David Cran on weather and aviation

David Cran has worked in aviation for the last 34 years in a range of roles including air traffic control, airfield operations, airport manager and meteorological observer. He really is an expert in his field.

He has worked at both big and small airfields, which have handled a range of air traffic from hot air balloons, to big aircrafts such as the A380 and even Airforce One. David is currently the Group Compliance and Assurance Lead for Manchester Airport Group, which covers Manchester, East Midlands and Stansted airports.

In this episode we chat to David about the role weather has on airport operations and how the weather forecasts are put together. We touch on everything from fog to of course the impact snow can have and why it is a lot easier to land a plane on the snow in Antarctica rather than when we have some wet snow here in the UK.

We also discuss the role the changing climate is having on airport operations, and how airports are being asked to look at their resilience to extreme weather events such as high temperatures, intense rainfall and strong winds. As well as this we discuss the importance of taking into account the environmental impacts of the chemicals used when it comes to deicing the plane, both ensuring 100% safety, but also keeping an eye on the impact on the environment.

Thanks so much for listening and supporting the podcast and we hope you leave this episode loving the weather just a little bit more.

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