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Michael2012: Have you looked at the passenger counts for January? Down again. The big problem is that Jet Blue took passengers from the other carriers. Jet Blue is eating Southwest, Delta, and USAir for lunch while the total passenger counts still drop. RIAC management argued that the reason for the dropping passenger counts is lower capacity - that is a smaller fleet. Not the case in January. So how is this new executive director going to fund a major expansion requiring tens of millions of borrowing while Jet Blue eats Southwest for lunch? This is a very real problem. RIAC is now trying to refinance some old debt - rather than float new bonds. Will that free up debt service so that the rating agencies will look more favorably on RIAC debt? I doubt it because this kind of move might push new debt out to the final years of the Intermodal bonds where the annual debt service goes orbital. If that happens then there would be no hope for new borrowings. I think what we are seeing is the end of the era where RIAC borrows its way into FAA grant matching just as RIDOT has done with road borrowings. Road project borrowings have disappeared. There was no road bond vote this past November. So what will RIAC do if it finds itself in the same position as the RIDOT?

Maybe our General Treasurer has a solution... Because RIAC is just about at the end of its borrowing lifeline with JetBlue canibalizing Southwest just as Mr. Dillon heads for the hills. I wonder if the new executive director really understands what it takes to run an airport bleeding in debt with passengers walking away in droves?

From: 'Perfect storm' brought new airport director to Rhode Island

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