Worldwide Pandemic

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2022

Unusual or Infrequent Items, or Both [Abstract]

As a result of the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, throughout the world, including into the United States, on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization classified the virus as a pandemic. The speed with which the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic changed the U.S. economic landscape, outlook, and in particular the travel industry, was swift and unexpected. The Company experienced significant disruptions in travel and reduced bookings throughout the remainder of 2020 and for the entirety of 2021 as a result of the pandemic and subsequent variants of COVID-19. Following a significant negative impact to revenues and bookings in January and February 2022, which included increased trip cancellations and staffing challenges associated with the Omicron variant, the Company saw improvements in revenue trends in March 2022 and throughout second quarter 2022 as COVID-19 cases significantly trended downward and bookings for summer travel accelerated. The Company continues to monitor demand for air travel and proactively adjust its published flight schedules and capacity.

Since the start of the pandemic, the Company entered into definitive documentation with the United States Department of the Treasury ("Treasury") with respect to payroll funding support ("Payroll Support") pursuant to three separate Payroll Support programs: the "PSP1 Payroll Support Program" in April 2020 under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act ("CARES Act"); the "PSP2 Payroll Support Program” in January 2021 under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021; and the "PSP3 Payroll Support Program" in April 2021 under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

As consideration for its receipt of funding under each of these Payroll Support programs, the Company issued a promissory note in favor of Treasury (classified as a component of Long term debt less current maturities in the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet) and entered into a warrant agreement with Treasury (classified as a component of Stockholders' equity in the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet). The following table provides the details from the PSP1, PSP2 and PSP3 Payroll Support programs:


(dollars in millions, shares in thousands)	Grant		Promissory Note		Warrants		Total Payroll Support Proceeds		Warrants (shares)	Warrant strike price	Promissory Note Maturity Date


PSP1	$	2,337	$	976	$	40	$	3,354	2,676	$36.47/share	April 19, 2030







PSP2	$	1,393	$	566	$	27	$	1,987	1,223	$46.28/share	January 15, 2031





PSP3	$	1,310	$	526	$	18	$	1,852	899	$58.51/share	April 23, 2031




Total	$	5,040	$	2,068	$	85	$	7,193	4,798

In connection with the receipt of Payroll Support, the Company is subject to certain restrictions, including the elimination of share repurchases and dividends through September 30, 2022; and limits on executive compensation until April 1, 2023.

Under each of the three Payroll Support programs, funds received were used solely to pay qualifying employee salaries, wages, and benefits. All grant portions of the Payroll Support programs received had been allocated and classified as a contra-expense line item in the Company's financial statements by the end of 2021, including approximately $724 million and $1.9 billion for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021, in the accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income.

On June 1, 2020, the Company announced Voluntary Separation Program 2020 ("Voluntary Separation Program"), a voluntary separation program that allowed eligible Employees the opportunity to voluntarily separate from the

Company in exchange for severance, medical/dental coverage for a specified period of time, and travel privileges based on years of service. A total of over 4,200 Employees elected to participate in Voluntary Separation Program.

In conjunction with Voluntary Separation Program, the Company also offered certain contract Employees the option to take voluntary Extended Emergency Time Off ("Extended ETO"), for periods between six and 18 months, with the exception of Pilots, who could elect to take Extended ETO for periods of up to five years, all subject to early recalls. Approximately 12,000 Employees participated in the Extended ETO program in 2020 and 2021 combined. The Company had no Employees remaining on Extended ETO past March 31, 2022.

The purpose of Voluntary Separation Program and Extended ETO was to maintain a reduced workforce to operate at reduced capacity relative to the Company's operations prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. In accordance with the accounting guidance in Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 712 (Compensation — Nonretirement Postemployment Benefits), the Company accrued charges related to the special termination benefits described above upon Employees accepting Voluntary Separation Program or Extended ETO offers. The Company accrued expenses totaling $1.4 billion for its Voluntary Separation Program and Extended ETO program in 2020, which are being reduced as program benefits are paid. For both the Voluntary Separation Program and Extended ETO programs combined, approximately $60 million of the liability balances were relieved during the first six months of 2022 through payments to Employees, leaving a balance of $269 million as of June 30, 2022. The liability associated with the Extended ETO program was fully relieved at March 31, 2022. During the first six months of 2021, the Company determined that it was no longer probable that the remaining portion of the Employees on Extended ETO would remain on such leave for their entire elected term. Therefore, a portion of the accruals previously recorded were reversed, resulting in a net $130 million credit to expense during the first six months of 2021. Both the initial charge and the partial reversal were classified within Payroll support and voluntary Employee programs, net, in the accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income.

In response to flight schedule adjustments due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of aircraft were taken out of the Company’s schedule beginning in late March 2020, and placed in short-term storage, as well as some in a longer term storage program. As of June 30, 2022, four Boeing 737-700 aircraft remained in storage, all of which were retired from the Company's fleet in July 2022.