How runways and planes are kept safe in winter at Toronto Pearson Airport in Mississauga | INsauga

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Toronto Pearson Airport in Mississauga has added significantly to its fleet of ice- and snow-clearing vehicles and machines as it prepares to keep the runways and aircraft safe this winter.

For starters, Canada’s biggest and busiest airport has more than tripled the number of de-icing trucks that’ll be available on the tarmac over the next four months or so to keep the ice off of departing aircraft.

Airport officials say Pearson’s centralized de-icing facility, the world’s largest, now has 46 de-icing trucks at its disposal, a noteworthy increase from the 14 trucks in place last winter.

As airport officials prepare for what they expect to be “the first real blast of winter in the GTA” on Wednesday, with five to 10 centimetres of snow in the forecast, they say they’re more than ready to meet the task — this week and in the months to come.

“With a full staffing complement, state-of-the-art equipment and investments in new infrastructure, we are ready to handle whatever Mother Nature brings this winter to provide a safe, seamless and smooth travel experience,” Pearson officials said in a recent online update. “Operating Canada’s busiest airport means proactively monitoring forecasts, reacting to changing conditions and being prepared to handle all types of weather 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“We’re ready to keep the runways clear so aircraft can land and take off safely during snow events.”

(Source: Toronto Pearson Airport)

The airport acquired new equipment over the summer and fall “to bolster our fleet and allow us to retire some of our older pieces of infrastructure,” officials added.

By the numbers, Pearson Airport lists the following among its 161 specialized snow removal vehicles and other pieces of equipment:

• 46 de-icing trucks (14 last year)
• 44 snow plows (40 last year)
• 15 snow blowers (12 last year)
• 14 front-end loaders
• 12 snow tractors (18 last year)
• 8 front-mounted sweepers (7 last year)
• 8 spray trucks
• 7 spreader trucks
• 4 Glycol (antifreeze) recovery vehicles
• 3 underwing de-icing units

Airport officials say 53 pieces of specialized equipment — 46 de-icing trucks, four Glycol (antifreeze) recovery vehicles, three underwing de-icers — comprise Pearson’s centralized de-icing facility, the largest at any airport around the globe.

“Our team de-iced around 15,000 aircraft last year,” airport officials said in a post to social media. “With an average de-icing time of four minutes, 30 seconds, our operation is designed so crews can communicate easily with pilots, equipment operators and air traffic controllers to make sure the aircraft are being serviced as quickly and safely as possible.”

Pearson’s snow-clearing abilities tested in 2022

Pearson officials say their snow-clearing crews must keep roughly five million square metres of runway, taxiway and apron clear of snow each winter so planes can move safely around the airport.

“That’s about the same size as 3,300 NHL rinks,” airport officials said in a social media post.

It wasn’t long ago that Pearson’s ability to keep the runways clear of snow and ice was severely tested.

Though last winter was relatively mild, Mississauga and numerous other areas in the GTA and southern Ontario were hit with a winter storm for the ages on Jan. 17, 2022.

That crippling snowstorm — and a follow-up storm a couple of days later — kept crews at Pearson working round-the-clock for most of the week trying to clear the runways in, at times, blizzard conditions.

Despite best efforts, and simply due to unsafe flying conditions, dozens of flights into and out of Pearson Airport were cancelled within a short period of time.

In total, Pearson and surrounding areas received anywhere from 33 centimetres to upwards of 40cm of snow on Jan. 17, 2022. The airport usually averages 40cm of snow per month.

The 45cm of snow dumped on many parts of Mississauga that day was the most the area has received in a single day since 1944, when the city was known as Toronto Township.

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