DFW Airport's bond offering awaits American Airlines decision DALLAS (AP) =97 Part of a $1.6 billion bond offering at Dallas-Fort Worth=20 International Airport is on hold until debt-ridden American Airlines Inc.'s= =20 fate is decided, officials say. Flight attendants for the world's largest=20 air carrier who voted against concessions that the company said were=20 necessary to keep it out of federal bankruptcy court were asked to=20 reconsider their decision. The bond offering's first $800 million round,=20 which would fund completion of a new international terminal and train=20 system, has been delayed to the last week of April, D/FW officials said=20 Tuesday. They said the timing could change again based on what happens=20 Wednesday with American, which has its main hub at the airport. Fort=20 Worth-based American granted a request by the Association of Professional=20 Flight Attendants to delay a Chapter 11 filing and allow members to=20 continue voting, also changing votes already cast, until 5 p.m. CT=20 Wednesday. The airport bond offering, initially scheduled for next week,=20 was delayed to accommodate American's self-imposed Tuesday deadline for its= =20 three main unions to approve their portions of $1.8 billion in labor cuts.= =20 Airport officials will now watch Wednesday's extended voting by flight=20 attendants before making a final decision. D/FW spokesman Ken Capps said=20 late Tuesday. "No matter what happens, the capital development program goes forward,"=20 Capps told The Dallas Morning News in Wednesday's editions. "It may just be= =20 slowed down a bit." The bond issue's second portion is scheduled for 60 to= =20 90 days after the first round. Debt rating agencies are expected to issue=20 their ratings on the airport bonds on Thursday. Investors use the ratings=20 as a guide to the quality of the bonds, which are backed by the airlines.=20 "The outlook for American is still uncertain, and it doesn't look like it=20 is going to clear up quickly," said Todd Whitestone, managing director at=20 Standard & Poor's, a credit-rating agency. "An airline in bankruptcy is=20 under the control of the courts and not under the control of its own=20 management. American will have to reduce service and lay off staff, and we= =20 are worried about how it will affect operations at the airport." American=20 accounts for 70% of flights at the airport, which has been planning for the= =20 impact of a possible American bankruptcy filing on the airport's=20 operations. Max Wells, chairman of the airport's board of directors, said a= =20 worst-case scenario involving almost 20 percent falloff in American's=20 schedule would cause a drop of $10 million in airport income for the fiscal= =20 year ended Sept. 30, and $25 million the next year. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.carstt.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************