FINANCIAL DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]

Fuel Contracts

Airline operators are inherently dependent upon energy to operate and, therefore, are impacted by changes in jet fuel prices. Furthermore, jet fuel and oil typically represents one of the largest operating expenses for airlines. The Company endeavors to acquire jet fuel at the lowest possible cost and to reduce volatility in operating expenses through its fuel hedging program. Although the Company may periodically enter into jet fuel derivatives for short-term timeframes, because jet fuel is not widely traded on an organized futures exchange, there are limited opportunities to hedge directly in jet fuel for time horizons longer than approximately 24 months into the future. However, the Company has found that financial derivative instruments in other commodities, such as West Texas Intermediate ("WTI") crude oil, Brent crude oil, and refined products, such as heating oil and unleaded gasoline, can be useful in decreasing its exposure to jet fuel price volatility. The Company does not purchase or hold any financial derivative instruments for trading or speculative purposes.

The Company has used financial derivative instruments for both short-term and long-term timeframes, and historically has used a mixture of purchased call options, collar structures (which include both a purchased call option and a sold put option), call spreads (which include a purchased call option and a sold call option), put spreads (which include a purchased put option and a sold put option), and fixed price swap agreements in its portfolio. Although the use of collar structures and swap agreements can reduce the overall cost of hedging, these instruments carry more risk than purchased call options in that the Company could end up in a liability position when the collar structure or swap agreement settles. With the use of purchased call options and call spreads, the Company cannot be in a liability position at settlement, but does not have coverage once market prices fall below the strike price of the purchased call option.

For the purpose of evaluating its net cash spend for jet fuel and for forecasting its future estimated jet fuel expense, the Company evaluates its hedge volumes strictly from an "economic" standpoint and thus does not consider whether the hedges have qualified or will qualify for hedge accounting. The Company defines its "economic" hedge as the net volume of fuel derivative contracts held, including the impact of positions that have been offset through sold positions, regardless of whether those contracts qualify for hedge accounting. The level at which the Company is economically hedged for a particular period is also dependent on current market prices for that period, as well as the types of derivative instruments held and the strike prices of those instruments. For example, the Company may enter into "out-of-the-money" option contracts (including "catastrophic" protection, which the Company defines as prices significantly higher than historical average levels), which may not generate intrinsic gains at settlement if market prices do not rise above the option strike price. Therefore, even though the Company may have an economic hedge in place for a particular period, that hedge may not produce any hedging gains at settlement and may even produce hedging losses depending on market prices, the types of instruments held, and the strike prices of those instruments.

As of December 31, 2023, the Company had fuel derivative instruments in place to provide coverage at varying price levels. The following table provides information about the Company’s volume of fuel hedging on an economic basis:


	Maximum fuel hedged as of
	December 31, 2023	Derivative underlying commodity type as of
Period (by year)	(gallons in millions) (a)	December 31, 2023
2024	1,265	WTI crude oil and Brent crude oil
2025	1,033	Brent crude oil
2026	358	Brent crude oil

(a) Due to the types of derivatives utilized by the Company and different price levels of those contracts, these volumes represent the maximum economic hedge in place and may vary significantly as market prices and the Company's flight schedule fluctuate.

Upon proper qualification, the Company accounts for its fuel derivative instruments as cash flow hedges. Qualification is re-evaluated quarterly, and all periodic changes in fair value of the derivatives designated as hedges are recorded in AOCI until the underlying jet fuel is consumed. See Note 13.

