Two of the largest international airports in Canada – Calgary and Montreal – rely on MB and Schmidt snow clearing equipment. Before putting their trust in these machines, operations directors at both airports thoroughly evaluated their needs and performed in-depth testing to determine if our multi-tasking snow removal equipment could tackle their challenging winter weather events. We caught up with the operators to understand whether the units proved themselves in practice and what they would like to see in the future.

With an average snowfall of 145 and 83 inches respectively, Calgary and Montreal Trudeau International Airports each serve 17-20 million passengers a year. It is obvious that requirements for snow and ice clearing at such airports are high. Effective and efficient sum up runway and taxiway clearing needs, but at maximum levels. Snow clearing operations are timed to the minute during snow events to eliminate snow build up before wheels down or takeoff. Using equipment that performs multiple functions – plowing and sweeping – drives efficiency, while helping to decrease costs and environmental emissions through only one operator and piece of equipment, instead of two.

Schmidt TJS-C Towed Jet Sweeper at Montréal-Trudeau International Airport

Since 2020, both airports have been using Schmidt TJS jet sweepers in addition to MB multi-tasking snow removal equipment, which make up the backbone of the fleet. When asked if everything has gone smoothly since the introduction of the Schmidt machines, the operators’ answers were simply: yes. Both winter maintenance teams are satisfied with the equipment – both in functionality and their optimized metrics. Operations efficiency in runway snow clearing is directly tied to airport and airline reliability ratings.

With their new fleets, both Calgary and Montreal have moved from loose combinations of different equipment to largely integrated solutions. Calgary’s initial decision to rent a TJS for a year prior to buying has proven to be a successful approach to ensuring the airport chose the right equipment and the right solution – one that can be adapted or expanded at any time. Looking to the future, the operators are interested in fully electric runway clearing equipment to get to zero emissions.

We are very much looking forward to our continued support of these two airports on their path to optimized operations, and we thank them for the trust they have placed in our equipment and our service.