Baltimore-Washington International Airport expects revenue and passenger totals to remain flat this year as two of its top five airlines undergo bankruptcy reorganization and several others continue to suffer staggering losses.
The good news is that the airport continues to be the envy of the aviation industry because of its status as Dallas-based Southwest Airlines' fastest-growing focus city at a time when most major airlines are shrinking to meet reduced demand.
As airports nationwide have been buffeted by an industrywide restructuring, Southwest continues to post modest profits and expand its route system, though at a slower pace. With almost half of the passenger market at BWI, the no frills, low-fare airline has been a source of stability as the airport copes with fewer flights and US Airways and United Airlines in Chapter 11.
US Airways, once the airport's dominant carrier, has shrunk its BWI operations by more than 60 percent in the past year as part of its reorganization. A spokesman for the carrier said the cuts at BWI have likely come to an end. What remains consists mostly of flights connecting BWI to US Airways' operations in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New York.
A bigger question is what will happen as United restructures and emerges from bankruptcy court. The world's second-largest airline has emerged as one of BWI's fastest-growing carriers. Airport officials are optimistic that the carrier will continue to use BWI to feed its hub in Chicago, but anything can happen during a bankruptcy proceeding.
The airline, which handles about 6 percent to 7 percent of BWI's passengers, has not said where it will make cuts.
American Airlines, which handles slightly more passengers than United, also has said it plans to shrink its route system this year. It's uncertain if the cuts will have an impact on its BWI operations, which have grown by more than 50 percent in the past year.
BWI officials say they expect the airport to post a 2002 passenger total of about 19.1 million when final numbers are in. That would be down slightly from the record 20.4 million passengers the airport handled in 2001, and this year isn't likely to be better.
"It's not that I'm not optimistic about the future, it's just that I don't think we'll be in a major growth mode on the business side until some of these things align themselves," said Paul J. Wiedefeld, executive director of the Maryland Aviation Administration, which oversees BWI.
