Dec. 27—Since 1926, when airplanes began taking off and landing at Buffalo Niagara International Airport, nobody can ever recall a snowstorm that shut down the Cheektowaga facility for a sustained period.
Until the Christmas Blizzard of 2022.
The airport is set to reopen Wednesday at 11 a.m. for the first time since record snows and ferocious winds forced its closure at 1:11 p.m. Friday. For an airport long recognized as one of the best — if not the best — facilities in the nation at battling winter, the closure seemed to acknowledge that even Buffalo Airport's expert snow fighters could not keep pace with what they faced over the weekend.
"In my tenure since 2005, we've been closed only for a few hours at a time, here and there," said Lee Weitz, director of aviation for the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority. "This is, by far, the most we've ever had to close."
Indeed, Buffalo Airport's airfield crew has been recognized seven times over the past two decades as the nation's best snow fighters, and the airport hosts an annual symposium for teams from all over the world to showcase the latest techniques for maintaining facilities in winter weather. Last year, the airport equipped its 25-person crew with a fleet of new snowplows costing $870,000 each — considered the ultimate in keeping the runways to the Federal Aviation Administration standard of "no worse than wet."
Joe Guarino, airfield superintendent, noted he has experienced many fierce storms, including blizzards during his tenure at Boston's Logan International Airport. Nothing has ever compared to his experience of the past few days.
"It was the worst event I have ever had to deal with during my 40 years-plus in this business," he said Tuesday. "It was just relentless. It never stopped. It just wore you out."
Guarino said the storm produced instant zero-visibility, wind chills of minus 20 degrees and gusts up to 72 mph.
"As soon as it hit, for safety reasons, we had to call in the crews," he said. "Heaters in my truck couldn't even keep up with the cold — there was 2 inches of ice on the windshield. It was that bad."
Guarino's crews finally were able to dig out three pieces of equipment buried in 10-foot deep drifts after three days.
"You can't understand what it was like unless you were here," he said Tuesday. "I hope I never see anything like this again in my lifetime."
Guarino credits his staff with saving the lives of several motorists stuck in the snow near the airfield and transported into the crew's facilities.
"They risked their lives to bring in about 50 people from Aero Drive," he said. "They were in harm's way, big time, and my guys volunteered to go out there and get them."
Weitz noted even the nation's best airfield crew equipped with the latest equipment could not keep up with more than 50 inches of snow and winds approaching hurricane force.
"It just created too many problems of visibility, drifting and getting through that hard packed snow," he said. "The amount of snow just took over."
Robert A. Stone, general manager of Niagara Falls International Airport and part of NFTA airport management since 1969, noted that even during the Blizzard of '77, the then- Greater Buffalo International Airport remained open — even if airlines chose not to fly in or out.
"I was at the airport for a whole week with one set of clothes," he recalled Tuesday of his days as assistant manager at Buffalo. "We brought in cots, SportService fed everybody, and we were like a city in itself. But we never closed."
But as with most comparisons to the snowstorm holding all the previous records, 1977 now appears eclipsed. Since Friday afternoon, the airport has sheltered more than 200 stranded people — some rescued from surrounding areas by transit police and airport firefighters. Delaware North personnel fed all of those stuck in the terminal for free throughout the ordeal, Weitz said, using their Anchor Bar restaurant to cook meals. Airport officials meanwhile, set up cots, mats and blankets.
"So, everybody got a place to sleep," Weitz said, noting only six travelers were left stranded at the airport Tuesday afternoon.
Weitz said travelers arriving at the airport Wednesday can expect some concessions to be operating, as well as TSA inspection facilities. Preferred and long term parking lots will be open, though economy will be closed. He also advises travelers to check with their airlines for flight status.
Guarino, meanwhile, said his crews are still plowing runways to meet the 11 a.m. opening goal on Wednesday.
"We've still got a lot of work to do," he said, "but we're going to make that opening at 11 o'clock."
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