Winter weather preparations at AUS

In the aviation industry, winter poses unique challenges for airlines and airports. The season can be intense, with a wintry mix of wind, snow, and ice, affecting all forms of travel. This demands meticulous preparation and coordination between the airport, FAA, airlines, and other partners, with one goal in mind: ensure a safe and efficient operation on the ground and in the sky.

At Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS), the Department of Aviation is responsible for making sure the airport property, like roadways, runways, and the terminal itself, are prepped and ready to welcome people and planes.

While airlines are responsible for de-icing their aircraft, our teams prepare for and respond to ice accumulation that leads to slippery walkways, roadways, runways, and any other impacts to the airport infrastructure.

Here’s a look at what goes on behind the scenes to maintain the integrity of our airport infrastructure during a winter weather event at AUS:

Ready, set, snow

Once the weather forecast is delivered, usually by the National Weather Service, the AUS Emergency Management team begins prepping and sending out the news for situational awareness among the Department of Aviation. As the weather develops, this team continues to deliver timely and important updates that typically include the expected dates and timeframes of the weather, temperatures, potential risks for personnel/airport operations, freezing patterns, safety tips, and more. This helps key teams like our maintenance teams (Building, Airline, and Airside!), Airside Operations, Terminal Operations, and Guest Services divisions understand what to prepare for.

Runway brr-owsing

While the Department receives these updates, our around-the-clock Airside Operations team is inside and outside of the airport getting down to business.

Here’s what they do:

• Monitor the weather conditions that lead to notices and spreading critical information to teams across the airport.
• Generate reports of the condition of airport runways, taxiways, and aprons, which pilots use to make informed decisions about their landing and takeoff procedures.
• Assess the temperature of our runways.
• Inspect the runways and taxiways for snow and ice accumulation.
• Respond to reports by the arriving pilots about braking on the airfield – if braking is ranked lowed by pilots, within a certain threshold, the runway is closed and the Airside Operations team goes out to inspect it for ice and friction.
• Coordinate the deployment of resources when multiple areas of the airside area are affected.
• Lastly, this team ultimately holds the authority to issue a Notice to Air Mission (NOTAM) that would close the airfield due to safety concerns about managing the severe weather.

One thing super important to know is that it is *very rare* to issue a runway closure. The most recent time this happened, and the only time in recent memory, was due to over 6 inches of actual snow – not just ice – accumulation on the runways during Winter Storm Uri in 2021.

Since then, we’ve invested in dedicated snow removal equipment to keep at least one of our two runways open for flights.

Sn-overnight stay at AUS

During these events, there is a “home base” for employees on the landside and airside teams (and other teams as needed) to stay the night if the weather is bad; there are “bunk rooms” with beds, chargers, and closets. There are also cots and pillows for when those bunk rooms are full. These are the folks tending to the runways, taxiways, roadways, and elevated surfaces used by staff and the public, and of course, need a place to rest without having to get on dangerous roadways. The airport also has sleeping arrangements for passengers in the terminal, should they be stranded.

De-ice, ice, baby

Members from our various Maintenance teams deploy when ice accumulates on the airfield and landside. They tend to the affected, icy area by applying a de-icing chemical known as E 36. Our teams can’t prevent ice from accumulating on the runways or other surfaces; their job is to quickly respond to the ice once it starts to accumulate.

Ice that accumulates on the runways and taxiways as well as ice that accumulates on the airplanes need to be addressed as soon as it occurs, otherwise, it could be dangerous. It’s worth mentioning that the airport is only responsible for de-icing the airfield (runways and taxiways) and roadways, while the airlines are responsible for de-icing the aircraft with their own de-icing chemicals and equipment that they store on-site. AUS is also responsible for applying “Dolomite,” which is a carbon-based mineral anti-icing agent, and sand to roadways and elevated surfaces to create traction and reduce slipping.

Our airport deploys two, very large liquid dispensing trucks to areas (designated by priority, with the runway at the top) to apply a de-icing chemical E 36. The amount of de-icing chemical depends on the severity of the ice accumulation, but typically, hundreds of gallons are applied to the area and that application process is repeated. We hope it gives you great relief to know that our teams have enough de-icing chemicals for the next few years – and since the chemical itself doesn’t have a shelf life and won’t freeze, it’s easy to get a lot of it, store it and then apply it whenever and wherever it’s needed.

As our Maintenance teams are applying the de-icing chemical, our Environmental Affairs team is keeping a close eye on the application of the E 36 to make sure excess fluid is handled properly and to flag for the Maintenance teams if too much E 36 is being used.

In the unlikely, but not impossible, event that our airport receives snow, we have snow removal equipment to plow and remove snow from runways, taxiways, roadways, and more.

Icy conditions? We’re still flyin’ high

The most common question we get during winter weather events is understandably, “is the airport still open??” and the answer is more than likely going to be an emphatic “Yes!” paired with “…but check with your airline for the latest flight information”. Your airline is always going to have the most updated information regarding your flight’s status and how winter weather here in Austin, or in other parts of their route network, may change your flight schedule.

Now that you know what goes on behind the scenes and how our teams prep and respond to ice (and even the rare, uncharacteristic Central Texas snow), we hope you can rest easily knowing that there is a team of hardworking airport professionals working around the clock to keep our airport infrastructure open and ready for you, your airline and your flight.