ROMULUS, Mich. (WXYZ) — Wintry weather means the chance of icy planes and icy runways. Airports use de-icing chemicals to mitigate some of the worst effects of such conditions on airplanes and flight schedules.
Patricia Johnson and her husband were taking their first trip since the pandemic Wednesday.
"So we’ve been following the weather and everything. Because we know how the runways can get iced over and the plane can get iced over,” said Johnson
John Cuttle was on his way to Florida and had similar concerns.
“Because of the weather, if there’s any ice in the air, of course, it’s going to get on the wings of the plane and they’ll cancel that flight, rain won’t,” Cuttle said.
Steve McClard and his family knew flying on such an unpredictable day was risky, but they wanted to get back to Portland after visiting with their nieces.
“We’re just hoping that freezing rain doesn’t come and start hitting. Because I’m sure things will start getting canceled if it does,” explained McClard.
Ronald Bazman is the chief operating officer at BASB LLC. He was the director of air-field operations at Detroit Metro Airport. Now, he’s helping coordinate between the airport authority, the FAA, and the airlines to maximize safety and efficiency at DTW.
He explained they are closely monitoring the weather and surface temperatures.
“We provide preventive measures to maintain the level of safety that we need to not only for de-icing the planes, but for the surfaces that they use,” Bazman said.
This, of course, means de-icing planes and runways. However, he explained they don’t use salt because that would be corrosive. Instead, they use a form of glycol.
Bazman explained any contaminant on the plane affects how it functions.
“Anytime that you have a contaminant on the wings, and that could be snow and it could even be as minute as frost, that alters the design of the wing and how effectively it can produce lift,” said Bazman.
He said increased ice changes the dynamics.
“When we get into the heavier precipitation this afternoon where it wants to dilute chemicals faster, and then they’re less effective, that’s where we have to be on our best game or we have to start limiting what is happening at the airport.”
Fortunately, passengers like the McClard family were taking whatever the day brought in stride.
“We got a couple pillows in the carry-ons and maybe we’ll get smart and try and find a hotel reservation before things start canceling,” said McClard.
