About DWU Consulting
Specialized airport finance consulting with deep expertise in financial analysis, rate setting, capital planning, and aviation data analytics.
Principal
Dafang Wu
Director, CFA
Dafang Wu has 25+ years of airport consulting experience on bond feasibility studies, capital planning, financial planning, and rates and charges. He has provided financial forecasts for bond feasibility studies supporting the issuance of over $20 billion of airport revenue bonds for airports across the United States.
He has provided capital and financial planning services for multi-billion-dollar capital programs at Boston, Hawaii, Miami, Orlando, Sacramento, and San Francisco, and on-call financial services to large, medium, and small-hub airports. He was a member of the ACI-NA Finance Committee steering group from 2014 to 2018 and a key contributor to the annual business term survey.
Education: MBA, The Ohio State University
Certification: Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
Career: DWU Consulting LLC (2015–present), LeighFisher / Jacobs Consultancy / John F. Brown Company (2000–2015)
Contact: dwu@dwuconsulting.com
Services
Bond Feasibility Studies
$20B+ in supported bond issuances
Financial forecasts and feasibility analyses supporting airport revenue bond issuances. Rating agency presentations, bond test certificates, and financial section drafting.
Locations: ALB, BOS, GSO, HNL, MCO, MEM, MIA, PIT, RDU, SFO, SMF, TUS
Airline Use Agreements & Rates and Charges
Evaluation of existing agreements, financial analysis for negotiation leverage, rate resolution modeling under residual, compensatory, and hybrid methodologies.
Locations: ALB, ERI, GSO, HNL, MCI, MCO, MDT, OAK, ORD, SJC, SMF, TUS
Capital Planning
Multi-billion-dollar capital programs
Funding source identification, financial affordability analysis, project cash flow and debt service estimation, and impact analysis on airline rates and debt service coverage.
Locations: ERI, FLL, GSO, HNL, MCI, MCO, MIA, OAK, SFO, SJC, SMF
Financial Planning & Modeling
Comprehensive financial models covering air traffic, CIP, debt service, operating expenses, nonairline revenues, and airline rates and charges. Models designed to address airline negotiation, bond issuance, and capital planning scenarios.
Locations: All locations served
Passenger Facility Charges (PFC)
PFC eligibility analysis, strategies to maximize PFC revenue, application and amendment preparation, and coordination with bond counsel for PFC offset to debt service.
Locations: ALB, GSO, HNL, SMF
Management Reporting & Data Analytics
Monthly and quarterly capital program status reports, air traffic and financial briefings for senior management, using Tableau, Excel, and custom data tools.
Locations: HNL, SFO
Selected Airport Experience
Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA)
ACI-NA · 2021–present
Consultant Contracted by ACI-NA
Assisting the finance committee on airport finance research, data analysis, industry benchmarking initiatives, and other supporting functions.
Reference: Liying Gu, Vice President, Economic Affairs and Research
Hawaii Airports System
HNL · 2009–present
Full-Service Financial Advisory
Bond feasibility, rates and charges, capital planning, PFC and CFC analysis and all other airport finance functions for the statewide airport system.
Massachusetts Port Authority
BOS · 2012–present
On-Call Financial Advisory
Capital planning, financial modeling, bond issuance support, and operation support.
Reference: Anna M. Tenaglia, CTP, Deputy Director - Administration & Finance
San Francisco Airport Commission
SFO · 2008–present
On-Call Financial Advisory
Bond feasibility study, management reporting, rates and charges, PFC analysis, GASB 87 and cost allocation studies.
Reference: Ronda Chu, Chief Financial Officer
Chicago Department of Aviation
ORD/MDW · 2016–present
On-Call Financial Advisory
Financial advisory support for O'Hare airline negotiations, annual rates and charges, and settlement calculation.
Reference: John Laera, Assistant Commissioner – Finance
Port of Oakland
OAK · 2017–present
On-Call Financial Advisory
Annual rates and charges calculation and settlement calculation.
Data & Technology Platform
DWU Consulting maintains one of the most comprehensive public databases of U.S. airport financial information, combining data from FAA filings, airport publications, and proprietary analysis.
Industry Resources
DWU Consulting publishes educational materials on airport finance topics for the benefit of the industry, including articles, reference guides, and data analyses.