COLUMBUS, Ohio — With the season’s first weather event predicted for later this week, rest assured that the Columbus Regional Airport Authority’s “Snow Dogs” are on the prowl, practicing and preparing for winter weather this season.
The Airfield Maintenance teams at John Glenn Columbus International Airport and Rickenbacker International Airport are responsible for removing the snow and ice to keep air traffic moving and passengers on their way.
Training began in mid-October and during a snow event, “packs” of about 25 people work in shifts, rotating every 12 hours to clear runways, taxiways, aprons, vehicle gates, and the Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting areas. A combination of potassium acetate, sodium formate, and sand (no salt) will be used in the deicing process.
Snow on public roads and sidewalks is removed by contractors who use their own equipment, including salt.
Snow Dogs use a variety of equipment in the deicing process, including front-mounted brooms, snow blowers, snowplows, sand spreaders, loaders, and deicer trucks.
Airlines are responsible for deicing their own planes and are the entities that decide when flight schedules change due to weather conditions. Passengers should download their airline’s app to stay up-to-date on flight status during snow events.
