Arctic weather prompts airline criticism

Bags packed, passengers arrive at the airport to find delays, cancellations and fraying tempers. As western Europe shivers in the snow, just getting to the airport is a struggle; delays only add to the misery.

There are planes grounded across the continent, in France, in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain. And people are increasingly asking why can’t the airlines or the airports get planes off the ground when it snows?

Well it’s not that simple, as former Air France pilot Gerard Feldzer explains:

“First, we must de-ice the plane, because it’s terribly dangerous to fly with ice or snow on the wings or fuselage.”

And that’s a lengthy operation: the planes must be moved to special de-icing bays, where they’re sprayed with Glycol and hot water. It takes about eight minutes per plane and, given the number of aircraft, that means long delays.

“Then, there are about three million square metres of runways and taxi-ways at a main airport, and it takes time to clear all that tarmac,” said Feldzer. “If it keeps snowing, they need clearing about every 30 minutes. People say they do it in Canada or other snowy places but Europe is normally nothing like Canada.”

De-icing operations for planes are the same in Europe as they are in Canada, Russia or Scandinavia. But it’s different for the runways: European airports don’t have as many snowploughs or anti-icing gear because the weather we’re seeing now normally happens only once in a lifetime.

“Let’s be clear: if we invest more money in winter resilience, that means less money to invest in other things,” said British Transport Secretary Philip Hammond. “So, it is all about priorities and we need to do this in a cool, calm rational way. Because, of course, when you’re stranded by snow and ice, or grounded by a closed airport the reaction is we must spend whatever it takes! But, actually, investment decisions have to be made on a properly-costed basis, looking at the benefits that they would bring, and how lijely the events we’re talking about are to happen again in the future.”

One last thing: European airports and airlines put a heavy price on passenger safety. But in Russia, for example, the priority is getting the planes off the ground. Passengers there fly at their own risk.

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