DALLAS — The thousands of airline flights cancelled or delayed this winter due to severe weather may adversely affect some airports' revenues and expenditures, Fitch Ratings said in a report issued Wednesday.
More than 40,000 domestic flights have been cancelled since winter began and 180,000 have been delayed, Fitch said, adding some airports had to shut down.
Roughly 3,200 flights were canceled Wednesday, according to the website Flightaware.com.
"For most airports, managing through severe conditions is part of a relatively normal course of operations," said Fitch analyst Seth Lehman.
"Still, airports have varying degrees of financial risk due to losses in flight operations and passenger spending, which as major portions of airport operating revenues are strongly correlated to their respective enplanement volumes," he said.
Financial and credit implications of the winter storms to U.S. airports will be limited for the most part, Lehman said, but some airports may be at risk.
"Many of the major hubs located in the Midwest and Northeast, which have been affected by the recent extreme cold and snowstorm conditions, operate with elevated levels of leverage and airline costs," he said. "Those airports that are more dependent on a budgetary basis to traffic growth in order to maintain a stable financial profile can be exposed to risk."
Most airports have buffers for debt service coverage through strong cost recovery mechanisms in their agreements with airlines and concessionaires that can compensate for unexpected increases in operating costs or losses in operating revenue, the report said.
Passenger loads are lightest in winter months and heaviest in summer, Lehman noted, so weather-related problems affect airports when demand is down. However, the severity of this year's weather may affect the willingness of passengers to take a chance on future winter trips, he said.
"While weather conditions that affect operations tend to clear out in a matter of days, this current winter season may have more acute effects for longer periods given the repeated nature of deep freezes and storms," he said. "Whether for the remainder of this winter season or for ones that follow, passengers may be inclined to reconsider the frequency of air travel plans during winter months based on their experiences this year."
Revenue from terminal concessions, car rental, and onsite parking can be quickly affected by delays and cancellations, Lehman said.
"All together, these revenues can contribute 40% to 60% of total airport operating revenues," he said.
The most recent in a series of winter storms shut down airports in the South that do not usually experience significant snow and ice problems.
The majority of flights into and out of Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport were canceled Tuesday and the airport shut down on Wednesday before reopening the next day. Houston's two airports experienced delays and cancellations on Tuesday and Wednesday, including almost 700 cancelled flights at Houston George Bush International, but were back at a normal pace by Thursday morning.
The hardest hit airport may have been Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, which had more than 1,100 delays and cancellations on Tuesday and 432 on Wednesday. Flight operations resumed on Thursday, but Flightstat.com still listed delays there as "excessive" at midday.
