Both Houston airports reopen Wednesday following winter storm

Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Houston airports reopen Wednesday following winter storm
Houston's airports reopened Wednesday morning after being closed all day Tuesday thanks to a winter storm that left Houston covered in snow.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Houston's airports reopened on Wednesday morning after being closed all day Tuesday thanks to a winter storm that left Houston covered in snow.

ABC13 was live from an empty Hobby Airport on Wednesday morning. The TSA security check at the normally bustling airport was scheduled to reopen at 9 a.m.

Still, ABC13 cameras saw travelers going through around 6:30 a.m. An airport employee said they were letting guests through early.

Fights were scheduled to begin taking off from both Bush and Hobby airports at 11 a.m.

SEE ALSO: Photos show historic snowfall across Houston area

Pooja Lodhia takes her role as a hands-on reporter very seriously. So when Houston got historic snowfall, it only made sense that she would join right in the fun!

The Houston Airport Systems director says they've been working to make sure the roads and runways are good to go and said they made the decision to open at 9 a.m. instead of, say, 5 a.m. to give time for the sun to come out and for road conditions to improve.

ABC13 spoke to a man on Tuesday who was waiting for the airports to reopen because he was trying to go visit his sick friend.

"I want to be in Baltimore for my friend. I told her I would be there. I made a promise. I've got to get there for her," Donnie Ray said.

Houston Airport System Director Jim Szczesniak told ABC13 that operations were running as expected after restarting operations.

"We've got all the runways open at both airports," he said. "The ground transportation is there. The TSA is here. The customs officers are here making sure we can process, so all the pieces of the puzzle we need to put together to operate the airports are here."

The airport used deicing pellets and liquid to keep the runways and roads clear of ice and snow, and according to Szczesniak, everything went according to their preparations.

"We're happy because the plan that we wanted, we executed it," he said. "It did not trap people here on Monday. It was Tuesday. Fight the storm so we could open on Wednesday. We opened (Wednesday) morning, and operations are basically back to normal."

If you have a flight on Wednesday, you should double-check with your airline. Even though the airports are back open, there are still about 500 flights between Bush and Hobby that have been canceled on Wednesday.

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