Lease Obligations (Notes)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Leases [Abstract]

Leases of Lessee Disclosure [Text Block]

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 $1.1 billion, $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. 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. 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, 2011, our minimum rental commitments under capital leases and noncancelable operating leases (including certain aircraft under Contract Carrier agreements) with initial or remaining terms in excess of one year:

Capital Leases

Years Ending December 31, (in millions)	Total
2012	$	221
2013	196
2014	168
2015	155
2016	163
Thereafter	323
Total minimum lease payments	1,226
Less: amount of lease payments representing interest	(489		)
Present value of future minimum capital lease payments	737
Plus: unamortized premium, net	(6		)
Less: current obligations under capital leases	(117		)
Long-term capital lease obligations	$	614

Operating Leases

Years Ending December 31, (in millions)	Delta Lease Payments(1)		Contract Carrier Aircraft Lease Payments(2)		Total
2012	$	926	$	536	$	1,462
2013	912		529		1,441
2014	862		518		1,380
2015	765		506		1,271
2016	677		449		1,126
Thereafter	6,660		928		7,588
Total minimum lease payments	$	10,802	$	3,466	$	14,268

⁽¹⁾  Includes payments accounted for as construction obligations. See Note 4.

⁽²⁾  Represents the minimum lease obligations under our Contract Carrier agreements with ExpressJet Airlines, Inc. (formerly Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Inc.), Chautauqua Airlines, Inc. (“Chautauqua”), Compass, Mesaba, Pinnacle, Shuttle America Corporation (“Shuttle America”) and SkyWest Airlines, Inc.

At December 31, 2011, we and our wholly-owned subsidiary Comair operated 111 aircraft under capital leases and 90 aircraft under operating leases. Our Contract Carriers under capacity purchase agreements (excluding Comair) operated 550 aircraft under operating leases.