Delta adding de-icing trucks to fleet at Atlanta airport

ATLANTA — Delta Air Lines is adding more de-icing vehicles at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, in a move to ease flight delays and cancellations in the winter months.

Delta is adding 20 new de-ice trucks at the world’s busiest airport, where it operates its largest hub.

Although snow is rare in Atlanta, when a storm hits that requires planes to be sprayed with de-icing fluid to safely take off, it can disrupt flights and leave thousands of travelers stranded.

Delta typically operates more than 800 daily departures out of Hartsfield-Jackson in the winter. But during icy conditions when each plane needs to go through the procedure before departing, that can decrease significantly.

Last January, when a snowstorm hit Atlanta, icy conditions caused Delta to cancel 900 flights over two days. In the congested terminal, travelers hoping to get out waited in hours-long security lines.

The airline had 44 de-ice trucks, which lift workers in buckets into the air to spray down planes with neon green or orange glycol de-icing fluid. A large plane can be de-iced by four trucks at a time.

Delta “is prepared for de-icing from the fall through the spring,” said spokeswoman Lisa Hellerstedt. De-icing season has already started in Minneapolis and Denver.

At Hartsfield-Jackson, Delta has a core de-icing group of 12 workers, and another 570 ground workers are also trained for de-icing.