Snow business
Aircraft de-icing equipment is all owned by the handling companies, the airport has no involvement. At MAN it is Airline Services and Swissport (Servisair).
The media and twitterers whip up a frnzy every time transport is disrupted by snow/ice. They should pause a moment and think about what is involved - the considerable capital investment in equipment which is rarely used, and trying to stockpile materials to deal with unpredictable and very peaky demand. Do they want to pay for this in their ticket prices? Also, the manpower requirements. Over the Christmas holidays, despite fairly attractive call-out payments, most people who are not rostered on duty would prefer to be with their families and friends and therefore can't be relied upon to be available. This is the real world and we have to live with it. Stay at home and get your feet up - it's Christmas!
Last edited by roverman; 28th Dec 2014 at 16:31.
Reason: additional info