The Cost of Snow Removal at Harrisburg International Airport

This cold and icy winter has been hard on all of us. With six major storms hitting the Central Pennsylvania region within the last month and a half, Harrisburg International Airport employees work hard to keep the ground clear for take off and landing.

 While most of us are thinking about swimming pools and jet-setting away from the region in the warm summer months, for the maintenance and operations crews at MDT it is strictly Christmas in July. This is when intensive planning stages begin for the coordination of plowing routes on the airfield and terminal roads, getting the essential winter vehicles prepped, and training drills take place.



Crews battle the snow and ice

And when the colder months and precipitation come, crews are ready to take on Jack Frost. To stay on top of the forecast, airport maintenance subscribes to Accuweather as well as checks with other weather sources to determine the incoming storm. Unlike highway road crews, HIA’s crews are called in before the snow hits, which means no build up on the runways or the public access ways.

Assistant Supervisor of Maintenance Mark Hake takes pride in his dedicated group of employees who take care of the terminal road ways and parking garages. Even when the team is not on airport grounds, they are always a call away. In the event of a storm, the crews begin the continuous process of plowing, brooming, and de-icing the grounds to ensure passengers can make their flights.

On the other side of the terminal, Airfield Maintenance Supervisor Shawn Losing and his men work hard to make sure airplanes continue to travel to and from the airport. In his experience with the airport, HIA closed because of weather only one time. A direct reflection of the dedication his team of 16 workers possesses, which lets the airport continue to operate in hazardous conditions. It is not uncommon for both Losing and Hake’s teams to sacrifice time with their families or even holidays to shack up in the bunk room at the airport for a 24-hour storm.

Plowing the runway one full length and one full width is the equivalent of plowing 31.5 miles of a single lane road. Using a variety of different sized plows and trucks with brooms, totaling at 20 different vehicles, and burning through an average of $190,000 of airport-safe chemicals and sand to help manage the snow, treating the airport passageways becomes possible. Also unlike regular highway crews, the airport does not use rock salt because it is too damaging to the airplanes.

The Operations Department works in conjunction with Airfield Maintenance to test the conditions of the ground. Using a machine called a Bomonk AFM, they are able to test the friction of the surface of the pavement to make sure each airline’s requirements for landing are met.

While conditions in the winter months at HIA are cold and blustery, it is evident that there is a warm camaraderie and a high level of dedication burning inside each of these employees. At the end of the storm, when crews are finally able to rest, they are left with a keen sense of pride and a job well done.

Guest Blog: 7 tips for making healthier food choices when you travel

Today guest blogger Barbara Searles, CMT, NCTMB, HHC, AADP, a Holistic Health Coach and Nationally Certified Massage Therapist shares healthy eating tips for road warriors! Her practice, Bodyworks Integrative Health, LLC is just outside Lancaster, PA.  Find her on Facebook or Twitter too!

She enjoys travel by car and by air, and spends about three weeks out of every year on some kind of trip. Her most adventurous travel so far involved serving as team massage therapist for a 4-person team competing in the ultra-distance, cross-country bicycling adventure called Race Across America.

Lots of us use routine and discipline as key elements in our effort to stay healthy. But when we start a trip, all of our usual routines can go out the window. Discipline is easy when you have control of your environment, but travel generally puts us out of control and into unknown territory.
What can you do to stay as healthy as possible given these factors? Here are seven simple tips to incorporate into your trips:

1.     Try not to use the trip as one giant “treat meal.”
I remember when a weekend trip was my opportunity to “cheat” for 2-3 days. I also remember when it was easy to recover from that trip … it’s not so easy now.  There’s a lot to be said for keeping a degree of discipline while you travel. How much discipline is up to you, but it can make you feel more “at home” in unfamiliar places.

2.     In airports, find a quiet(er) place to eat.
Make the experience as much like a regular meal as airports are so full of busyness and constant noise and movement. Eating in this type of environment can often make us eat extremely quickly, which results in overeating or digestive issues. Since neither of those things are comfortable during a trip, try to find a quiet (or at least quieter) spot for your meal. Get your food to go, and walk all the way to the end of the concourse. You’ll get some space plus a few extra steps of exercise. Find the least busy restaurant (which sometimes is the one with healthier choices!) and eat there. Sit at a table as far away from the edge of foot traffic as possible. Remember to breathe and to chew your food.

