice and snow from its three runways, but does not deice airplanes, which is the responsibility of individual airlines.

“We’re the landlord,” he said. “We take care of the facilities. We don’t manage the daily operations of our tenants.”

De-icing for the airlines is done by three companies: Envoy for American Airlines; DGS for Delta Air Lines; and Yingling Aviation, which is contracted to deice airplanes for Allegiant, Southwest and United.

Preparation for winter weather at the airport annually begins in September, Christoper said, which includes planning between officials from the airport, air traffic control, the airlines and the companies that deice airplanes.

On the airport side, the preparation also includes the weekly “exercising” of its 12-piece fleet of brooms, snow plows and deicing trucks, beginning in mid-October and lasting through about mid-April.

“They take it (each truck) out and drive it, fire up the broom heads, spray just a little fluid out of the deicer,” said Scott Loesch, airport grounds and fleet manager.

Loesch and the 18 employees of airport grounds and fleet operate the five brooms — tractor-looking vehicles equipped on the front with rows of circular bristles that rotate and sweep away snow and slush — five plows and two deicing trucks.

The goal is to keep Eisenhower’s two primary runways and a crosswind runway free of snow and ice, but in extreme winter weather the focus is to keep one primary runway open at all times, Christoper said.

“Instead of two runways at 80 percent (clean) we’d rather have one runway at 100 percent,” he said.

Christopher said days before a winter storm is forecast to reach Wichita, airport staff begins putting its procedures in place. That includes closely monitoring customized weather forecasts put together for the airport.

And once the storm hits, the airport will have crews at the airport manning its equipment and others available for immediate call back. At the same time, they’re monitoring the temperature of the airport’s runways through sensors placed in them.

“We’ve got an entire airport community … with boots and rubber on the ground,” he said.

This story was originally published December 14, 2015 at 7:28 PM with the headline "Eisenhower National Airport preps for winter weather beginning in early fall (+video)."