New Equipment Saving Airport Time, Headaches And Money

Heavy snow and cold temperatures have affected flights across the country this winter including in Indianapolis.

But, a $5.5 million investment to purchase nine new snowplows is helping to offset the conditions.

Senior Director of Airport Operations Mike Medvescek says without the equipment, it’s possible the runways would have to shut down.

"They've been outstanding," he said.  "They have probably cut our runway and taxi way time down by about 40 percent.  We are going twice as fast with less equipment now than we did in the past.  With the season we've had so far, they've definitely helped our operations keep the airport open."

He says the plows are especially important at airports, because they are not allowed to use salt or sodium chloride on the runways because those can damage aircrafts.

Medvescek say the plows were purchased for safety improvements, but have resulted in a financial savings, as well.

"In the past we, instead of having eight units, we'd have 16," he said.  "You have 16 less bodies that are in the vehicles, so it is a considerable amount of time and savings of overtime that would have for our snow team."

Photo courtesy MB Companies, Inc.