Report on the January 1999 Detroit Snowstorm

INTRODUCTION

In a January 5, 1999, letter, Member of Congress John D. Dingell requested the Secretary of Transportation to review the response of Northwest Airlines and the Wayne County Department of Airports to the January 2-3, 1999, snowstorm at Wayne County Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Northwest Airlines’ largest hub airport. Other Members of Congress made similar requests. Pursuant to these requests, and prompted by dozens of passenger complaints concerning extended ground delays on Northwest Airlines aircraft that weekend, which were lodged with the Department of Transportation’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division, the Secretary assembled a team of individuals from the Department to prepare this Report.

This Report examines what occurred at the airport on Saturday, January 2 and Sunday, January 3, why it occurred, and what measures Northwest Airlines and the Wayne County Department of Airports are taking to try to prevent the repetition of the serious customer service problems that arose that weekend, in particular, the stranding of hundreds of passengers on aircraft queued on taxiways for up to 8½ hours. The review team's numerous findings regarding the causes of these ground delays can be summarized as follows:

• Saturday's ground delays were largely a result of the decision by Northwest's operations planners in Minneapolis, who were responsible for dispatching aircraft to and from Detroit, to continue limited operations at Detroit well after other airlines had cancelled their flights for the day because of the snowstorm. As the storm worsened, flight departures were increasingly delayed because of rapid snow accumulation, drifting snow, and de-icing difficulties. When Northwest finally shut down its Detroit operations, a dozen of its aircraft were still waiting to take off and, at the height of the storm, were forced to make their way back to a terminal with limited gate availability.

• On Sunday, a lack of clear and coordinated communications between Northwest's operations planners in Minneapolis and Northwest's management in Detroit prevented the operations planners from realizing that Northwest's Detroit terminal could not accommodate even the limited number of arrivals scheduled for Sunday until it was too late to cancel or divert many of those arrivals. Northwest would likely have avoided or mitigated any backlog of aircraft waiting for gates had key Minneapolis and Detroit personnel reviewed major storm response issues in regularly scheduled conference calls on Saturday and Sunday.

• While Northwest's Detroit employees worked very hard in attempting to prepare the airport for Sunday operations, they were so preoccupied with "putting out fires" that they failed to recognize and communicate the overall severity and implications of the problems they faced throughout the day. Had Northwest had a snow emergency plan for Detroit that designated a person to oversee and assess the airline’s response to such severe snowstorms and communicate its progress to Minneapolis operations planners, then the planners would have received a more accurate assessment of that progress and would likely have implemented a more conservative Sunday arrival schedule.

• Both Northwest and the Wayne County Department of Airports could have improved snow removal and aircraft positioning efforts, and thus helped mitigate ground delays, through formal communications channels set up as part of a coordinated snow emergency plan and through a clearer understanding of their respective snow removal obligations.

• Northwest failed to anticipate the severity of the flight crew shortage at Detroit on Sunday. The shortage was caused by a number of factors, including difficulties in getting to the airport terminal and the overloading of the airline's various automated crew communication and scheduling systems. Without sufficient crews, Northwest could not launch enough aircraft from Detroit to free sufficient gates to deplane passengers on incoming flights in a timely manner.

• Northwest's efforts to deplane stranded passengers were hindered by the lack of a contingency plan for the storm’s effects on gates and taxiways. Attempts to secure unused gates of other airlines were not well coordinated: although one airline, Continental, provided an unused gate for Northwest’s use, other airlines indicated that Northwest either did not ask them for use of their gates or, when it did ask, that their gates were occupied or about to be occupied. The lack of such a plan also contributed to Northwest's inability to deplane passengers with mobile or integrated aircraft stairs or to provide stranded aircraft with remote lavatory and catering services.

