Central Nebraska Regional Airport unphased by inclement weather

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (KSNB) – Drifting snow continues to impact road conditions throughout the Tri-Cities; however, traveling by air in Central Nebraska has remained unscathed despite the weather.

Flights at the Central Nebraska Regional Airport have departed and arrived on time and Airport Executive Director Mike Olson gives all the praise to the crew who have been clearing the runway. A few passengers did experience a slight issue on Monday going to Dallas, Texas because of the weather in the southern part of the country. When it comes to adjusting flight statuses, whether it is postponing or canceling them, it is all in the hands of the airline. But if any factors affect the safety of airport employees then Olson and the operations manager say traveling isn’t advised. Snow might have been a traveling roadblock this week but another weather element presents a bigger challenge to the facility.

“It is the wind and the wind direction. When the storm came in yesterday the winds were blowing the snow across the runway,” Olson said. “During the night however they shifted to the north, the winds are blowing right down the runway which makes it so much easier for snow removal.”

Not only has the wind been an obstacle, but other parts of the airport has been serving as a bigger obstacle.

“We so our best to make it easy for the cars to get in and out,” Olson said. “When you have three to four drifts between cars it makes it a little problematic for the passengers and there is nothing we can do about that.”

Two years ago the airport made a purchase for new snow equipment for situations like blizzards and winter storms. Olson said it has been serving its purpose this week.

Since flights have been unfazed, the road conditions suffer a different fate.

“Getting to the airport is usually the problematic issue for the travelers,” Olson said. “Not that the snow crews, the city, the county and the state don’t do a good job but again when you have high winds and low visibility it makes it harder to get to the airport.”

Airport officials ran into similar issues during the Christmas winter storm, yet the flights took off and arrived like normal.

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