Pearson's Deicing Team is Making History
How Pearson runs the world's largest, most advanced deicing operation and is hitting all-time highs this season.
Written by Katherine King
Every winter, while much of the world slows down, Pearson's Central Deicing Facility (CDF) shifts into high gear. Behind every safe winter departure is a 200-person team, 46 specialized vehicles and globally renowned deicing operations, right here in our backyard. This season, they've shattered records.
Nearly 20,000 aircraft have been deiced this season and counting — officially surpassing our all-time seasonal high of 19,457 aircraft, previously set during the 2018/2019 season. This has been the busiest deicing season in Pearson's history.
This milestone carries extra significance with this year marking a decade of Pearson deicing operations fully functioning in-house, and the 28th year since the facility opened its doors in 1998.
“This season has been nothing short of exceptional. We had the busiest December, the busiest January — which was the single busiest month in CDF history with over 6,100 aircraft — and now the busiest February on record.” says Diana Dolezal, Director, Deicing Operations. “None of this happens without the hard work, dedication and passion of our team. They are truly what makes this operation world-class.”
From Frost to Flight: Deicing 101
Deicing is one of the most critical safety operations at our airport. When winter weather rolls in, the frost, ice and snow that accumulates on an aircraft's wing and tail surfaces can seriously degrade lift and control during takeoff, even in the smallest amounts. Deicing is the process of removing contamination off aircraft critical surfaces using specialized fluid containing a mixture of glycol and water before a single aircraft leaves the ground.
The concentration of fluid is carefully blended based on outside air temperature. Different weather conditions call for different fluid types, spray techniques and vehicle patterns. During a typical winter, the CDF uses 12 million litres of fluid — more than enough to fill four Olympic-sized swimming pools. This season alone, the team has already surpassed that, using 16 million litres!
Did you know? Beneath the CDF facility sit massive underground storage tanks — the equivalent of four football fields — with a combined capacity of approximately 19 million litres. Tanks collect discarded fluid and contaminants, which are then tested and either recycled or disposed of responsibly, ensuring glycol never reaches our natural waterways.
When planning for major snow events like the record-breaking snowfalls that swept through Toronto this past January, the team plans diligently to ensure safe departure for our passengers.
The Fleet and Facility Behind the Magic
The scale of the CDF is staggering. Spread across 65 acres, six deicing pads can handle up to 60 aircraft per hour and more than 500 per day.
At the heart of the CDF are a fleet of 46 Vestergaard Elephant Beta deicing trucks — each operated by a single specialist seated in an elevated cab, guiding a precision spray arm to treat the aircraft. Behind the scenes, skilled CDF mechanics perform maintenance on trucks year-round, ensuring data-tracking systems, fluid heaters and all critical components are functioning. Rounding out the fleet are three specialized underwing units, four glycol recovery vehicles and a range of support vehicles.
The Team Behind Every Safe Winter Departure
The CDF doesn't just meet industry standards—it sets them. Built on a culture of safety, precision and continuous improvement, our rockstar team is made up of Deicing Specialists who operate the vehicles and apply fluid to aircraft, Supervisors, Technical Inspectors, Mechanics, Millwrights, Deicing Movement Coordinators, Deicing Resource Coordinators, Unit Operations Specialist and Management who keep the entire operation synchronized.
To the team of nearly 200 who show up in the cold, through the storms, before the sun rises — thank you. You are the reason Pearson is recognized as the gold standard in deicing worldwide. You've proven once again that when it comes to winter operations, no one does it better.
