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Investments
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Investments, Debt and Equity Securities [Abstract]  
Investments INVESTMENTS
We have developed strategic relationships with a number of airlines and airline services companies through joint ventures and other forms of cooperation and support, including equity investments. Our equity investments reinforce our commitment to these relationships and generally enhance our ability to offer input to the investee on strategic issues and direction, in some cases through representation on the board of directors.

Changes in the valuation of investments accounted for at fair value are recorded in gain/(loss) on investments, net in our income statement within non-operating expense and are driven by changes in stock prices, other valuation techniques for investments in companies without publicly-traded shares and foreign currency fluctuations.
Our share of Unifi Aviation's financial results is recorded in contracted services in our income statement as this entity is integral to the operations of our business by providing services at our airport locations, while our share of other equity method investees' financial results is recorded in impairments and equity method losses in our income statement under non-operating expense. If an investment accounted for under the equity method experiences a loss in value that is determined to be other than temporary, we will reduce our carrying value of the investment to fair value and record the loss in impairments and equity method losses in our income statement.

Equity investments ownership interest and carrying value
Accounting TreatmentOwnership InterestCarrying Value
(in millions)September 30, 2021December 31, 2020September 30, 2021December 31, 2020
Wheels UpFair Value21 %24 %$343 $210 
Hanjin-KALFair Value13 %13 %456 512 
Air France-KLMFair Value6 %9 %184 235 
China EasternFair Value3 %3 %179 201 
CLEARFair Value6 %6 %340 120 
Unifi AviationEquity Method49 %49 %167 154 
Other investmentsVarious250 233 
Equity investments$1,919 $1,665 

Wheels Up. In July 2021, Wheels Up became a publicly-traded company through a merger with Aspirational Consumer Lifestyle Corp ("Aspirational"). Aspirational subsequently changed its name to Wheels Up Experience Inc. and its common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol UP. We account for our investment under the fair value option and are using the stock price to recognize fair value adjustments beginning in the September 2021 quarter.

CLEAR. In the June 2021 quarter, CLEAR completed an initial public offering of Class A common stock, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol YOU. We own shares of Alclear Holdings, LLC, which are convertible on a one-to-one basis for the Class A common stock of CLEAR. Our 6% ownership interest is determined on a fully exchanged and converted basis. We account for our investment under the fair value method and are using the stock price to recognize fair value adjustments.

Other Investments. This category includes various investments that are accounted for at fair value or under the equity method, depending on our ownership interest and the level of influence conveyed by our investment. Included therein are our investments in Grupo Aeroméxico, LATAM Airlines Group S.A. ("LATAM") and Virgin Atlantic, all of which are undergoing in-court or out-of-court restructurings, and the carrying values of these investments have been reduced to and remain zero as of September 30, 2021. In order to support our relationships with these carriers, we have provided them with strategic and operational assistance through their restructurings. As of September 30, 2021, we had notes payable of approximately $525 million, which were recorded in current maturities of debt and finance leases, and receivables from those carriers recorded within other noncurrent assets, including $185 million related to our option to purchase certain obligations of a lender under Grupo Aeroméxico's restructuring process and that lender’s right to require us to purchase that portion of its obligations.

GOL. During 2020, we loaned GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes, the parent company of GOL Linhas Aéreas (operating as GOL), $250 million to be used exclusively to repay the term loan we had previously guaranteed. In the June 2021 quarter, GOL repaid the outstanding balance of this loan in full.