Ready for re-opening winter ops?

After a very difficult and strange 2020/21 season, winter operations must now get ready for another season where it is not easy to see just how much traffic is coming back and how many assets will be required.

People responsible for ground handling have been laid off during the pandemic, and lots of equipment has been sitting unused for a very long time. So just how many staff do you bring back, if you can even get them? And what do you need to do with equipment that has been unused for over a year?

You must re-visit your resilient winter plan.

After a very difficult and strange 2020/21 season, winter operations must now get ready for another season where it is not easy to see just how much traffic is coming back and how many assets will be required.

People responsible for ground handling have been laid off during the pandemic, and lots of equipment has been sitting unused for a very long time. So just how many staff do you bring back, if you can even get them? And what do you need to do with equipment that has been unused for over a year?

You must re-visit your resilient winter plan.

At Vestergaard Company, our service technicians have been going around servicing our de-icers with our customers as soon as travel restrictions let them get in. They have found bird nests and other “interesting” subjects on the de-icers, fluid that has been in the tanks for a very long time that needs to be dumped and moving parts that would not move.

Preparations for the upcoming winter operations season usually include securing the right equipment with reliability and efficiency to service all aircrafts and get aircraft and passengers flying on time, but this year the situation is more unusual than usual due to very low activity for a long time. Luckily, activity is now on the rise, but from our side, we can only recommend that you get started early with all your winter preparations and plan for the worst and hope for the best.