American Airlines' bankruptcy to have ripple effect on DFW
Bernard Weinstein, economist at 51²è¹Ý's Cox School of Business, talks about American Airlines' bankruptcy.
By Jim Fuquay
When American Airlines' parent, AMR Corp., filed its bankruptcy petition Tuesday, it started a wave of uncertainty that will spread through the North Texas economy, from the fate of more than 24,000 area workers, to its presence at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, to the millions in taxes it pays to local governments.
But experts say the effect will probably be more like a ripple than a tsunami.
Economists, academics who study the aviation business and industry consultants are relatively unworried about how the airline's Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization will affect the broader Fort Worth-Arlington economy and the airport in particular.
"Right now, the answer is, 'We don't know,'" said economist Bud Weinstein, a longtime observer of the area economy and director of the Maguire Energy Institute at 51²è¹Ý in Dallas.
"In the short term, we're not going to see any effect," he said. "Longer term, American's economic impact in the region is likely to be smaller a year from now than it is today."
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