DFW AIRPORT, Texas – Nov. 9, 2020 – For the second straight year, Dallas Fort Worth International (DFW) Airport has been honored by the Bond Buyer, this time earning the Deal of the Year in the Southwest Region for being the first major airport to issue a significant amount of bonds during COVID-19. Last year’s award was for the most innovative financing of the year.
Pivoting in the face of pandemic-driven challenges, DFW Airport put together a plan in just 16 days that priced $2.045 billion of bonds in three transactions. With a robust voluntary disclosure campaign providing transparency into the impacts of COVID-19 on the Airport, DFW management, co-financial advisors, underwriters and attorneys teamed to price Series 2020A and 2020B Tax-Exempt Joint Revenue Refunding Bonds on July 14 and July 23, respectively, and price the Series 2020C Taxable Joint Revenue Advanced Refunding Bonds on July 30. To provide the Airport with more liquidity, an additional $200 million of commercial paper was issued and then all the outstanding CP – some $250 million – was refinanced as part of the 2020B and 2020C deals.
In all, the structure produced total savings of $613 million and net present value savings of $471 million – 24.4 percent over the life of the bonds.
“The impact of COVID-19 beginning in mid-March was devastating to the airport industry with most airports operating at 90 to 95 percent less passengers in April 2020 versus April 2019,” said Chris Poinsatte, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for DFW Airport. “We believed the worst operating months were behind the Airport, and that the Airport could access the market and take advantage of the historically low interest rate environment. When the decision to accelerate the program was made, the DFW Team jumped to action, executed the plan flawlessly, and achieved superior results in an incredibly challenging time for the airport industry.”
The award means DFW Airport is one of 10 winners eligible for the Bond Buyer Deal of the Year Award, which recognizes innovation in municipal finance and is open to all transactions that closed between Oct. 1, 2019 and Sept. 30, 2020.
The honor comes one year after DFW Airport was recognized with the Innovation Award in the United States in 2019 – earning the Airport rare back-to-back acknowledgement for its forward-thinking financial approach. It is the fourth time in the past 15 years that the Airport has been honored by The Bond Buyer.
The Bond Buyer, part of the Arizent business information company, is a respected independent information resource serving the municipal finance community. This is the 20th year The Bond Buyer will identify and recognize the year’s most outstanding municipal finance transactions, spotlighting those that exemplify creativity and resourcefulness on projects that advance the infrastructure and quality of life in the nation’s municipalities.