The Airport Finance practice within Hawkins Delafield & Wood LLP is exceptional in terms of dollar volume, number and geographic breadth of transactions. We have participated as bond counsel or underwriters' counsel for billions of dollars of airport and harbor financings for general and special facilities, including facilities located in Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

Hawkins has extensive experience in all aspects of airport financing, including airport system and airport revenue bonds, project and special facility financings, airport bond refundings, variable and fixed rate airport securities, double-barreled passenger facility charges and revenue bonds, and double-barreled revenue and general obligation bonds.

The Firm has served a large number of governmental airport issuers as bond counsel, underwriter's counsel or special tax counsel, including airports such as Nashville, Tennessee, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Honolulu International, Hilo International, Tucson, Memphis - Shelby County, Newport News, Guam, New Orleans, LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy International, Monroe County, New York, Hartford, Albany, Buffalo, Reno, Savannah, Dallas - Forth Worth, Orlando, Burbank - Glendale - Pasadena, Mobile, Chicago, Tampa, Broward County, Atlanta, Pittsburgh - Allegheny County, Cincinnati and San Antonio.

Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority
Hawkins has represented the Memphis - Shelby County Airport Authority (the "MSCAA") as Bond Counsel since its first debt issuance in the early 1970's. Hawkins lawyers have helped structure general revenue bond issues for the MSCAA and special facility bond issues for the Federal Express Corporation, including the initial tax-exempt financing issued by the MSCAA to finance hangar facilities for Federal Express. The Firm’s lawyers assisted the MSCAA in a multi-purpose allocation of a single airport issue between governmental and private activity purposes.

Nashville, Tennessee
Attorneys at Hawkins have represented the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority (the “MNAA”) as Bond Counsel since the early 1980's, assisting the MNAA in restructuring its debt to provide more flexibility, negotiating changes and improvements to its airport use agreements and financing the construction of a new terminal facility, new runways and runway expansion and noise abatement program. The Firm’s lawyers assisted the MNAA in a number of innovative financing structures, including a synthetic advance refunding that would permit a stand-alone passenger facility charge issue when such issues can obtain independent ratings.

Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority
Hawkins served as Bond Counsel to the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (the “NFTA”) on a major terminal construction program and the issuance of general airport revenue bonds. In 1994, the NFTA issued three separate series of bonds, one governmental and two private activity. At that time, the Firm prepared the NFTA’s master bond documents and assisted in the structuring of a program that involved governmental and non-governmental bonds and the leveraging of grant proceeds. In addition, the Firm assists the finance staff in setting up its procedures for the flow of funds and analyzing various proposals by investment bankers.