Dan Walters of the Sacramento Bee details the statewide problems that the airports are facing. All of the airports were hurt after 9/11/01 by a decline in traffic. The air traffic came back in 2004 but according to the article this trend is changing.
The second article was in the San Diego Union Tribune. It highlighted the fact that Lindbergh is reevaluating its Capital Improvement Plan now. They are looking at delaying building ten new gates and a new parking structure.Suddenly, the trend may be reversing again, thanks to a sharp economic recession, rising air fares, extra charges for baggage and other services, and financial turmoil in the airline industry, much of it stemming from rapid increases in its fuel costs.
Airlines are cutting flights and even eliminating service to communities, especially smaller ones. But even the big boys are being hit. Los Angeles International, which handles a third of the state's airline passenger traffic, is expecting double-digit drops in flights and available passenger seats, while Ontario, also owned by the city of Los Angeles, is bracing for a 37 percent decline in flights.
The traffic declines at LAX, Ontario and other California airports are hitting their bottom lines, because operational and debt service revenues depend on how many takeoffs and landings and how many passengers the airports handle.
Lastly the LA Times reported that international flights at LAX are being cut back as well. It appears this contraction of the airline industry has been globalized.
Los Angeles International Airport, battered by financially devastated domestic airlines, is now headed for trouble from overseas.
Foreign carriers, until now a bright spot for the airport in an increasingly dismal year, are slashing flights at LAX amid high fuel costs and slowing international demand, dealing yet another blow to Southern California's economy.
0 comments:
Post a Comment