"U.S. airport industry faces growing challenges"

Thursday, January 20, 2005

Airport industry faces growing challenges 
United Press International


CHICAGO, (UPI) -- Fitch Ratings of Chicago said Thursday the U.S. airport
industry faces growing challenges over the course of 2005.

Fitch said the difficult operating environment that plagues the domestic
aviation industry shows no sign of abating.

Several factors stemming from this turmoil have emerged that may expose the
nation's airports to a greater degree of financial risk over the next 12-24
months than at any point during this prolonged period of industry distress,
Fitch said.

As the financial and operational risks facing the nation's airports rise,
the potential for changes to individual airport ratings also increases, with
an airline liquidation most likely to lead to rating revisions, the agency
said. 

Any such rating actions will be based on the circumstances surrounding the
operations of a particular airport. In the event of a large carrier
liquidation that spurs a major reorganization of the aviation network, the
airports most affected may not be readily apparent until the surviving
carriers complete their system realignments, Fitch added.


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