The financial resilience of US airports
Abstract
The US airport industry is one of the most financially resilient sectors in the world. No governmentowned airport in the US has ever filed for bankruptcy or defaulted on its bonds. In fact, US airports have remained financially resilient despite airline bankruptcies, airline dehubbing at airports, the 9/11 terrorist attack that shut down the US airport industry for several days, recessions including the Great Recession of 2008–9; and most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic that reduced passenger traffic by over 90 per cent at US airports for an extended period. This paper explores the five primary reasons for this financial resilience: the US airport legal structure, the essentiality of airports (and airlines), airline actions during bankruptcy, airports’ financial strength and airport management. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Christopher A. Poinsatte Christopher Poinsatte was appointed Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer for Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) in September 2003. Christopher is responsible for finance, treasury, strategic planning, performance measurement, procurement, information technology, environment, social and governance (ESG) reporting and the airline business relationship. Christopher is currently developing a financing strategy for future debt issuances to support DFW’s US$8.6bn capital programme, leading the development of DFW’s new five-year strategic plan and implementing DFW’s digital strategy focused on a frictionless customer journey and moving from reactive to proactive operations. He also recently led an industry-wide effort to develop and publish an ESG framework and metrics for North American airports and completed negotiations with the airlines on a new ten-year use agreement. He has overseen the issuance of over US$16bn in joint revenue bonds to finance DFW’s facilities.
