John Wayne Airport Bond Ratings 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 19, 2001	COUNTY OF ORANGE Moody’s Investors Service Upgrades	Contact: Ann McCarley 949.252.5176 after hours: 800.642.5562 Alan L. Murphy Airport Director 3160 Airway Avenue, Costa Mesa CA, 92626-4608 Tel: 949.252.5171 Fax: 949.252.5178
John Wayne Airport Bond Ratings
(Santa Ana, CA) – Moody’s Investors Service has upgraded the underlying rating for the Airport Revenue Bonds of Orange County’s John Wayne Airport (JWA) to Aa3 from A1. This upgrade applies to approximately $186 million outstanding Airport bonds. The Aa3 rating for JWA is the first that Moody’s has given an airport that does not have international flights. According to Moody’s, the rating is based on several factors: the strength of the airport’s steadily growing service area economy; the solid origination and destination passenger base within the Los Angeles metro area; the increasingly diverse carrier mix, and an established trend of sound financial operations. Another factor influencing Moody’s bond rating upgrade is that JWA has maintained sound financial operations and generated sufficient operating surplus to finance sizable capital projects with JWA reserves and internally generated funds. With no needs or plans for further borrowing, airport debt levels are expected to remain moderate given that capital needs are limited by external capacity and operational constraints. "As a public airport, our responsibility is to provide the highest quality aviation facilities and services for Orange County," said Alan Murphy, Airport Director. "JWA has maintained sound financial operations and placed a high priority on repaying our debt. This upgraded rating reflects that."