3.     Make water your main beverage for air/car/train travel.
Plain bottled water has so many benefits for our bodies. No calories, no sodium and just pure hydration. It supports healthy digestion and fills us up so we snack less. Stick to water during your travel days instead of soda, alcohol or juice.

4.     Look for fruit & vegetables
A lot of fast food stops are offering fruits and vegetables as a part of their menu selection. Pick up a banana or an apple in the airport terminal to replace the snacks on the plane. Or choose a salad with limited cheese, fried toppings, and dressing – focus on the vegetables in the salad instead.

5.     Think about and plan ahead for the entire day’s meals.
Whether you’re traveling or have reached your destination, make your meal and snack choices mindfully. If breakfast is the only meal where you’ll be able to choose the source, then choose the healthier options for breakfast. If every meal choice is up to you, then enjoy some new and healthy options in your travel location. (see tip number 6)

6.     Use available online and smart phone apps to get review & suggestions that lead you to healthier choices.
When I was a kid, we always took a guidebook from AAA on our vacations. We used the book to find things to do, but also restaurant choices. It’s pretty wonderful when you imagine how far we’ve come from that static information! There are so many fantastic resources to find healthy quality food choices on the road. In airports, I like GateGuru. In a new city, I use Yelp almost exclusively when choosing restaurants. The reviews from real people are an incredibly helpful resource.

7.     Pack one small bar of decadent delicious dark chocolate and use it as you sweet treats – for the entire trip!
For me, sweets are the ongoing temptation. Now before I travel, I pack a bar of fantastic dark chocolate in my bag. After choosing to skip all the overly indulgent sweets during the day, I will often treat myself to just one square of that dark chocolate at the end of the day. I find it helps me when I aim for “healthier” instead of “perfect” while traveling.

Do you practice good eating while traveling?  What lengths do you go to, to make sure your diet is consistent when you're on the road, in the air, or on the rails?

Spring into Fundraising!

Daffodil Days is coming to MDT! With the spring months approaching and warmer weather finally making its way to Harrisburg, the airport will be participating in The American Cancer Society Daffodil Days program. The official first flower of season, the ACS sells daffodils to give hope to people fighting cancer. This annual event is your chance to spring into action and raise awareness and funds.

Liv N. Hope

Check out the list of products for purchase through HIA:


Bunches, $10
The original, a bunch of daffodils


Potted Mini Daffodils, $12
This is a mini potted daffodil plant with 3-4 bulbs inside a 4 inch foil wrapped pot.

Vase & a Bunch, $15
This is a blue etched vase that comes with a bunch of daffodils.

Liv N. Hope, $25
Liv N. Hope is a 10 inch Boyds bear; along with the bear you will receive a bunch of daffodils

Gift of Hope, $25
Gift of Hope is an amazing donation. This allows you to purchase a bunch of daffodils, which will be anonymously delivered to cancer patients in hospitals, treatment centers, and other facilities in the community.


Project Care, $25
Project Care is a donation for a child. This will give a special Boyds bear to a child in a local oncology units, also delivered anonymously.



To order one or more of these items please place an order with Heather Blake, Human Resources and Finance Administrator, by emailing HBlake@SARAA.org by February 25, 2011.

Bunches of daffodils and donation cards for a Wall of Hope will be sold on the second floor of the terminal Thursday, March 17, and Friday, March 18.


The money raised through Daffodil Days will make a difference in many people’s lives. Your support allows the American Cancer Society to save lives, continue research, and fight back against cancer.

HIA Discovers Local Students' "Dream Destinations"

When Milton Hershey, the man known worldwide as the creator of the Hershey’s Chocolate Bar, passed away; he did something very sweet. Founded in 1909, Hershey and his wife Catherine began the Milton Hershey School by donating 100 percent of their fortune to underprivileged children. The school, originally created for orphaned boys, is now home to more than 1,800 boys and girls from families in need.


