Weathering the Storms, Where to Go, What to Do Winter and Irregular Operations Management Spring Operations & Technical Affairs Conference Montréal, Québec April 23, 2014 Contact: Jon Hypnar, AIA Chief Operating Officer Detroit Metro Airport 734-247-7061 jon.hypnar@wcaa.us
Records Have Been Broken Record snowfall 94.8 Coldest winter on record Budgets destroyed Material shortages Three - 11 + snowfalls within 28 Days Polar vortex resulted in 58 days that were below freezing in Dec/Jan. 5 year average is 28 days. Frequent high winds during events www.aci-na.org 2
Overview Results were way too much snow, exhausted staff, increase in airfield incidents, increased diversions, additional lessons learned. www.aci-na.org 3
Airfield www.aci-na.org 4
What did we do? Teamwork Snow plan Everyone does it Add-ons Pre event internal meeting with Ops, Maintenance, Public Safety, Facilities, Infrastructure, snow removal vendor. Reinforce this is a team effort and to succeed we must all help one another. Pre event conference calls with Delta is everyone at all levels ready? If not, what can we do to help? Anything over 5 initiates a partial or full opening of emergency command center. Communicate with Regional IROPS airports Conducted initial Regional workshop in October 2013 Established key contacts at each airport in our region Working on improving communication between airlines/dtw/diversion airports Add PASSUR to management Post event debriefing www.aci-na.org 5
Why Develop an IROPS Plan? Remember its NOT just about snow! Airport Authority Role Supports Airlines Response Improve Customer Service Partner with other Airports in the Region Stakeholder Participation Communication Network Unified Response Identify Strengths and Weaknesses www.aci-na.org 6
Regional IROPS Area Airports Included www.aci-na.org 7
IROPS DTW IROPS Response DTW had 123 aircraft diversions from October March. Our average is 105. Notifications/Communication/Coordination: Notify regional airports of impending bad weather that may lead to diversions from DTW Airlines provide notification to Airfield Ops Airfield Ops subscribes to PASSUR for IROPS alert notification in the National Airspace System Ops provides text messages to Administration, Police, Fire, Maintenance and Security Emergency Operations Center is activated as needed Dispatch staff and volunteers to comfort/communicate with terminal passengers as needed Ensure concessions are open Public Affairs notified for social media issues www.aci-na.org 8
Systems in Use Vaisala Pavement Sensors alerts staff via text if pavement temperatures fall below a certain level PASSUR Provides system delay arrival and departure information and IROPS Alerting. ASDE-X System - FAA Radar system depicts aircraft movement, arrivals and departures Camera and Monitors Pilot program w/aviation Safety Technologies for direct feed on Delta aircraft friction numbers www.aci-na.org 9
Future Improvements Automatic Detection Surveillance Broadcast Exelis Squitters or vehicle transponders for equipment operating in the movement area Aerobahn - System used by Delta Airlines to manage aircraft ground movement at DTW New Airport Response Center scheduled to open November 2014 with state of the art technologies to manage emergency response www.aci-na.org 10
Lessons Learned Enhance Regional IROPS communication Put Ops Specialist in ATCT or Authority presence in ATCT cab Go to one pass R/W clearing Establish separate R/W and T/W clearing teams Adding transponders to equipment to track and analyze snow operations Back up contracted services/seasonal workforce for additional manpower Keep closer track of supplies for unexpected overnight guests www.aci-na.org 11
Thank you & Questions www.aci-na.org 12