Dedicated crew at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport keeps runway open during snowfall
UNITY TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) — As soon as snowflakes started hitting the ground on Friday morning, a small but dedicated team at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport hit the airport's single runway in snow removal vehicles.
When asked what is so great about working at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, Dylan Kovatch, assistant operations supervisor for the Westmoreland County Aiport Authority, said, "It's the best place to work in the world. I mean, we always have fun and it's like a family."
This dedicated family of snow removers had their work cut out for them on this particular day, as snow at one point was coming down so steadily that it allowed for only a quarter of a mile of visibility.
"Safety is number one," said Kovatch. "And then getting our departures and arrivals in and out is the biggest priority. And doing that safely, obviously."
Kovatch drives a 2024 Oshkosh Snow Broom, the newest addition to the snow fleet at the airport. He says that with it and the other vehicles the airport has, crews can clean the 8,224-foot-long runway in 10 to 12 minutes. They can do the taxi ways in another five minutes.
But he says on a morning like this, they just have to keep making passes until the snow stops.
"You get a lot of snow. You might be out here for a long time," said Kovatch. "You get a little bit of snow, it's nice fun and easy and you can call it a day. But right now, I'd say, we are in the snow."
While the crews were working hard outside, back in the terminal, passengers were showing up for the daily non-stop Spirit Airlines flight that was getting ready to head out to Orlando, Florida, where the weather was sitting at a pleasant 65 degrees and sunny on Friday.
Everyone KDKA spoke with seemed to be ready to shake off the snow and cold and head to the Sunshine State. And thanks to people like Kovatch and his crew out braving the elements, all flights on Friday, both large and small, were able to take off and land safely.
