There was a lot of turmoil at our airports when I wrote this column in February. Early in the month, El Paso’s airspace was briefly shut down for what turned out to be a party balloon, and TSA was going through a partial shutdown…again. Later in the month, airlines had to suspend service in parts of Mexico due to civil unrest after government forces killed the leader of a major drug cartel. In the U.S., a historic blizzard caused mass flight cancellations in the Northeast, and passengers throughout the country were left to wonder whether Global Entry and TSA PreCheck were operating or suspended during a partisan standoff about funding for the Department of Homeland Security and procedures used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Fortunately, some good news also came across my desk around the same time. It was captured in two of our stories for this issue. What was somewhat surprising is that we originally had no idea that these “good news” details would be part of either story.

I’m referencing our coverage of winter operations at Waukesha County Airport-Crites Field (UES) on Page 18, and a story about use of hardstands at Salt Lake City Int’l Airport (SLC) on Page 28. The element these stories have in common is the need, discovery and purchase of used equipment. UES needed snowplows, blowers and sweepers; Minneapolis-St. Paul International happened to have four Oshkosh units it was ready to part with. In a similar vein, SLC needed buses for its temporary hardstand operations, and Denver International had shuttles it no longer needed after closing a remote parking lot. The result was win/win deals for all four airports.

Nicely played.

While this is certainly not a new practice, the acquisition of used equipment was a pivotal factor in the success of both projects to enhance airfield operations. I appreciate the beauty of these arrangements and hope they reflect only a small portion of used equipment transactions occurring between airports now and in the future.

A similar spirit of collaboration and mutual benefit is baked into the Buffalo Snow Symposium. But don’t take my word for it. See what this year’s chairman, Jim Moorhead, says about the unique event in our Industry Insider column on Page 74.

Cheers,