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Commitments and Contingencies
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Aircraft Purchase and Lease Commitments

Our future aircraft purchase commitments totaled approximately $15.4 billion at September 30, 2016:
(in millions)
Total
Three months ending December 31, 2016
$
450

2017
2,690

2018
2,880

2019
3,380

2020
2,540

Thereafter
3,480

Total
$
15,420



Our future aircraft purchase commitments included the following aircraft at September 30, 2016:
Aircraft Type
 
Purchase Commitments
B-737-900ER
 
55

B-787-8
 
18

A321-200
 
71

A330-300
 
2

A330-900neo
 
25

A350-900
 
25

CS100
 
75

E190-100
 
8

Total
 
279



We have obtained, but are under no obligation to use, long-term financing commitments for a substantial portion of the purchase price of a significant number of these aircraft. Our purchase commitment for the 18 B-787-8 aircraft provides for certain aircraft substitution rights, including for our current orders of B-737-900ER aircraft.

During the June 2016 quarter, we reached an agreement with Bombardier to acquire 75 CS100 aircraft with deliveries beginning in 2018 and continuing through 2022. We have flexibility under the purchase agreement with respect to deferral, acceleration, conversion and a limited number of cancellation rights. The agreement also includes options to purchase 50 additional aircraft. Following the CS100 purchase agreement, we entered into an agreement to sell the E190-100 fleet following their delivery to us.

Also during the June 2016 quarter, we entered into firm commitments with Airbus for the delivery of 37 additional A321-200 aircraft. Deliveries will begin in November 2017 and continue through 2019.

Legal Contingencies

We are involved in various legal proceedings related to employment practices, environmental issues, antitrust matters and other matters concerning our business. We record liabilities for losses from legal proceedings when we determine that it is probable that the outcome in a legal proceeding will be unfavorable and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. Although the outcome of the legal proceedings in which we are involved cannot be predicted with certainty, management believes that the resolution of these matters will not have a material effect on our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

Shuttle America

Shuttle America and its parent, Republic Airways Holdings (collectively, Republic Airways), filed for bankruptcy in February 2016. In connection with agreements to settle litigation currently pending between Republic Airways and Delta, wind-down 50-seat aircraft operations, return to full capacity of contracted operations for Embraer 170/175 aircraft and lease certain takeoff and landing slots at New York-LaGuardia, we entered into a debtor-in-possession credit agreement to provide up to $75 million in liquidity to Republic Airways. The debtor-in-possession credit agreement remained undrawn as of September 30, 2016. We do not believe that Republic Airways' bankruptcy filing will have a material effect on our operations or financial statements.

Other Contingencies

General Indemnifications

We are the lessee under many commercial real estate leases. It is common in these transactions for us, as the lessee, to agree to indemnify the lessor and the lessor's related parties for tort, environmental and other liabilities that arise out of or relate to our use or occupancy of the leased premises. This type of indemnity would typically make us responsible to indemnified parties for liabilities arising out of the conduct of, among others, contractors, licensees and invitees at, or in connection with, the use or occupancy of the leased premises. This indemnity often extends to related liabilities arising from the negligence of the indemnified parties, but usually excludes any liabilities caused by either their sole or gross negligence or their willful misconduct.
Our aircraft and other equipment lease and financing agreements typically contain provisions requiring us, as the lessee or obligor, to indemnify the other parties to those agreements, including certain of those parties' related persons, against virtually any liabilities that might arise from the use or operation of the aircraft or other equipment.

We believe that our insurance would cover most of our exposure to liabilities and related indemnities associated with the commercial real estate leases and aircraft and other equipment lease and financing agreements described above. While our insurance does not typically cover environmental liabilities, we have certain insurance policies in place as required by applicable environmental laws.

Certain of our aircraft and other financing transactions include provisions that require us to make payments to preserve an expected economic return to the lenders if that economic return is diminished due to certain changes in laws or regulations. In certain of these financing transactions, we also bear the risk of certain changes in tax laws that would subject payments to non-U.S. lenders to withholding taxes.

We cannot reasonably estimate our potential future payments under the indemnities and related provisions described above because we cannot predict (1) when and under what circumstances these provisions may be triggered and (2) the amount that would be payable if the provisions were triggered because the amounts would be based on facts and circumstances existing at such time.

Employees Under Collective Bargaining Agreements

At September 30, 2016, we had approximately 84,000 full-time equivalent employees. Approximately 18% of these employees were represented by unions.

On September 30, 2016, we reached a comprehensive agreement in principle with the Air Line Pilots Association (“ALPA”) for a new Pilot Working Agreement. From this agreement in principle, a tentative agreement will be finalized and presented to ALPA’s Master Executive Council ("MEC"). If the MEC approves the tentative agreement, the agreement will be presented to our pilots for ratification. This process could take several months. If this new agreement is ratified, the pilots will receive an 18% pay increase retroactive to January 1, 2016.

Other

We have certain contracts for goods and services that require us to pay a penalty, acquire inventory specific to us or purchase contract-specific equipment, as defined by each respective contract, if we terminate the contract without cause prior to its expiration date. Because these obligations are contingent on our termination of the contract without cause prior to its expiration date, no obligation would exist unless such a termination occurs.