If a derivative initially does not qualify or ceases to qualify for hedge accounting, any change in the fair value of derivative instruments since the last reporting period would be recorded in Other (gains) losses, net, in the Consolidated Statement of Income in the period of the change; however, any amounts previously recorded to AOCI would remain there until such time as the original forecasted transaction occurs, at which time these amounts would be reclassified to Fuel and oil expense. Factors that have and may continue to lead to the loss of hedge accounting include: significant fluctuation in energy prices or volumes of fuel purchased, significant weather events affecting refinery capacity and the production of refined products, and the volatility of the different types of products the Company uses in hedging. Certain types of derivative instruments do not qualify for hedge accounting, including those that result in a net sold position (sold gallons exceeding purchased gallons). Increased volatility in certain commodity markets for an extended period of time, especially if such volatility were to worsen, could cause the Company to lose hedge accounting altogether for the commodities used in its fuel hedging program, which would create further volatility in the Company’s GAAP financial results. However, even though certain derivatives may not qualify for hedge accounting, the Company continues to hold the instruments as management believes they continue to afford the Company the opportunity to stabilize jet fuel costs. When the Company has sold derivative positions in order to effectively "close" or offset a derivative already held as part of its fuel derivative instrument portfolio, any subsequent changes in fair value of those positions are marked to market through earnings. Likewise, any changes in fair value of those positions that were offset by entering into the sold positions and were de-designated as hedges are concurrently marked to market through the Consolidated Statement of Income. However, any changes in value related to hedges that were deferred as part of AOCI while designated as a hedge would remain until the originally forecasted transaction occurs. In a situation where it becomes probable that a fuel hedged forecasted transaction will not occur, any gains and/or losses that have been recorded to AOCI would be required to be immediately reclassified into the Consolidated Statement of Income. The Company did not have any such situations where a derivative ceased to qualify for hedge accounting during 2022 and 2023.

Accounting pronouncements pertaining to derivative instruments and hedging are complex with stringent requirements, including the documentation of a Company hedging strategy, statistical analysis to qualify a commodity for hedge accounting both on a historical and a prospective basis, and strict contemporaneous documentation that is required at the time each hedge is designated by the Company. This statistical analysis involves utilizing regression analyses that compare changes in the price of jet fuel to changes in the prices of the commodities used for hedging purposes.

All cash flows associated with purchasing and selling fuel derivatives are classified as Other operating cash flows in the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows. The following table presents the location of all assets and liabilities associated with the Company’s derivative instruments within the Consolidated Balance Sheet:


		Asset derivatives				Liability derivatives
	Balance Sheet	Fair value at		Fair value at		Fair value at		Fair value at
(in millions)	location	12/31/2023		12/31/2022		12/31/2023		12/31/2022
Derivatives designated as hedges (a)
Fuel derivative contracts (gross)	Prepaid expenses and other current assets	$	86	$	352	$	—	$	—
Fuel derivative contracts (gross)	Other assets	137		160		—		—


Interest rate derivative contracts	Other assets	—		14		—		—


Total derivatives designated as hedges		$	223	$	526	$	—	$	—

(a) Represents the position of each trade before consideration of offsetting positions with each counterparty and does not include the impact of cash collateral deposits provided to or received from counterparties. See discussion of credit risk and collateral following in this Note.

In addition, the Company had the following amounts associated with fuel derivative instruments and hedging activities in its Consolidated Balance Sheet:


	Balance Sheet	December 31,		December 31,
(in millions)	location	2023		2022
Cash collateral deposits held from counterparties for fuel contracts - current	Offset against Prepaid expenses and other current assets	$	15	$	106
Cash collateral deposits held from counterparties for fuel contracts - noncurrent	Offset against Other assets	35		—
Receivable from third parties for fuel contracts	Accounts and other receivables	12		34

All of the Company's fuel derivative instruments and interest rate swaps are subject to agreements that follow the netting guidance in the applicable accounting standards for derivatives and hedging. The types of derivative instruments the Company has determined are subject to netting requirements in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet are those in which the Company pays or receives cash for transactions with the same counterparty and in the same currency via one net payment or receipt. For cash collateral held by the Company or provided to counterparties, the Company nets such amounts against the fair value of the Company's derivative portfolio by each counterparty. The Company has elected to utilize netting for both its fuel derivative instruments and interest rate swap agreements and also classifies such amounts as either current or noncurrent, based on the net fair value position with each of the Company's counterparties in the Consolidated Balance Sheet. If its fuel derivative instruments are in a net asset position with a counterparty, cash collateral amounts held are first netted against current outstanding derivative asset amounts associated with that counterparty until that balance is zero, and then any remainder is applied against the fair value of noncurrent outstanding derivative instruments. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had no outstanding interest rate swap agreements and therefore no cash collateral deposits provided or held.

