Pangborn Keeps Runway Clear through Major February Snow Events

Information and photo courtesy of Pangborn Memorial Airport 

From February 8th to February 14th, the Pacific Northwest was impacted by a series of winter storms. These storms brought heavy snow across the state, causing significant impacts on regional travel by land and air. For example, the two major highway connections through the Washington Cascades, I-90 and US Highway 2, were both closed for extended periods during these snow events. During this time, Pangborn did have flight cancellations, but none were due to the condition of the runway.

Airport Governing Board President and Port of Douglas County Commissioner Jim Huffman stated, “It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of Pangborn staff that throughout this series of storms that brought a total of more than 15 inches of snow to Pangborn, no flights were lost due to runway conditions at Pangborn.”

Throughout the snowstorm cycle, a total of 12 flights between Pangborn and SeaTac were cancelled. Ten flights were cancelled due to weather conditions in Seattle and two were due to low visibility at Pangborn.

This remarkable record of reliability during a series of major storms was due to several factors:

  • Dedicated, hard-working Pangborn staff;
  • Recent Airport governing board investments in updated and more efficient snow-removal equipment;
  • Strong support by Horizon Air to avoid cancellations whenever possible. This included dispatching an empty aircraft from Portland to insure an early morning Pangborn departure was not cancelled when the midnight arrival the night before had been cancelled.

Pangborn Airport Governing Board Vice-President and Chelan County Port Commissioner JC Baldwin said, “We appreciate Horizon’s support during this very challenging time for air operations in the northwest. They literally went many extra miles to serve their Wenatchee Valley passengers.”

“I am very proud of the hundreds of hours the Pangborn crew worked to keep the runway clear during these 7 days,” stated Pangborn Airport Director, Trent Moyers.

Please contact Trent Moyers, Pangborn Memorial Airport Director, at 509-884-2494, for additional information.