Keeping Airports Up and Running in Times of Emergency

National Aviation Day is observed on August 19 to celebrate the history and development of aviation. The day coincides with Orville Wright’s birthday. The brothers Orville and Wilbur contributed much to powered flight. While the brothers were not the first to build an aircraft, they did invent aircraft controls making fixed wing flight a reality.

Airplane flights today are part and parcel of modern living. Millions of people fly each day of the year. Aircraft carry not only passengers but also important cargo to keep international commerce alive. Goods constantly flow from one part of the world to another thanks to fleets of airplanes, both commercial and private.

With millions of flights each day, it is essential that airports have a steady supply of power in order to keep their operations running smoothly. Electric power is needed to sustain traffic control, runway lights, and airports and warehouses. The movement of people and commerce will be severely impaired if an airport loses power even for a few minutes.

While all resources are utilized to ensure a steady supply of electricity to the thousands of airports in the country, power outages or interruptions cannot be avoided, especially in times of disasters. Natural calamities can bring down electrical transmission lines, which will take several hours, if not days, to restore to capacity. It’s vital to keep airports functional. If planes cannot land because the airports are without electric power, relief workers and goods will not be able to reach disaster victims. Even an hour’s delay in the arrival of rescue efforts could mean life and death for the victims of a calamity.

The use of backup generators to provide a temporary power source in the event of an outage is crucial in keeping the airports operational during emergencies. Because airports consume so much energy, an industrial-powered generator is needed to sufficiently sustain operations. There are many generators of this type on the market, including Cummins powered generators which provide reliable service in times of need.