Airport Check-in: Snow wouldn't stand a chance at Denver
Roger Yu, USA TODAY, 8/13/2007 (excerpted)
After a severe pre-Christmas snowstorm last winter that shut its facilities down for two days, Denver International plans to spend about $31 million in the next 10 years to buy the latest in industrial snow-removal machines.
The plan follows an unusually snowy winter for Denver highlighted by the Dec. 20 storm that stranded nearly 5,000 passengers at the airport the first night. The city council must approve it.
The high-speed machines can simultaneously perform several tasks, such as plowing, sweeping and blowing. The airport plans to buy 37 units, and a few could be deployed later this year, says spokesman Chuck Cannon.
Albany International in New York and other airports in snow-heavy areas have bought similar machines.
Denver's plan calls for running several of the new machines side-by-side to clear runways in a single pass. It could cut down on the amount of time to clear a runway to about 15 minutes. The current method, which relies on conventional snow-removal trucks, takes up to 90 minutes, Cannon says.
Denver also plans to spend about $5 million to lease snow-melters to prevent snow from clogging the ramp areas between concourses. Each unit can melt 600 tons of snow an hour, or the equivalent of 40 to 60 dump trucks.
PHOENIX: Fliers can check bags elsewhere
Phoenix Sky Harbor is the latest airport to test the remote airline check-in service offered by Orlando-based Bags Inc. Guests at Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz., can check their baggage directly from the hotel lobby and receive their boarding pass for a fee of $10 per person.
A Bags Inc. employee delivers the luggage to the airport.
The service is offered in several other U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago and Orlando. In a statement, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon says the service may be expanded to include other hotels and resorts, the Phoenix Convention Center and Sky Harbor's rental car center.
MINNEAPOLIS: Closed runways could lead to delays
One of the four runways at Minneapolis-St. Paul International will close next week for two months, which could result in delays. The south runway, which will undergo reconstruction, is scheduled to reopen in mid-October.
The airport is hoping to keep the delays to only one to three minutes on average by using a rarely used runway west of the terminal. Now, it's normally used only during strong south winds and for large aircraft.