Power failure in Italy
 

We have confirmed reports of a total power failure in Italy. ATS unaffected for the time being. Are there any Pprooners with information about ground handling or any other problems which will inevitably arise?

Power Failures repercutions ...
 

I work on the ground operations in Montreal-Dorval Intl'(CYUL), Canada.

There is a lot of aspects to look at when considering ground operations dependence on electricity.

- Of course ATC and aircraft movements (mainly at night) can be impaired. But ATSs do have a ways to deal with this.

- Ramp crew (luggage/cargo) don't really need electrical since they work outside with equipement that don't require electrical power. (lugguage room do need power for the conveyor belts though)

-Cabin crew(grooming) : Now they need light ! They need electricity for the vaccum cleaners. But this is all provided by the aircraft's APU, or a GPU (ground power unit) so they arent vulnerable to power failures.

- Where this would cause a bigger mess is on the computer systems used by the ticketing agents. They would become completely inop. and unable to register pax.

- Operations office also use computers for determine and print W&B, Wx data etc for the pilots.

But realisticly speacking, big airports don't loose electricity! Never seen that kind of situation in CYUL yet ;)

Hope it could help