For 13 years I worked for Airport Operations, overseeing the runways and taxiways for a medium size airport in the midwest. Without a doubt, the most difficult task the airport personnel have is snow removal. It's not just plowing the runways and taxiways. Advisories, known as Notams, must be issued showing the current snow condition of the runways and taxiways, how deep the snow is, whether it is frozen, blowing or slush, how wide the plowed areas are, and a test on the friction of the runway. With snow and high winds the conditions change by the minute and snow crews have to keep aware of everything. I have seen the crews plow a runway, have one aircraft land, and then have to go and re-plow the same runway to make it usable because of the blowing and drifting snow. Soon equipment starts to have maintenance problems and mechanics are needed. A good snow removal crew is worth their combined weight in gold. More than once I have bought our snow crews several dozen Krispy Kremes!!
Logistically, are we comparing apples to oranges in comparing Centennial to DIA?
Can staff be cross trained for snow removal ?
It seems that some opportunities exist to train inactive staff to operate the less complicated equipment ( with proper training in advance ) during such an event ?