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Winter preparations underway at Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport

Posted at 12:52 PM, Sep 23, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-23 14:52:43-04

With winter right around the corner, Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport has been holding meetings with airlines, rental car companies, and others to get snow and ice plans ready.

The airport started preparing for winter in mid-July. Airport crews are preparing the equipment that helps to clear the runway, taxiway, and tarmac in bad weather.

The airlines are responsible for deicing aircraft before takeoff. Passengers can expect some delays when their plane is getting deiced, but the length of the delay will depend on the type of cold weather that is happening at the airport.

“When it’s warmer — and when I say warmer, about 15 to 30 degrees — with heavy snow falling and wet content, it’s a little more difficult for the airlines to clean the aircraft, and then to apply a Type-Four fluid on the surfaces before takeoff. So it takes them a little more time to deice the aircraft than it would on a very cold day with a dry snowfall,” said Deputy Airport Director Scott Humphrey.

Regardless of winter weather, officials still recommend getting to the airport two hours early during the holidays and early flights.