A BUYING GUIDE FOR AIRPORT OPERATIONS:
Weather Management Solutions for Airport Operations
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Severe weather impacts all aspects of airport operations, accounting for more than 70% of flight delays in the U.S., according to the FAA. Your job as an airport, airline, or fixed-based operator, is to maintain the safety of the public, operations crews, and airport facilities/assets while minimizing the impact of weather-related air travel delays. In this buying guide we will cover the following topics:
Analyze
First, we start with a little bit of research. You can’t implement a weather safety plan until you analyze your current situation. You can refer to the worksheet at the end of the downloadable guide to help inform and structure your analysis.
- Assets or exposures
- Activities and events
- Threats posed by weather variables
- Sanctioning body guidelines
- Evacuation and sheltering
Plan
The second step is drafting a practical, actionable plan. The stage includes three basic steps:
- Tracking your requirements
- Developing a plan of action
- Detailing an effective communication strategy
Implement
The final step is to implement your severe weather safety and continuity plan. Below is an implementation checklist to get you up and running:
- Identify and install technology or technologies to support your policies (part of your weather solution)
- Activate alerts for your established protocols (part of your weather solution)
- Communicate with external associations (if necessary)
- Educate all parties about threats and new weather safety protocol
- Communicate the chain of command
- Test, evaluate, and monitor
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Practice and drill your leadership team
Lightning Alert Siren & Strobe System
Increasingly, airports, airlines, and FBOs are deploying automated lightning siren and strobe systems for mass notification indoors and outdoors. These automatic systems take human error out of the weather management equation to improve safety and increase efficiency when responding to a weather event. Read more...
Real-Time Weather Map and Mobile App
A real-time weather map and mobile app combination enable you to plan for incoming weather events and keep at-risk stakeholders safe. Interactive weather maps visualize data in real-time with animated layers and storm “time of arrival” estimates to help you prepare for anything that comes your way. Read more...
Flood and Road Weather Alerts
Standing water on runways and roadways can bring airport operations to a halt. Similarly, ice on airport roads, runways, and equipment can create significant safety risks. Depending on your location, high water alerts, icy road alerts, or both might be crucial to keeping ground crews and the public safe. With the right monitoring system, airports can track live and developing conditions on runways and roadways to adjust and deploy assets accordingly. Read more...
Custom, On-Demand Forecasting Support
With on-demand support, you can get exactly the weather data you need to maintain maximum operational continuity as well as forge a partnership with a true expert. That means you have a powerful resource you can turn to when you need help interpreting a forecast, understanding incoming weather, or determining when it’s time to scale back operations or implement aspects of your severe weather plan. Read more...
Information Displays
Given the variety of people and roles at the airport, a single communication channel will never be sufficient to reach all your stakeholders in a timely manner. In addition to standard mobile alerts, centrally located Weather Displays are a fantastic tool for providing updates. Read more...
- Check with the National Weather Service
- Check customer reviews
- Make sure they support your A-P-I
- Do research and request proposals
- Evaluate top contenders