AUSTIN, Texas — The winter weather affected travel across Central Texas on Tuesday, forcing those trying to fly in or out of Austin to change their plans.
Thankfully, there was not enough snow or ice to shut down operations at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
“We’ve kind of cordoned off some areas of the terminal where it is a little watery or slippery, but overall, we’re able to process people and get planes in and out,” Austin airport spokesperson Sam Haynes said. “That’s what it’s all about.”
It was all hands on deck for crews at the airport. They worked around the clock to keep the airfield clear of snow and ice so planes could take off and land. According to Haynes, more than 2,000 gallons of deicing chemicals were used for this event alone.
However, there are some concerns about the possibility of refreezing. Critical department crews plan to stay overnight Tuesday into Wednesday to ensure the airport remains operational.
“That’s something that we’re going to be keeping an eye out for and why we haven’t yet gone back to completely normal operations,” Haynes said. “They will be working around the clock to keep an eye on things like freezing spots that could pop up overnight, so we can really quickly address them, apply that deicing agent and get that surface back to being operational.”
The airport’s flight board showed a healthy amount of yellow and red on Tuesday as travelers dealt with delays and cancellations from almost every airline.
“On the airline side, they might be struggling with operations here or at other airports across the country,” Haynes said. “We’re just focusing on making sure that it’s not too slick for people to get around to the airport.”
Flight Aware showed more than 80 flights canceled at Austin’s airport on Tuesday with dozens more delayed. That includes Jean David Bizimana’s flight home to Nebraska.
“I wanted to celebrate my wife’s birthday … let’s go somewhere where it’s where it’s warm. Austin would be a perfect place since we have friends out here,” Bizimana said. “This is a very different experience from what I expected.”
Bizimana is no stranger to the cold and snow, but his drive to the airport Tuesday morning was dicey.
“I felt like I was gonna die, honestly,” Bizimana said. “It was very icy, and the car we were driving was swerving a bit here and there, but we made it.”
Their flight ended up being delayed for several hours, but he held out hope his flight would leave Tuesday night since he had to work Wednesday. But as they spent most of the day sitting with their luggage in the terminal, they also dealt with limited food options because they couldn’t check in or go through security yet.
“It’s not like we can get out of the airport and go somewhere else and maybe have some food or explore, especially considering the conditions outside,” Bizimana said. “It looks like our only option is to sit here. The good thing is we have our electronics and a place to charge them. There is Wi-Fi here. We’re going to try to find something to do to entertain ourselves so that we do not get bored.”
Travelers like Bizimana aren’t out of the woods yet. Officials said travelers could deal with cancellations and delays on Wednesday or other days later in the week.
“Any time there’s a large nationwide weather event or anything that disrupts airline schedules, it does tend to take a little bit of time for those airlines to get back to their normal operations,” Haynes said. “There could be some cascading effects, but we’re hopeful that by the time we get to the weekend, all the flight schedules will be back to normal.”
If you have a flight on Wednesday, you are encouraged to check with your airline for delays and cancellations before heading to the airport.