DWU Consulting LLC — Inspire the Talented

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

Consulting to ACI-NA

ACI-NA · 2021–present

Chicago Department of Aviation

ORD/MDW · 2016–present

Hawaii DOT, Airports Division

HNL · 2009–present

Massachusetts Port Authority

BOS · 2012–present

Miami-Dade Aviation Department

MIA · 2000–2015

Port of Oakland

OAK · 2017–present

San Francisco Airport Commission

SFO · 2008–present

Sacramento County Airport System

SMF · 2006–2016

Piedmont Triad Airport Authority

GSO · 2005–present

Data & Technology Platform

Industry Resources

DWU Consulting publishes educational materials on airport finance topics for the benefit of the industry, including articles, reference guides, and data analyses.