Business View Magazine | January 2020

175 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE JANUARY 2020 THE YAK IMA A I R TERMINAL -MCALL I STER F I ELD “About three weeks ago, we received two high- speed runway brooms from MB Companies at about $1.2 million,” Peterson notes. “And we acquired a high capacity snow blower last fall, which helped out a lot during the winter season, last year. So now we have a complete fleet of updated equipment – three high-speed runway brooms, a high capacity blower that removes 7,500 tons of snow per hour, and we have liquid de-icer, as well as four plows available, and a ramp plow. So, we are all set for the winter operations with a way to make sure that we can remove snow in time to maintain safety for Alaska Airlines flying in and out, as well as a lot of the cargo and corporate operations.” At Yakima, safety is an important consideration, year round. “We recently received a grant from the FAA for an Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) rig,” Peterson relates. “They have a contract with Oshkosh Airport Products – one of the leading representatives for developing these large aircraft rescue and firefighting apparatuses. helicopters, here, to respond to any type of wildfires in the valley, which is a value asset. They actually took one of McCormick’s corporate hangars, and they’re operating out of that, which displaces a variety of single engine aircraft out onto the ramp because we just didn’t have the space for them. Additionally, we’ve been contacted by Life Flight, which is an air ambulance organization to base a helicopter here. So, ultimately, we ran out of space and could not house their facility because they need dorm rooms and an operations center, as well as a hangar to keep the helicopter in. So, we are looking to build those hangars as fast as we can so that we can reach out to other interested parties and facilitate a long term lease, like with Life Flight. We already have Airlift Northwest here, but it’s good to have an additional helicopter here, just in case there’s any type of emergency response needed in the valley.” Meanwhile, the Airport has continued to gear up its snow operations for the winter season. High Capacity Snow Blower