Delta Air Lines employees work up a sweat at boot camp, learning how to de-ice planes

abcnews.go.com:

The temperature says it's summer outside, but Delta Air Lines is training employees in how to de-ice an airplane — a critical part of flying during the cold winter months

MINNEAPOLIS — Delta Air Lines has learned that summer is a good time to prepare for winter — and how to de-ice planes so they can keep flying safely in freezing temperatures.

Every summer, Delta brings about 400 workers to Minneapolis to a three-day summer de-ice «boot camp.” They go through computer-based training, watch demonstrations by instructors, and then practice spraying down a plane — using water instead of the chemicals found in de-icing fluid.

The boot campers, who rotate through in groups of 10 or so, return to their home bases and train 6,000 co-workers before October, says Jeannine Ashworth, vice president of airport operations for the Atlanta-based airline.

Here's how the de-icing process works: Big trucks with tanks of deicing mixture pull up alongside a plane, and an operator in a bucket at the top of a long boom sprays hot fluid that melts ice but doesn't refreeze because of the chemicals it contains, mainly propylene glycol.

It takes anywhere from a few minutes to 40 minutes or longer to de-ice a plane, depending on the conditions and the size of the plane.

Planes need to be de-iced because if left untreated, ice forms on the body and wings, interfering with the flow of air that keeps the plane aloft. Even a light build-up can affect performance. In worst cases, ice can cause planes to go into an aerodynamic stall and fall from the sky.

De-icing „is the last line of defense in winter operations for a safe aircraft,” says Dustin Foreman, an instructor who normally works at the Atlanta airport. “If we don’t get them clean, airplanes