Harrisburg International Airport recently partnered with the Milton Hershey School to create the “Dream Destinations” project. Fueling the students’ creative engines, boys and girls from the kindergarten through fourth grade drew pictures of themselves at a place they wish to one day visit. Each with a different dream location in mind, the students depicted a variety of vacation spots from the magical Disney World in Orlando, FL, and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, CA, to the Egyptian Pyramids and the Parisian Eiffel Tower.


Thirty pieces of student artwork currently hang in the HIA terminal

Soaring above our expectations, we will proudly be displaying the “Dream Destinations” artwork on the first floor of the HIA terminal beginning today through May 18th. Please stop by to admire the students’ work and find out a little bit more about the Milton Hershey School as you’re traveling through our facilities.


The partnership between the airport and the Milton Hershey School represents the first of its kind for HIA. The goal of this effort is to share local school students’ creativity and enthusiasm for travel with the wider community that HIA serves. The airport looks forward to continuing this program for years to come with many schools (elementary through post-graduate) throughout the midstate region.


If you’d like to learn more about the Milton Hershey School’s students or ways you can work with The Milton Hershey School to open new doors for children in need, please visit http://www.mhskids.org/.

Fee free?

Yesterday we asked our facebook fans and twitter followers which part of the flying process (outside of the fare itself) would they like to see fee-free.  We received some very constructive feedback from everyone, of the 15 responses received, half of the respondents were frustrated with baggage fees and the other half were an assortment of suggestions related to change fees, parking rates, and the return of free meals and drinks.

Many of the respondents offered tips on how to avoid fees and we'd like to share a few of those with you:

• Know your airline's baggage weight limits and size restrictions.  These vary per airline, so for the airlines serving MDT we've compiled their baggage policies into one convenient quick links location for you.
• If you can travel with just your carry on, do so.
• Pack your own food or snacks in your carry on to avoid having to purchase snack packs or meals while in-flight.  Be sure to review the TSA's policies on what you can/cannot pack in your carry on!
• Purchase a beverage in the terminal once you've cleared the security checkpoint.
• As much as is within your control be certain that your scheduled travel dates actually work for you.  Not all extenuating circumstances can be planned for or know about in advance, but if you know your schedule is "iffy" wait until you have as many of the details worked out as possible before you book your trip.
• If you can buy (book) your airfare on a Tuesday as opposed to over the weekend, you're more likely to save money on the cost of the airfare.  Read this recent article from The Economist magazine for more insight on the best times to purchase a plane ticket.

In summation, our fans and followers find that the more prepared you are for your flight in advance (knowing your food, packing, and air travel needs ahead of time), the better. 

Do you have any travel tips and cost saving measures to add?  Do you think there's a better model for airline fee structures?

Go Red!

HIA employees turned the office red in support of National Wear Red Day.

When you think red in February what first comes to mind?  While many of us may associate this fiery hue with blushing roses and heart-shaped candy boxes for cupid’s favorite holiday, I would encourage you to think again.

The American Heart Association is promoting the Go Red For Women initiative. An effort to not only promote awareness of women’s struggles with heart disease, Go Red seeks to empower all Americans to actively fight back against this killer.

Today, supporters of this initiative were asked to rummage through their closet and wear their brightest, boldest red on National Wear Red Day to spread the word about this #1 killer of women. But don’t fret if you forgot to sport your crimson apparel during the work day, you can always show your passion with fashion tonight by wearing that little red dress or sharp dress shirt if you’re hitting the town.  And if you’re staying in wear your favorite cherry-colored pajamas while you lounge.

If you’d like to do more than just wear red, be red by joining The American Heart Association’s effort to “Tell 5 Friends” about the disease that’s taking the life of 1 in 3 women.

If you like what The American Heart Assocation is doing, you can ‘like’ the non-profit on Facebook, watch their videos on YouTube, or learn more by visiting the Go Red For Women website. 

By taking this one simple step today, we can work together to strengthen America’s hearts tomorrow.