Airport employees certified in winter maintenance

The weather may be mild, but employees of Stephenville's Airport are staying up to date on winter weather maintenance.

Terry Townshend of Townshend Technical Services, a Toronto-based aviation company, spent time in Stephenville recently administering new winter maintenance training that will bring the airport's employees up to standard with Transport Canada regulations.

Over one week, employees completed courses and testing in general winter maintenance, runway condition reporting, and the use of chemicals and sand on runways.

Mr. Townshend explained it is important for airport employees to know the differences in how to use materials to de-ice the runway, for example.

"On the roads we use salt-based materials and they would corrode aircraft components, so we have to use special chemicals on the air side of the airport," he said.

"Those chemicals cost ten times as much as the chemicals we use on the roads so it's very important to use them correctly to ensure they meet specifications."

This was Mr. Townshend's first visit to Stephenville airport to administer the Transport Canada necessary training and he says he was impressed by what he saw in the facility.

"I think it's a tremendous facility that you have out here. Stephenville airport is a very well kept secret, unfortunately, but I think the rest of the world should know what a great airport you've got," he said.

"You have a very long runway here which can accommodate all sizes of traffic. That's a big, big advantage. It can be a great training facility and it's a gateway to Western NL. It's a wonderful facility and I think it should be promoted much more if that's possible."

Airport staff was given certificates upon completion of the course and the airport receives a letter from the company stating it has certified its personnel.

reporter@thegeorgian.ca