DIA snow plan aims to keep airport open

Fernando Quintero and Chris Walsh, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 2, 2007 at midnight

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Airport officials are proposing a $31 million plan to ramp up snow removal at DIA and keep runways open during storm’s like last winter’s, which shut operations down 45 hours, disrupting air travel across the country.

The plan calls for adding more equipment and operators, using snow melters on main ramp areas, and narrowing the priority surface areas, which include runways, high speed taxiways and connectors.

The plan, which will go to the Denver City Council for approval, would add 10 additional snowplows and seven snow melters, which can melt up to 600 tons of snow an hour and are more efficient than plows because the snow does not have to be hauled away.

The snow removal team will increase from 50 drivers on 25 pieces of equipment to 70 drivers on 35 pieces of equipment.

The first major blizzard of last winter season on Dec. 20 and 21 dumped 20 to 22 inches at DIA — more than 10 inches over average — during 34 hours. Wind gusts reached more than 40 mph. Drifts piled up to 4 feet deep or more in places.

The blizzard led airport officials to hire a consultant to analyze the airport’s snow removal plans and procedures. It also conducted its own internal investigation. Both led to the master plan, said John Kinney, director of operations at DIA.

"Our focus was to improve performance," he said.

The FAA requires the airport to identify runways and taxiways that are critical to safe operations. The plan calls for reducing those priority areas by 20 percent.

During last winter’s blizzard, it took up to 90 minutes for snow plows to remove snow. With the increased equipment and staffing, the time it takes to remove snow from runways and taxiways will be reduced to around 30 minutes, according to a draft of the plan released today.

For the long term, the airport plan would add better "multifunctional" equipment that incorporates a snow plow, broom and blower. The equipment won’t be available until February 2009. The plan calls for 37 pieces of multifunctional equipment. The time it takes to remove snow will be reduced to 10 to 15 minutes.

The plan was based on an average snow season, not on last year's historic blizzard. "We're not building a church for Easter Sunday," said Kinney.

"The airport is a critical regional asset, and the safety and efficiency of operations during future snow events is of the utmost priority to everyone concerned. DIA is absolutely on-task by putting together a comprehensive snow plan," said Ann Williams, spokeswoman for Mayor John Hickenlooper.

Frontier Airlines, which was briefed on the plan last week, said it’s important to ensure that any changes are cost-efficient for the airlines.

"The plan itself is very comprehensive," said Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas. "It’s very well thought out, and it’s on the right track. The question now is how does this get paid for? There are differing opinions on how that happens."

The improvements would be paid for through airline user fees, ticket taxes and federal grants, said Kinney. The airport may borrow money through bonds as well, he said.

However they are paid for, the benefits likely will outweigh the costs, said Mike Boyd, an aviation consultant based in Evergreen. Delays, cancellations and airport closures hammer airlines financially and wreak havoc throughout their systems.

Denver-based Frontier, for instance, had to cancel 875 flights because of the back-to-back storms, disrupting plans for tens of thousands of passengers. It missed out on about $13 million in revenue, contributing heavily to a quarterly loss.

It also recorded $3.8 million in additional operating costs in January related to the December storms. The carrier’s chief executive officer called it "probably the greatest challenge in our history as an airline" aside from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

United, the largest carrier in Denver, took a $30 million hit from the storms after having to cancel about 3,000 flights.

"The highest cost you can have is a shutdown," Boyd said. "There was a demonstrated problem in December that cost Frontier and United a lot of money. But what happened in December will never happen again. DIA won’t let it happen again. That’s all there is to it."

The airport took a financial hit as well. The storms cost it $6.4 million in cleanup expenses and tarnished its reputation.

Nearly 36 percent of the airport's scheduled arrivals and departures in December were at least 15 minutes late. Some passengers avoided connecting through Denver the rest of the winter after the highly publicized problems.

"I think the plan is way overdue," said Denver City Council President Michael Hancock. "It will make us more efficient and reduce the amount of time we have to shut down runways and taxiways. The short-term costs are certainly dulled by the long-term efficiencies and savings."

Hancock noted that DIA shelved many upgrades and improvement projects after the 2001 terrorist attacks and the related slowdown in travel.

"As result we’re playing catch-up right now," he said. "A lot of the snow removal equipment should’ve been put out to pasture a long time ago."

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