Northwest and the Wayne County Department of Airports have taken or are considering taking several remedial actions to try to prevent a repetition of the lengthy ground delays of January 2 and 3, 1999. These actions include the following:

• Preparation of an Irregular Operations Plan for Northwest's operations at Detroit.
• Revision of Northwest's operations planners' Winter Response Manual.
• Posting of a Wayne County Department of Airports operations specialist in the Northwest tower during snow removal operations.
• Implementation of various snow removal improvements by Northwest and the Wayne County Department of Airports.
• Drafting of arrival delay guidelines for Northwest flights.
• Designation by Northwest and the Wayne County Department of Airports of aircraft parking areas in the event of a snowstorm.
• Implementation of a number of improvements to Northwest's crew coordination and scheduling systems.
• Consideration by Northwest of procedures that would allow remote stair deplaning in certain circumstances.
• Greater awareness by Northwest management of the need to bring resources to bear in irregular situations such as snowstorms and the realization that Northwest’s "keep things moving" mission focus at times must be reevaluated.
• A letter of apology and a voucher for a free round trip ticket from Northwest for each passenger who experienced a ground delay of at least 2½ hours while in Detroit on January 2-4.

The Federal Aviation Administration has determined that neither the airport nor any air carrier serving Detroit violated Federal Aviation Regulations in their handling of the January 2-3 Detroit snowstorm. It is also important to note that even some of the angriest complaint letters received by the Department from passengers who experienced ground delays complimented the fine performance of Northwest's flight crews. However, notwithstanding the often exceptional efforts of those crews, conditions on many of the aircraft stranded on the airport’s taxiways were severe enough to have jeopardized passengers’ well being. These conditions included a shortage or complete lack of food, beverages, and water, and non-functioning lavatories. Conditions were particularly difficult for persons travelling with infants in need of formula or for persons with certain medical conditions. At least two individuals required emergency treatment by paramedics brought to the aircraft, and others were assisted by doctors already on board the aircraft. While these cases represented only a small percentage of the total number of passengers stranded by ground delays, they were serious and indicate that this event had important implications for passenger safety. Moreover, even if the well being of passengers had not been an issue, the review team believes that the stranding of passengers on aircraft queued on taxiways for up to 8½ hours invites more serious problems and is simply unacceptable. None of the other airlines serving Detroit experienced ground delays approaching the magnitude of Northwest's delays.

In understanding the events detailed in this Report, it is important to recognize the various roles and responsibilities that the Department of Transportation, the air carriers, and the airport have in handling major weather events like the January 2-3 Detroit snowstorm. The airport is responsible for the operating condition of the airport, including snow removal, and determines when a runway or taxiway must be closed. The Federal Aviation Administration, through its Air Traffic Control System, is responsible for the safe and efficient management of air traffic while aircraft are en route. While air carriers must always adhere to the Federal Aviation Regulations that are promulgated by the Federal Aviation Administration, as well as the rules of the particular airports, individual airlines are responsible for managing disruptions to their schedules at particular airports. The airlines decide what flights to operate and have exclusive responsibility for canceling specific flights.

The review team interviewed over 60 individuals in preparing this report, including passengers, Northwest Airlines managers and executives in Detroit and in Minneapolis, Wayne County Department of Airports managers and executives, and representatives of other airlines serving the Wayne County Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The review team also relied on Northwest Airlines’ and the Wayne County Department of Airports’ documents concerning the snowstorm. The review team benefited greatly from the work performed by the staff of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Great Lakes Regional Office in Chicago and the Minneapolis Flight Standards Certificate Management Office, both for their direct support of this report and for their input on relevant issues. The Department sincerely appreciates the time that all these individuals took to meet with the review team and discuss the snowstorm.

This report is divided into three Parts. Part I briefly describes the Wayne County Detroit Metropolitan Airport and Northwest Airlines’ operations there, Northwest Airlines’ operations planning organization at its Minneapolis headquarters, and then describes chronologically the January 2 Detroit snowstorm and its impact on the airport and on Northwest Airlines’ operations. Part II sets forth the review team’s findings concerning why the events at the Wayne County Detroit Metropolitan Airport unfolded the way they did. These findings are grouped into six subject-matter areas: (1) Northwest’s arrival and departure planning; (2) Northwest’s assessment of its preparations for Sunday’s operations; (3) Wayne County Detroit Metropolitan Airport’s and Northwest Airlines’ snow removal operations; (4) aircraft positioning; (5) Sunday ground and flight crew staffing levels; and (6) Northwest’s treatment of passengers stranded on its aircraft. Part III reviews the actions that Northwest Airlines and Wayne County Department of Airports have taken or are considering taking to prevent a repetition of the lengthy ground delays of January 2 and 3.

Report on the January 1999 Detroit Snowstorm
Part I ~ Part II ~ Part III ~ Appendices ~ Table of Contents