Race against the clock
to replace de-icing fluid
Airlines win scramble to beat cold
after vendor’s certification lapses
November 3, 2009
By Mike Rose
Most of us are familiar with the hit television show “24,” where agent Jack Bauer races against the clock to complete a mission and save the world. The stakes may not have been quite so high for Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, but they faced a similar countdown recently.
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The Eskimo on the tail of an Alaska jet has his face washed during deicing training in July. |
In late July, the two carriers learned they needed to replace their entire supply of de-icing fluid. Lyondell, Alaska Air Group’s supplier in the Lower 48 and Canada, notified AAG it had inadvertently let the certification for its fluid lapse and that it was now against federal regulations to use that fluid. As one of the largest suppliers, Lyondell contracts with many other airlines, as well.
Suddenly, Alaska, Horizon and other carriers were scrambling to discard the de-icing fluid they had, secure a new supplier and replenish their stock before the cold weather set in. Fortunately, Air Group was already rebidding its contract for de-icing fluid suppliers.
“We had been in talks with other suppliers about their pricing and service commitments. In fact, we had already narrowed down our choices to staying with Lyondell or going with Octagon, another supplier,” says James Padilla, Alaska’s director of strategic sourcing. “So, we were able to go forward with Octagon at a time when most other carriers were starting the process from scratch. I’ve talked to counterparts at other carriers and they’re way behind us.”
Deciding on a new supplier, however, was only half the battle. Alaska and Horizon still needed to replace all their fluid quickly and efficiently, lest a station experience a cold snap and be unable to de-ice its aircraft.
“In some of our cities, especially those at higher elevations, you can see morning frost just about any time, including August,” says Brad Wegner, Horizon’s system ground services equipment manager. “You never really know when you’re going to need de-icing fluid.”
Alaska and Horizon have 50 different stations in the Lower 48 and Canada with de-icing capabilities. For the sake of the replacement process, the 50 stations were separated into three groups:
- 24 high-priority stations with large operations (such as Seattle and Portland) or locations in colder areas, “where a snow event could shut down the operation if they don’t have de-icing fluid,” Padilla says.
- 12 secondary stations, mostly in California, with large operations but not necessarily a strong de-icing need. These stations have smaller storage tanks and totes.
- 14 other stations where Air Group contracts out its de-icing work, such as those in Canada. In these locations, the company worked with Lyondell and its other de-icing contractors to track the replacement of the fluid.
“In the high-priority and secondary stations, we coordinated with Lyondell to remove and clean out all the tanks and other storage containers, and then we scheduled times to bring in the replacement fluid,” Padilla says. “Luckily, the majority of the work was done in August and September, when, at worst, we only had to worry about morning frost.”
Brad Wegner headed up the team at Horizon.
“Brad did an outstanding job throughout all this,” says Dean DuVall, Alaska’s managing director of supply chain management. “He immediately took ownership on the Horizon end and became our go-to guy for whatever needed to happen. We really leaned on his knowledge of the Horizon stations and processes.”
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