SALT LAKE CITY — As early winter storms batter the mountains in Utah, Salt Lake City International Airport also deals with the elements.
While Delta Air Lines has its own deicing service, Integrated Deicing Services handles all the other planes that use the airport, including private and military aircraft.
“Deicing is one of the key components of aviation, it needs to be here,” said Randy Hubbell, General Manager of Integrated Deicing Services. “Without it, you don’t have the lift of the aircraft, the aircraft can’t fly.”
Hubbell has been working in aviation for more than four decades and has been working out of the Salt Lake City airport for roughly eight years.
“Our real crunch time is generally mid-December until President’s Day weekend, usually the end of February, it’s every day,” said Hubbell, who mentioned they spray as early as September and even had to deice in the summer months this past year. He’s anticipating an extremely busy weekend as the NBA All-Star Game takes over Salt Lake City in February.
On Wednesday, as inclement weather moved through the area, the company deiced a dozen planes in the morning.
“We use two different types of fluid, we use what’s called a Type 1 deice fluid and a Type 4 anti-ice fluid,” said Hubbell, while mentioning their one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art facility.
The Type 1 is used to get contaminants off the aircraft. The Type 4 is used if it’s actively snowing or precipitating. They also use ‘air spray’ if there’s a blanket of fluffy snow on the aircraft.
While the emphasis is on safety for pilots and passengers, the deicing process also takes a few extra minutes before take-off.
“For the most part it adds, on a frost day, 10-to-15 minutes extra,” said Hubbell, who notes that most carriers factor in deicing time to their schedules. Hubbell also notes that they’re currently hiring for positions within the SLC team.
“Without this, I don’t think planes will take off and pilots wouldn’t feel safe flying,” said Kenyon Jones, a lead deicer with Integrated Deicing Services. “There’s a UPS pilot every morning he gets deiced, and I think he has every reason to, I think it makes you feel safe.”
