Financial Instruments and Risk Management

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2015

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]

Financial Instruments and Risk Management

Financial Instruments and Risk Management

As part of the Company’s risk management program, the Company from time to time may use a variety of financial instruments to reduce its exposure to fluctuations in the price of jet fuel and interest rates. The Company does not hold or issue derivative financial instruments for trading purposes.

The Company is exposed to credit losses in the event of nonperformance by counterparties to these financial instruments. The Company periodically reviews and seeks to mitigate exposure to the financial deterioration and nonperformance of any counterparty by monitoring the absolute exposure levels, each counterparty's credit ratings, and the historical performance of the counterparties relating to derivative transactions. The credit exposure related to these financial instruments is limited to the fair value of contracts in a net receivable position at the reporting date. The Company also maintains security agreements that require the Company to post collateral if the value of selected instruments falls below specified mark-to-market thresholds. As of June 30, 2015, the Company did not hold any derivatives with requirements to post collateral. The Company records financial derivative instruments at fair value, which includes an evaluation of each counterparty's credit risk.

Fuel Derivative Instruments

The Company's fuel derivative contracts generally consist of United States Gulf Coast jet fuel swaps (jet fuel swaps) and United States Gulf Coast jet fuel options (jet fuel options). Both jet fuel swaps and jet fuel options are used at times to protect the refining price risk between the price of crude oil and the price of refined jet fuel, and to manage the risk of increasing fuel prices. Fair value of the instruments is determined using standard option valuation models.

The Company accounts for its fuel derivative contracts at fair value and recognizes them in the balance sheet in prepaid expenses and other current assets or other current liabilities. The Company did not elect hedge accounting on any fuel derivative instruments entered into during the three and six months ended June 30, 2015 and 2014 and, as a result, changes in the fair value of these fuel derivative contracts are recorded in aircraft fuel expense. During the three months ended June 30, 2015, the Company did not acquire any jet fuel options. During the six months ended June 30, 2015, the Company paid $2.1 million in premiums to acquire jet fuel options.

The following table summarizes the components of aircraft fuel expense for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015 and 2014:

	Three Months Ended June 30,					Six Months Ended June 30,
	2015			2014		2015			2014
	(in thousands)
Into-plane fuel cost	$	127,344		$	154,385	$	235,468		$	302,856
Realized losses (gains) related to fuel derivative contracts, net	4,232			—		6,839			—
Unrealized losses (gains) related to fuel derivative contracts	(3,669		)	467		(1,974		)	467
Aircraft fuel	$	127,907		$	154,852	$	240,333		$	303,323

Premiums and settlements received or paid on fuel derivative contracts are reflected in the accompanying statements of cash flows in net cash provided by operating activities.

As of June 30, 2015, the Company had fuel derivatives consisting of jet fuel options with refined products as the underlying commodities designed to protect 25.5 million gallons, or approximately 19% of its remaining 2015 anticipated jet fuel consumption, at a weighted-average ceiling price of $1.93 per gallon. As of December 31, 2014, the Company had fuel derivatives consisting of jet fuel options with refined products as the underlying commodities designed to protect 88.7 million gallons, or approximately 35% of its 2015 anticipated jet fuel consumption, at a weighted-average ceiling price of $2.07 per gallon.

Interest Rate Swaps

As of June 30, 2015, the Company had six forward interest rate swaps with a total notional amount of $120 million. These interest rate swaps fix the benchmark interest rate component of the forecasted interest payments on the debt related to three Airbus A321 aircraft with expected delivery dates ranging from July 2015 to September 2015. These instruments limit the Company's exposure to changes in the benchmark interest rate in the period from the trade date through the date of maturity, ranging from July 2015 to September 2015. The interest rate swaps are designated as cash flow hedges. The Company accounts for these interest rate swaps at fair value and recognizes them in the balance sheet in prepaid expenses and other current assets or other current liabilities with changes in fair value recorded within accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI). Realized gains and losses from cash flow hedges are recorded in the statement of cash flows as a component of cash flows from operating activities. For the three and six months ended June 30, 2015, an unrealized gain of $1.2 million and an unrealized loss of $0.4 million, net of deferred taxes of $0.7 million and $0.2 million, respectively, were recorded within AOCI related to these instruments. As of June 30, 2015, the interest rate swaps were recorded as a liability of approximately $1.7 million. As of December 31, 2014, the interest rate swaps were recorded as a liability of approximately $1.1 million.

During the three and six months ended June 30, 2015, the Company recorded no ineffectiveness associated with the Company's interest rate cash flow hedges. The Company expects the swaps will be highly effective in offsetting changes in cash flows attributable to the hedged risk. However, given that there may be some uncertainty regarding the exact date on which the Company will issue its fixed-rate debt, the Company will evaluate the effect of such uncertainty on the effectiveness of the hedging relationship designated for each reporting period. Any ineffectiveness will be recorded within other non-operating expense in the Company's statement of operations.

Subsequent to the issuance of each debt instrument, amounts remaining in AOCI will be amortized over the life of the fixed-rate debt instrument.