Quad Cities International Airport Crews Work To Maintain Grounds All Summer Long

Aug. 23—Summer may be the busiest time for passengers inside the airport, but maintenance crews are hard at work outside.

At the Quad Cities International Airport in Moline, Airport Maintenance Supervisor Mike Hixson said his team has about 40 different pieces of mowing equipment it uses every summer. Preparation for the summer mowing period begins in March with oil changes, blade sharpening and engine tests.

The maintenance team has about 2,400 acres of field to maintain at the airport. The grass must be kept between 5 and 8 inches to align with the regulations set out by the Federal Aviation Association (FAA).

"Anything taller, animals will habitat the airfield. Anything shorter, it's birds," Hixson said. "Birds and planes don't mix, so we try to keep it about 5 inches tall."

The airport has a wildlife management program that includes the public safety officers and operations department.

"If the guys are out there and they see a lot of birds in a certain area, they need to call dispatch and let them know," he said, adding that if multiple bird strikes happen, the personnel hold a meeting to determine a new safety plan.

Especially in the fall, birds become a concern because they are migrating south and tend to stop near the airport. Given the landscape, the airport grounds provide a likely space for birds to land.

"You can't put the fences all the way to the sky, you're not going to keep them out of here," he said. "We have two rivers here, flat ground. We just do what we can."

The public safety team will drive around the airport grounds to check for holes in the fences to ensure no other wildlife can get in. Rocks are piled up on the fence line to help prevent this.

In the event a large flock of birds is identified, personnel will use pop guns to scare them away from the area for the bird's own safety. According to the FAA, there were 17,000 bird strikes at 693 airports in 2022. Data shows planes at the Quad-Cities airport hit about 25 birds between Aug. 1, 2022 and Aug. 1, 2023.

Hixson said in the event of a strike, the remains of the bird must be bagged and sent off to the USDA for identification. Strikes at the Quad Cities airport are traditionally minor, but there have been instances where engines need to be replaced.

Outside the airport fence are fields of trees. Hixson said maintenance has had to trim that area and other areas along the Rock River in the past if they notice a large concentration of animals.

The process of mowing the entire airfield takes about two weeks. Hixson said the airport typically has one person designated to the job and by the time the entire field is mowed, the process is ready to begin again.

"It's like a clock, it just keeps moving," he said.

About half-a-dozen seasonal workers are employed to help, and the same number are brought in for snow removal. Those who aren't maintaining the airfields have work to do on the runways, Hixson said.

Asphalt and concrete work have to be done between March and October, and the runways have to be painted every year, and that process starts in May.

"That's like a six-man job, and it's two-and-a-half months," he said. "It's everyday. It takes a while."

The airport has its own paint trucks it uses to complete the project and maintains all its own equipment. Between maintenance and operations vehicles, four mechanics maintain about 80 pieces of equipment year-round, he said.

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