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BOEING 737 MAX AIRCRAFT GROUNDING AND RETURN TO SERVICE
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022
Unusual or Infrequent Items, or Both [Abstract]  
BOEING 737 MAX AIRCRAFT GROUNDING AND RETURN TO SERVICE WORLDWIDE PANDEMICAs 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 the remainder of 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 in response.

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 Consolidated Balance Sheet) and entered into a warrant agreement with Treasury (classified as a component of Stockholders' equity in the Consolidated Balance Sheet). The following table provides the details from the PSP1, PSP2 and PSP3 Payroll Support programs:

(dollars in millions, shares in thousands)GrantPromissory NoteWarrants Total Payroll Support ProceedsWarrants (shares)Warrant Strike Price as of December 31, 2022Promissory 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 has been 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. As of December 31, 2021, all grant portions of the Payroll Support programs received had been allocated and classified as a contra-expense line item in the Consolidated Statement of Income (Loss). Although there is no directly applicable U.S. GAAP guidance related to such government assistance received, the Company analogized its facts and circumstances, and has utilized the accounting principles within International Accounting Standards 20, Accounting for Government Grants and Disclosure of Government Assistance, with respect to the Payroll Support funds received. The Company has an option to prepay the promissory notes at any time without premium or penalty. Warrants will be settled through net share settlement or net cash settlement, at the Company’s option. The Company has also granted Treasury certain demand underwritten offering and piggyback registration rights with respect to the warrants and the underlying common stock. The warrants do not have voting rights and include adjustments for below market issuances, payment of dividends, and other customary anti-dilution provisions.

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 the 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 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 $109 million and $446 million of the liability balances were relieved during 2022 and 2021, respectively, through payments to Employees, leaving a balance of $219 million and $328 million as of December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021. The liability associated with the Extended ETO program was fully relieved at March 31, 2022. During 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 $140 million credit to expense during 2021. Both the initial charge and the partial reversal were classified within Payroll support and voluntary Employee programs, net, in the accompanying Consolidated Statement of Income (Loss), and are in addition to the allocation of the PSP2 Payroll Support Program and PSP3 Payroll Support Program funds utilized to fund salaries, wages, and benefits, which totaled $2.7 billion for the year ended December 31, 2021.
BOEING 737 MAX AIRCRAFT GROUNDING AND RETURN TO SERVICEOn March 13, 2019, the FAA issued an emergency order for all U.S. airlines to ground all MAX aircraft. The Company immediately complied with the order and grounded all 34 MAX aircraft in its fleet. On November 18, 2020, the FAA rescinded the emergency order and issued official requirements to enable U.S. airlines to return the
MAX to service. The Company returned the MAX to revenue service on March 11, 2021, after the Company met all FAA requirements and Pilots received updated, MAX-related training.

The most significant financial impacts of the grounding resulting from the FAA's emergency order were the lost revenues, operating income, operating cash flows, and delayed capital expenditures, directly associated with the Company's grounded MAX fleet and other new aircraft that were not able to be delivered.
During 2019, the Company entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Boeing to compensate Southwest for estimated financial damages incurred during 2019 related to the grounding of the MAX. The terms of the agreement are confidential, but were intended to provide for a substantial portion of the Company’s financial damages associated with both the 34 MAX aircraft that were grounded as of March 13, 2019, as well as the 41 additional MAX aircraft the Company was scheduled to receive (28 owned MAX from Boeing and 13 leased MAX from third parties) from March 13, 2019 through December 31, 2019. The Company will account for substantially all of the proceeds received from Boeing as a reduction in cost basis spread across both the existing 31 owned MAX in the Company’s fleet at the time, and the Company’s future firm aircraft deliveries as of the date of the agreement. A total of $428 million in proceeds received in cash from Boeing are reflected within Investing Activities in the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended December 31, 2020. No material financial impacts of the agreement were realized in the Company’s earnings during the years ended December 31, 2020, 2021, or 2022.

During December 2020, the Company entered into an agreement with Boeing to compensate the Company for estimated financial damages incurred during 2020 related to the grounding of the MAX. The terms of the agreement are confidential, but the compensation was in the form of credit memos taken against future payments due to Boeing as aircraft were delivered in accordance with the amended delivery schedule, or as future progress payments were due. The Company accounted for substantially all of the compensation received from Boeing as a reduction in cost basis spread across both the existing owned MAX in the Company’s fleet, and the Company’s future firm aircraft deliveries from Boeing as of the date of the agreement. During fourth quarter 2021, the Company fully utilized the credits from Boeing, and no credits remained as of December 31, 2021. No material financial impacts of the agreement were realized in the Company’s earnings for the year ended December 31, 2022.