=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/chronicle/archive/2002/02= /13/BU130829.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, February 13, 2002 (SF Chronicle) 9-11 hit Bay airports hard/Big recovery expected later this year Carol Emert, Chronicle Staff Writer Bay Area airports have taken a major hit in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but a noticeable recovery should be felt in the second half of the year, according to a report released yesterday by the Bay Area Economic Forum. Despite severe short-term impacts that include airline layoffs and county budget shortfalls, "The likelihood of a major structural change in the demand for air travel is small," the report said. "Air passenger and cargo demand can be expected to recover as the economy improves and as adjustments are made by consumers" to the heightened security measures. San Francisco International Airport, the ninth-busiest airport in the world, suffered the most of the three local air hubs, with passenger traffic declining by one-third in October 2001 versus October 2000, the report said. Cargo volumes declined even more, 36.1 percent for the month. SFO's freight slippage was more severe than at other local airports because much of its cargo is transported in the holds of passenger planes, which are subjected to tighter security screening than cargo planes. A severe drop in business travel, which had been slowing even before the terrorist attacks, was largely behind a 23.8 percent drop in passenger traffic at San Jose International Airport in October 2001 versus the prior October, according to the report. Cargo movement in San Jose declined 3.9 percent. Oakland International Airport, which specializes in short-haul trips by small carriers such as Southwest Airlines, had only a 4.7 percent decline in passenger travel in October. Cargo moving through the city of Oakland was off by 14.3 percent in October 2001 compared with October 2000. Ironically, the drop in flights "has relieved airport congestion and improved on-time performance" at local airports, the report said. However, it added, the improvement "comes at a high cost in airline, airport, hotel and travel-related jobs, and in indirect impacts spread throughout the economy." Among the effects are reduced hotel tax revenues and related budget shortfalls at local governments, estimated at $48 million for San Francisco and $4 million for San Jose. No estimate was given for Oakland. Tapan Munroe, an economist and president of Munroe Consulting in Moraga, agreed that the terrorist attacks will have little long-term impact in the Bay Area travel industry. "But I think both the economic recovery and consumers' comfort level (wi= th travel) won't really resurface until 2003," Munroe said. "I don't see a lot of job growth going on in 2002." BAEF, which is backed by local businesses and governments, used the data to push its primary policy objective: expanded runways at SFO. The report equated the impact of the terrorist attacks on the travel industry with the damper on growth that would occur if SFO fails to extend its runways into San Francisco Bay. Environmentalists oppose the runway extension, saying there are ways to increase capacity at SFO without harming the bay ecosystem. David Madland, program director for Save the Bay in Oakland, said the BA= EF report failed to consider the option of using larger planes so that more passengers could be carried into SFO on fewer flights. "Now is the perfect opportunity to re-evaluate and see if there are alternatives to bayfill that would be more efficient, more environmentally sensitive, less expensive -- and would actually meet the region's needs," Madland said. BOX GRAY BOX TAN BOX YELLO CHRON BLU GATE CHRON YELLO GOLD LAND LAND 2 OAK RIVERS RULE RED SPORTING GREEN WATER ZIN BAY AREA AIRPORT TRAFFIC Source: The airports Here is a look at passenger and cargo traffic at major Bay Area airports from last October compared with the same month of the previous year: . San Francisco Oct. 2000 Oct. 2001 Passengers 3,456,349 2,332,745 Percent change: -32.5% Cargo (In tons) 62,708 40,084 Percent change: -36.1% . Oakland Oct. 2000 ct. 2001 Passengers 929,831 885,680 Percent change: -4.7% Cargo (In tons) 62,782 53,818 Percent change: -14.3% . San Jose Oct. 2000 Oct. 2001 Passengers 1,144,952 872,759 Percent change: -23.8% Cargo (In tons) 15,036 14,444 Percent change: -3.9% Chronicle Graphic EC: E-mail Carol Emert at cemert@sfchronicle.com.=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2002 SF Chronicle