Moody’s Downgrades Airports’ Financial Outlook

Moody’s contacted AVweb today to announce it has published a revised outlook for the U.S. airport financial sector. According to the new report, though Moody’s sees the sector as having the financial strength to ultimately withstand expected setbacks, the outlook has changed from “stable” to “negative,” based on “economic slowdown, reduced airline capacity, global economic weakness, higher costs and supply chain issues, and a decline in international visitors.”

Moody’s now predicts that the U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by 1% this year, down from the February projection of 2%. The financial analyst now also anticipates that inflation will reach 3.2% in 2025, up from its 2.5% prediction posted in February, and “along with reduced consumer confidence and business uncertainty will lead to reduced spending, hiring and investments that will impact travel.”

Ursula Cassinerio, assistant VP analyst at Moody’s Ratings, said, “We changed the outlook for the U.S. airport sector to negative from stable on the back of decelerating economic growth and airline capacity reductions. We also expect increased material costs and supply chain disruptions to increase the cost of capital plans and heighten leverage. At the same time, airports' financial strength remains near an all-time high, providing a cushion to withstand a challenging 2025.”