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Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2016
Recently Issued Accounting Standards

Recently Issued Accounting Standards. In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-09, Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting as part of its simplification initiative, which involves several aspects of accounting for share-based payment transactions, including the income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, and classification on the statement of cash flows. The amendments in this update are effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods within those annual periods. The Company is evaluating the impact the adoption of this standard will have on its consolidated financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB amended the FASB Accounting Standards Codification and created a new Topic 842, Leases. The final guidance requires lessees to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for all leases (with the exception of short-term leases) at the commencement date and recognize expenses on their income statements similar to the current Topic 840, Leases. It is effective for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2018, and early adoption is permitted. The Company is evaluating the impact the adoption of this standard will have on its consolidated financial statements.

The FASB amended the FASB Accounting Standards Codification and created a new Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. This amendment prescribes that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The amendment supersedes the revenue recognition requirements in Topic 605, Revenue Recognition, and most industry-specific guidance throughout the Industry Topics of the Accounting Standards Codification, and is effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017. Under the new standard, certain airline ancillary fees directly related to passenger revenue tickets, such as airline change fees and baggage fees, are likely to no longer be considered distinct performance obligations separate from the passenger travel component. In addition, the change fees which were previously recognized when received, will likely be recognized when transportation is provided. The Company is evaluating other possible impacts on its consolidated financial statements.

 

The FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2015-07, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosures for Investments in Certain Entities That Calculate Net Asset Value per Share (or Its Equivalent). Under the standard, investments for which fair value is measured at net asset value (“NAV”) per share (or its equivalent) using the practical expedient will no longer be categorized in the fair value hierarchy. The Company adopted this standard on January 1, 2016. As of March 31, 2016, the Company had approximately $201 million of such investments as part of its Short-term investments balance sheet total. In addition, pension plan investments measured at NAV per share will no longer be categorized within the fair value hierarchy. As of March 31, 2016, the Company had approximately $1.6 billion of such investments.