The Company had the following recognized financial assets and financial liabilities resulting from those transactions that meet the scope of the disclosure requirements as necessitated by applicable accounting guidance for balance sheet offsetting:


Offsetting of derivative assets
(in millions)
		(i)		(ii)			(iii) = (i) + (ii)			(i)		(ii)		(iii) = (i) + (ii)
		December 31, 2023								December 31, 2022
Description	Balance Sheet location	Gross amounts of recognized assets		Gross amounts offset in the Balance Sheet			Net amounts of assets presented in the Balance Sheet			Gross amounts of recognized assets		Gross amounts offset in the Balance Sheet		Net amounts of assets presented in the Balance Sheet
Fuel derivative contracts	Prepaid expenses and other current assets	$	86	$	(15)	(b)	$	71		$	352	$	(106)	$	246
Fuel derivative contracts	Other assets	$	137	$	(35)		$	102	(a)	$	160	$	—	$	160	(a)


Interest rate derivative contracts	Other assets	$	—	$	—		$	—	(a)	$	14	$	—	$	14	(a)

(a) The net amounts of derivative assets and liabilities are reconciled to the individual line item amounts presented in the Consolidated Balance Sheet in Note 16.


Offsetting of derivative liabilities
(in millions)
		(i)		(ii)			(iii) = (i) + (ii)			(i)		(ii)		(iii) = (i) + (ii)
		December 31, 2023								December 31, 2022
Description	Balance Sheet location	Gross amounts of recognized liabilities		Gross amounts offset in the Balance Sheet			Net amounts of liabilities presented in the Balance Sheet			Gross amounts of recognized liabilities		Gross amounts offset in the Balance Sheet		Net amounts of liabilities presented in the Balance Sheet
Fuel derivative contracts	Prepaid expenses and other current assets	$	15	$	(15)	(b)	$	—		$	106	$	(106)	$	—
Fuel derivative contracts	Other assets	$	35	$	(35)		$	—	(a)	$	—	$	—	$	—	(a)

(a) The net amounts of derivative assets and liabilities are reconciled to the individual line item amounts presented in the Consolidated Balance Sheet in Note 16.

The following tables present the impact of derivative instruments and their location within the Consolidated Statement of Income for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022:


Location and amount recognized in income on cash flow hedging relationships
	Year ended December 31, 2023		Year ended December 31, 2022
(in millions)	Fuel and oil		Other operating expenses		Fuel and oil		Other operating expenses
Total	$	(128)	$	7	$	(832)	$	7

(Gain) loss on cash flow hedging relationships
Commodity contracts:
Amount of gain reclassified from AOCI into income	(128)		—		(832)		—
Interest contracts:
Amount of loss reclassified from AOCI into income	—		7		—		7


Derivatives designated and qualified in cash flow hedging relationships
	(Gain) Loss recognized in AOCI on derivatives, net of tax
	Year ended
	December 31,
(in millions)	2023		2022
Fuel derivative contracts	$	238	$	(494)
Interest rate derivatives	(7)		(14)
Total	$	231	$	(508)


Derivatives not designated as hedges
	(Gain) Loss recognized in income on derivatives

	Year ended
	December 31,				Location of (gain) loss recognized in income on derivatives
(in millions)	2023		2022
Fuel derivative contracts	$	(17)	$	(41)	Other (gains) losses, net

