"New De-Icing Plan Slows Hopkins"

Thursday, December 7, 2006

New De-Icing Plan Slows Hopkins
By Susan Vinella
The Cleveland (OH) Plain Dealer


The new de-icing system at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport failed
its first big test Tuesday during the city's first snowstorm of the season,
causing long delays for morning passengers.

Flights out of Cleveland were delayed as much as three hours because of the
problems, airline spokeswomen said. No one at Hopkins or with two of the
airport's major airlines - Continental and Southwest - would explain what
the problem was.

Under the de-icing system, completed earlier this year, all airplanes must
taxi out to a central area on a runway where trucks spray chemicals onto the
planes to remove ice. The chemicals are contained in the area.

Previously, each airline used its own trucks, which sprayed planes at the
gates.

A new system was mandated by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to
limit pollution of nearby waterways.

The city paid millions of dollars for the design of the de-icing system. The
airlines share the cost of paying a company to de-ice the planes.

Tuesday's delays had a domino effect, causing the cancellation of one
Southwest flight into Cleveland from Chicago and of several connecting
flights from Cleveland, a Southwest spokeswoman said.

Continental, which operates a hub in Cleveland, said 20 of its morning
flights were delayed, but no flights in or out of Hopkins were canceled
because of the de-icing problems.

But at least one Continental passenger never made it to his destination
because of the backup.

Dave Klugman of Bay Village said he boarded a 8:55 a.m. flight to
Jacksonville, Fla., for a lunch meeting. But because of a 2½-hour wait to
de-ice, he said, his plane had to return to the gate for refueling.

He then got off and went home because he would have never made it to his
meeting.

"It was a debacle," Klugman said.

Pat Smith, a spokeswoman from Hopkins, did not acknowledge long delays. She
said some delays resulted from a single de-icing truck breaking down. She
referred all other questions to the airlines.

Marilee McInnis of Southwest Airlines blamed "a bit of a learning curve" for
the delays. Mary Clark, a spokeswoman for Continental reported mechanical
problems with the de-icing, but could provide no details.

Last week, airport director Ricky Smith appeared before a City Council
committee for approval to pay an extra $456,000 for a redesign of the system
that was completed this fall.

Smith, who took over the airport in June, at first said the redesign was
needed to fix mistakes.

He later said the adjustments were requested by the airport to allow trucks
to de-ice planes more efficiently.

The committee did not approve the payment and asked the director to return
with more information before it could make a decision.

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