As winter approaches in the Northern Hemisphere, airlines are wheeling their de-icing equipment out of storage, typically a heavy truck with a large tank and boom-mounted cannon that sprays ice-melting glycol onto an aircraft’s wings and upper fuselage.
What’s been a routine process for decades can add half an hour or more to an aircraft’s preparation for takeoff — a costly nuisance when quick turnarounds on the tarmac at congested airports are key. Last year in December, Southwest Airlines Co. suffered severe travel disruptions during a massive winter storm, in part because it couldn’t keep up with de-icing its jets. Read
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