Recently Issued Accounting Standards

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

NOTE 1 - RECENTLY ISSUED ACCOUNTING STANDARDS

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (“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.

In February 2016, the FASB amended the FASB Accounting Standards Codification and created a new Topic 842, Leases (“Topic 842”). The 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. Lessees and lessors are required to adopt Topic 842 using a modified retrospective approach for all leases existing at or commencing after the date of initial application with an option to use certain practical expedients. The Company is evaluating the impact the adoption of this standard will have on its consolidated financial statements and believes this standard will have a significant impact on its consolidated balance sheets.

In March 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-09, Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting (“ASU 2016-09”). The update requires excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies, which arise due to differences between the measure of compensation expense and the amount deductible for tax purposes, to be recorded directly through earnings as a component of income tax expense. Under current GAAP, these differences are generally recorded in additional paid-in capital and thus have no impact on net income. The change in treatment of excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies will also impact the computation of diluted earnings per share, and the cash flows associated with those items will be classified as operating activities on the condensed statements of consolidated cash flows. Additionally, entities will be permitted to make an accounting policy election for the impact of forfeitures on the recognition of expense for share-based payment awards. Forfeitures can be estimated, as required under current GAAP, or recognized when they occur. The amendments in this update are effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods within those annual periods. The Company does not expect the adoption of ASU 2016-09 to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In August 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments (“ASU 2016-15”). The update amends the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification 230, Statement of Cash Flows, and clarifies how entities should classify certain cash receipts and cash payments on the statement of cash flows with the objective of reducing the existing diversity in practice related to eight specific cash flow issues. The amendments in this update are effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect the adoption of ASU 2016-15 to have a material impact 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 September 30, 2016, the Company had approximately $202 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 September 30, 2016, the Company had approximately $1.9 billion of such investments.