The Company also recorded expense (benefit) associated with premiums paid (received) for fuel derivative contracts that settled/expired during 2023, 2022 and 2021. Gains and/or losses associated with fuel derivatives that qualify for hedge accounting are ultimately recorded to Fuel and oil expense. Gains and/or losses associated with fuel derivatives that do not qualify for hedge accounting are recorded to Other (gains) and losses, net. The following table presents the impact of premiums paid (received) for fuel derivative contracts and their location within the Consolidated Statement of Income during the period the contract settles:


	Premium (benefit) expense recognized in income on derivatives

	Year ended December 31,						Location of premium (benefit) expense recognized in income on derivatives

(in millions)	2023		2022		2021
Fuel derivative contracts designated as hedges	$	121	$	105	$	57	Fuel and oil
Fuel derivative contracts not designated as hedges	$	—	$	(28)	$	43	Other (gains) losses, net

The fair values of the derivative instruments, depending on the type of instrument, were determined by the use of present value methods or option value models with assumptions about commodity prices based on those observed in underlying markets or provided by third parties. Included in the Company’s cumulative unrealized gains from fuel hedges as of December 31, 2023, recorded in AOCI, were approximately $55 million in unrealized losses, net of taxes, which are expected to be realized in earnings during the twelve months subsequent to December 31, 2023.

Interest Rate Swaps

The Company is at times party to certain interest rate swap agreements that are accounted for as cash flow hedges, but had none in place as of December 31, 2023. The Company did not have any interest rate swap agreements designated as fair value hedges, as defined, during the periods presented. During the periods presented, all of the Company's interest rate swap agreements have qualified for the "shortcut" or "critical terms match" methods of accounting for hedges, which dictate that the hedges were assumed to be perfectly effective at origination, and, thus, there was no ineffectiveness to be recorded in the Consolidated Statement of Income.

During fourth quarter 2023, the Company terminated $150 million notional value of forward-starting interest rate swap agreements. These swap agreements had been classified as cash flow hedges, and all fair market value changes were recorded to AOCI prior to their termination. The effect of this termination is that the value of the swaps originally recorded in AOCI, a gain of $23 million, will be amortized to Interest expense over the life of the debt, which will be within the years 2024-2027.

Credit Risk and Collateral

Credit exposure related to fuel derivative instruments is represented by the fair value of contracts that are an asset to the Company at the reporting date. At such times, these outstanding instruments expose the Company to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the counterparties to the agreements. However, the Company has not experienced any significant credit loss as a result of counterparty nonperformance in the past. To manage credit risk, the Company selects and periodically reviews counterparties based on credit ratings, limits its exposure with respect to each counterparty, and monitors the market position of the fuel hedging program and its relative market position with each counterparty. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had agreements with all of its active counterparties containing early termination rights and/or bilateral collateral provisions whereby security is required if market risk exposure exceeds a specified threshold amount based on the counterparty's credit rating. The Company also had agreements with counterparties in which cash deposits and letters of credit were required to be posted as collateral whenever the net fair value of derivatives associated with those counterparties exceeds specific thresholds. In certain cases, the Company has the ability to substitute among these different forms of collateral at its discretion.

The following table provides the fair values of fuel derivatives, amounts posted as collateral, and applicable collateral posting threshold amounts as of December 31, 2023, at which such postings are triggered:

Counterparty (CP)

(in millions)

Total

Fair value of fuel derivatives

223

Cash collateral held from CP

—

Option to substitute LC for cash

N/A

(a)

N/A

(a)

N/A

If credit rating is investment
grade, fair value of fuel
derivative level at which:

Cash is provided to CP

>(100)

>(50)

>(75)

>(125)

>(40)

>(65)

>(100)

Cash is received from CP

>0(b)

>150(b)

>250(b)

>125(b)

>100(b)

>70(b)

>100(b)

If credit rating is non-investment
grade, fair value of fuel derivative
level at which:

Cash is received from CP

(c)

(a) The Company has the option to substitute letters of credit for 100 percent of cash collateral requirement.

(b) Thresholds may vary based on changes in credit ratings within investment grade.