BRIGHT FUTURE FOR NORTHWEST FLORIDA REGIONAL AIRPORT (FORT WALTON BEACH)

Financial markets have their eye on the Northwest Florida Regional Airport (Fort Walton Beach). This is just another indicator of great things to come. If only we could get the local financial institutions to free up lending to accommodate this massive growth coming our way.

By KARI C. BARLOW
Northwest Florida Daily News 315-4438 kbarlow@nwfdailynews.com  

In a routine bond review, Standard & Poor’s has described Northwest Florida Regional Airport as “a small hub airport that has demonstrated continued strong financial metrics” and has a stable outlook. The review, released Feb. 10, also upgraded the airport’s bond rating — from “BBB” to “BBB+” — at a time when many local governments are seeing downgrades. “It’s a pretty exciting thing for us,” said Gary Stanford, the county finance officer. S&P identified reserves, liquidity and debt-service coverage as three of the airport’s major strengths. “Another element they’re really impressed with is that all the construction and expansion we’re doing is being done without having to go borrow money,” said Greg Donovan, the county airports director. “We’re not going out to get loans or get further bonds to pay for improvements here.” One way the airport avoids borrowing is by winning aviation specific grants from the Federal Aviation Administration and the state of Florida, Donovan added. The airport presently is paying off bonds issued in 2003 for the terminal building and in 2007 for the rental car facility. The passenger facility charges — a fee assessed on customers flying through the airport — are used to pay down the debt on the terminal building. The customer facility charge — a fee assessed on vehicle rentals — is used to pay down the debt on the rental facility at the airport. The airport is an enterprise fund, which means it does not use ad valorem tax revenue. “If you don’t use the airport, it’s not costing you as a taxpayer,” Donovan said. The airport’s high air carrier concentration — with Delta Air Lines and its contracted carrier Atlantic Southeast Airlines representing approximately 58 percent of total enplanements in fiscal 2010 — was listed as one of the airport’s weaknesses. Other drawbacks identified by S&P included proximity to Pensacola Regional Airport. Donovan said he is encouraged by S&P’s findings and expects next year’s report to be even better after analysts factor in Vision Airlines’ presence at the airport. “We’re going to have service to a Shreveport or a Little Rock that neither Pensacola nor Panama City has,” he said. “The plan is not to take customers from Delta and put them on Vision Airlines as much as it is to grow markets where we had nobody flying at all.” Donovan said the airport is “poised to have a rebound year.” “Vision Airlines is going to be a conduit for recovery,” he said.