Narrative:

[A] significant snowstorm [was] in progress with snow removal operations. I was working local and runway 4R is [the] only open runway. I had 4 aircraft taxing to the runway and vehicles/plows getting ready to get on the runway. My plan was to depart all 4 aircraft as they had de-iced and it was snowing heavily. I departed two and then the front line manager (flm) instructed me to put the vehicles on the runway prior to departing the remaining two aircraft. I thought this was a bad call (I could've departed both aircraft in just 2 more minutes; not a long time for the plows to wait). The vehicles ended up being on the runway [for] a long time; maybe almost half an hour. Air carrier X was 1st in line waiting and called for departure. I told him vehicles were on the runway. He seemed very upset and complained at length about planning his de-ice for the open runway and complaining our procedures were bad. I offered him a phone number not wanting to tie up the frequency as I had runway 9 departures [as well]. Finally air carrier X had to taxi back to the gate after spending significant time de-icing because snow was accumulating on the aircraft. The flm ordered me to make two aircraft wait an inordinate amount of time rather than make snow plows wait two more minutes. His bad call could have placed air carrier X in jeopardy if he'd waited two more minutes for the runway to open. It was also a completely unnecessary waste of deice time and components.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: During snowstorm conditions with snow removal in progress Tower Controller reported aircraft for departure; at the runway; having been de-iced; were delayed for runway snow removal and had to return to the gate for additional deicing.

Narrative: [A] significant snowstorm [was] in progress with snow removal operations. I was working local and Runway 4R is [the] only open runway. I had 4 aircraft taxing to the runway and vehicles/plows getting ready to get on the runway. My plan was to depart all 4 aircraft as they had de-iced and it was snowing heavily. I departed two and then the Front Line Manager (FLM) instructed me to put the vehicles on the runway prior to departing the remaining two aircraft. I thought this was a bad call (I could've departed both aircraft in just 2 more minutes; not a long time for the plows to wait). The vehicles ended up being on the runway [for] a long time; maybe almost half an hour. Air Carrier X was 1st in line waiting and called for departure. I told him vehicles were on the runway. He seemed very upset and complained at length about planning his de-ice for the open runway and complaining our procedures were bad. I offered him a phone number not wanting to tie up the frequency as I had Runway 9 departures [as well]. Finally Air Carrier X had to taxi back to the gate after spending significant time de-icing because snow was accumulating on the aircraft. The FLM ordered me to make two aircraft wait an inordinate amount of time rather than make snow plows wait two more minutes. His bad call could have placed Air Carrier X in jeopardy if he'd waited two more minutes for the runway to open. It was also a completely unnecessary waste of deice time and components.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.