Lease Obligations

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

LEASE OBLIGATIONS

We lease aircraft, airport terminals, maintenance facilities, ticket offices and other property and equipment from third parties. Rental expense for operating leases, which is recorded on a straight-line basis over the life of the lease term, totaled approximately $1.2 billion for the year ended December 31, 2014 and $1.1 billion for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012. Amounts due under capital leases are recorded as liabilities, while assets acquired under capital leases are recorded as property and equipment. Amortization of assets recorded under capital leases is included in depreciation and amortization expense. Our airport terminal leases include contingent rents, which vary based upon: facility usage, enplanements, aircraft weight and other factors. Many of our aircraft, facility and equipment leases include rental escalation clauses and/or renewal options. Our leases do not include residual value guarantees and we are not the primary beneficiary in or have other forms of variable interest with the lessor of the leased assets. As a result, we have not consolidated any of the entities that lease to us.

The following tables summarize, as of December 31, 2014, our minimum rental commitments under capital leases and noncancelable operating leases (including certain aircraft flown by Contract Carriers) with initial or remaining terms in excess of one year:

Capital Leases



Years Ending December 31, (in millions)	Total
2015	$	157
2016	139
2017	97
2018	51
2019	33
Thereafter	42
Total minimum lease payments	519
Less: amount of lease payments representing interest	(121		)
Present value of future minimum capital lease payments	398
Less: current obligations under capital leases	(107		)
Long-term capital lease obligations	$	291

Operating Leases



Years Ending December 31, (in millions)	Delta Lease Payments⁽¹⁾		Contract Carrier Aircraft Lease Payments⁽²⁾		Total
2015	$	1,363	$	344	$	1,707
2016	1,187		306		1,493
2017	1,056		267		1,323
2018	881		239		1,120
2019	747		182		929
Thereafter	5,873		296		6,169
Total minimum lease payments	$	11,107	$	1,634	$	12,741


⁽¹⁾	Includes payments accounted for as construction obligations. See Note 6.


⁽²⁾	Represents the minimum lease obligations under our Contract Carrier agreements with Compass Airlines, Inc., ExpressJet Airlines, Inc., GoJet Airlines, LLC, Shuttle America Corporation (“Shuttle America”) and SkyWest Airlines, Inc.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for lessee entity's leasing arrangements including, but not limited to, all of the following: (a.) The basis on which contingent rental payments are determined, (b.) The existence and terms of renewal or purchase options and escalation clauses, (c.) Restrictions imposed by lease agreements, such as those concerning dividends, additional debt, and further leasing.

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