TRAVERSE CITY -- Managers at Northern Michigan's largest airport say they have two new pieces of equipment that will help keep the runways clear 24 - 7 during bad winter weather.

The equipment arrived at Cherry Capital Airport last week just in time the first real snowfall of the season.

"This particular piece of equipment is a plow, an underbody scraper, it's a sweeper and then we have air that's blown onto the runway surface at 400 mph," explains Steve Cassens, Airport Director.

That means what used to take several pieces of equipment can now be done with one machine.

"When time is of the essence, this is the kind of equipment you want to have," says Cassens.

At 568-thousand dollars each, the two snow maulers by Airport Technologies in Canada gives staff a leg up on requirements set down by the Federal Aviation Administation when it comes to snow removal.  "To meet what the FAA's condition of 'no worse than wet' on the runway," explains Kevin Klein, Assistant Airport Director. "Our goal is to put the latest, most efficient machines out on the runway to meet that goal."

Just because these new machines can do more than the old ones, doesn't mean that will come at the expense of jobs.

airport management says they can now run even more machines to make sure the runways stay safe and clear.  "We're taking our staff and putting them where they need to be," says Klein.  And depending on how the machines perform, Cherry Capital is looking to buy up to two more snow maulers.

"We think that in the future this will be where airports like Cherry Capital or facilities like Chicago will be heading with this equipment," Cassens explains.