NewsLocal News

Actions

KCI cancels & delays flights due to ice storm

Posted at 6:32 PM, Feb 20, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-20 19:31:53-05

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Brandon Hofmann spent most of his day inside KCI, waiting for his flight.

“I'm from Arizona, so I never had a flight delayed because usually, we don't have weather like this so this is the first for me,” Hofmann said. 

He’s one of several passengers who saw the signs in the airport showing delayed and canceled flights.

“This is my second time out today,” Tom Lackford said. “My flights were canceled this morning. We went back home and came back and, so, trying to get to Florida.”

Throughout the morning, airport crews worked on treating the planes and runways.

“We used deicing chemical,” KCI spokesman Joe McBride said. “We cannot use salt on the airfield because it will corrode the aluminums.”

Crews did work ahead of the storm, but as more freezing rain came in quickly, it started washing away the material. 

“So they put some more down, also used these large rotary brooms. That brooms it out and shoots it out of there, so we had a lot of slush to deal with,” McBride said.

Twenty-six departures and 26 arrivals were canceled because of the icy conditions. 

“There were cancellations in advance to the storms. Some of the airlines saw the storms were coming in and didn't even send any aircrafts in because they didn't feel like getting caked in ice,” McBride said. 

Just getting to the airport was another issue for passengers. 

“It was very slippery. We were sliding all off the roads and saw several cars who had gone off the banks,” one KCI passenger said. 

“You know, as long as you're behind a snow plow, it's pretty good. Otherwise, it's scary and it's slippery, and the slush really scares you because it comes up under the car and makes a lot of noise,” Lankford said. 

Hofmann, who is heading to Boston, said he’ll be making use of his time.

“Working and probably catching up on some shows,” he said.

For a look at flights, check out flykci.com

---