"Dallas Fort Worth Airport expects decline in fliers"

Monday, March 24, 2003

Dallas Fort Worth Airport expects decline in fliers
By BRYON OKADA
The Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram


D/FW AIRPORT - A war-impact forecast developed by Dallas/Fort Worth Airport
predicts that the airport's passenger levels will decline for five months,
falling off as much as 10 percent in May before beginning to recover.

Overall, D/FW expects to lose 1.4 million passengers by June because of the
war. The model is based largely on the effects the first gulf war had on
passenger traffic nationwide and at D/FW in 1991.

"We try to be a smart business, and like any business, try to get as much
information as possible, study the trends, check in with our customers and
make educated decisions on the future," D/FW Chief Executive Officer Jeff
Fegan said.

D/FW officials anticipated a passenger drop-off of 1.5 percent in February,
3 percent in March, 5 percent in April, 10 percent in May, 5 percent in June
and 3 percent in July.

The figures are considered a middle-case scenario. D/FW's February drop-off
was 2 percent, in part because of a late-season ice storm.

"What we saw was an effect that occurred one month prior to the hostilities
and a continuing effect," said Joe Lopano, D/FW executive vice president of
marketing. "We made the assumption that this conflict would last somewhat
longer than the previous one, which was rather brief."

An act of domestic terrorism is not part of D/FW's war scenario, Lopano
said. He declined to discuss the details of a separate forecast D/FW made
for a terrorism scenario.

As the war began, some airlines reduced flights. American Airlines reduced
international flights by 6 percent for April.

The Air Transport Association, the trade group for major airlines, predicted
airlines would lose $10.7 billion to $13 billion, depending on how long the
war lasts. Between 70,000 and 98,000 jobs could be lost.

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