As freezing rain spread across Central Oregon on Thursday night, all inbound flights to Redmond Municipal Airport were canceled.
Zachary Bass, the airport manager, stated that “Freezing rain, which we’ve had most this afternoon, is the worst thing for airports and the hardest thing to combat operationally,” “And so it’s been occurring for a while, and we’ve got a crew out there 24 seven with millions of dollars worth of equipment, and we’re fighting it. And as soon as it’s safe to do so, we look at the runway and make sure that people can, in turn, exit Central Oregon again commercially.”
Due to freezing rain, the airport closed the runways at around 2:00 p.m. on Thursday. Eugene was the destination of some diverted planes.
The launch was rescheduled for at least 7:00 p.m. However, the airport announced a half hour prior that all flights scheduled to arrive on Thursday had been canceled.
Regarding flight status, the airport is advising passengers to speak with their carriers directly.
Bass said, “Make sure you’re checking with your airlines, and hopefully you’re getting text messages,” Alternatively, “Or if you’re not, make sure you’re checking your emails. The airlines handle the scheduling, cancellations, or rescheduling of flights, not the airport.”
RDM had previously posted that all City offices and the airport will be shutting in order to allow employees to safely return home before the freezing rain becomes any worse.
