BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — The forecast may not be calling for frost or snow just yet, but Delta Airlines is preparing for it.
Every summer, hundreds of Delta agents from across the country come to Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport to train on how to de-ice airplanes.
"It's kind of the everyday thing for us... some of the other stations don't get as much experience as we do so we're lucky in that aspect. We can practice it quite a bit," said Chris Cass, certified de-ice instructor for Delta Airlines at MSP Airport.
Cass is one of the people training the trainers during Delta's Summer De-Ice Boot Camp. On Wednesday, Delta gave media a behind-the-scenes look at how they de-ice planes.
More than 400 Delta agents participate in boot camp from MSP Airport in either July, August or September. The three-day program includes computer training, instructor courses and hands-on experience.
Those agents then travel home and train their teams. About 6,000 agents were trained systemwide last year to de-ice, an annual requirement. At MSP Airport, about 250 agents de-ice Delta's mainline fleet.
Last winter, Delta de-iced more than 30,000 airplanes systemwide. MSP Airport was responsible for 13,000 of those.
"Really proud of the Minneapolis team. They do a fantastic job," said Jeannine Ashworth, Delta's vice president of operations at MSP. "We're the gold standard for de-icing here and it's important to us to make sure that we do our best to prepare the rest of the system for de-icing."
The process involves using de-icing trucks equipped with tanks containing a de-icing fluid that then gets sprayed on the aircraft. Delta uses Type I de-ice fluid and Type IV de-icing fluid. Type I is propylene glycol, combined with other chemicals.
"We heat the fluid up to 180 degrees, spray it on the aircraft," explained Cass. "That melts everything off and then if it's still snowing, we'll apply a second layer of Type IV propylene glycol and that is what keeps anything from adhering to the airplane."
Depending on the size of the plane and the weather, Cass said de-icing can take anywhere from two minutes to half an hour.
On an average frost day, MSP uses approximately 2,000 gallons of de-icing fluid. On a snowy day, it could be 40,000 to 50,000 gallons.
During training, they use water.
As far as training in the summer, Ashworth said, "It's what we have to do to prepare for the heavy winter. Some stations start de-icing early in October... others maybe not. They may take them awhile but it's better that we start in the summer."
"We do all this training... behind all of it is just so we can effectively keep our people safe; keep our planes safe," said Jordan Woodfield, a Delta de-ice coordinator at Salt Lake City International Airport. "De-icing is all about removing contaminants... those planes aren't going to get the lift they need to take off safely if there's contaminants left so that's where we come in and we take pride in doing it safely and quickly."
MSP Airport has hosted Delta's Summer De-Ice Boot Camp for the past 15 years.
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