Fair Value Measurements

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Under ASC 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures, disclosures relating to how fair value is determined for assets and liabilities are required, and a hierarchy for which these assets and liabilities must be grouped is established, based on significant levels of inputs, as follows:

Level 1—Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2—Observable inputs other than Level 1 prices such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities; quoted prices in markets that are not active; or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.

Level 3—Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities.

Fair value is defined as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. The Company utilizes several valuation techniques in order to assess the fair value of the Company’s financial assets and liabilities.

Long-term Debt

The estimated fair value of the Company's secured notes, term loan debt agreements and revolving credit facilities has been determined to be Level 3 as certain inputs used to determine the fair value of these agreements are unobservable. The Company utilizes a discounted cash flow method to estimate the fair value of the Level 3 long-term debt. The estimated fair value of the Company's publicly and non-publicly held EETC debt agreements and the Company's convertible notes has been determined to be Level 2 as the Company utilizes quoted market prices in markets with low trading volumes to estimate the fair value of its Level 2 long-term debt.

The carrying amounts and estimated fair values of the Company's long-term debt at December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, were as follows:


	As of December 31,
	2023				2022
	Carrying Value		Estimated Fair Value		Carrying Value		Estimated Fair Value		Fair value level hierarchy
	(in millions)
8.00% senior secured notes	$	1,110.0	$	1,121.9	$	1,110.0	$	1,085.0	Level 3

Fixed-rate term loans	1,093.3		1,099.9		1,094.7		1,003.9		Level 3
Unsecured term loans	136.3		128.3		136.3		116.0		Level 3
2015-1 EETC Class A	256.6		230.8		278.6		247.5		Level 2
2015-1 EETC Class B	40.0		39.4		48.0		45.6		Level 2
2015-1 EETC Class C	—		—		63.8		63.1		Level 2
2017-1 EETC Class AA	172.2		149.6		186.3		161.6		Level 2
2017-1 EETC Class A	57.4		48.5		62.1		52.3		Level 2
2017-1 EETC Class B	48.2		42.9		51.7		44.9		Level 2
2017-1 EETC Class C	—		—		85.5		85.1		Level 2
4.75% convertible notes due 2025	25.1		42.3		25.4		44.9		Level 2
1.00% convertible notes due 2026	500.0		349.9		500.0		405.1		Level 2

Total long-term debt	$	3,439.1	$	3,253.5	$	3,642.4	$	3,355.0

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents at December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 are comprised of liquid money market funds and cash and are categorized as Level 1 instruments. The Company maintains cash with various high-quality financial institutions.

Restricted Cash

Restricted cash is comprised of cash held in account subject to account control agreements or otherwise pledged as collateral against the Company's letters of credit and is categorized as a Level 1 instrument. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had a $85.0 million standby letter of credit secured by $75.0 million of restricted cash, of which $55.9 million were issued letters of credit. In addition, the Company had $44.4 million of restricted cash held in accounts subject to control agreements to be used for the payment of interest and fees on the Company's 8.00% senior secured notes. For additional information on the Company's 8.00% senior secured notes, refer to Note 13, Debt and Other Obligations.

Short-term Investment Securities

Short-term investment securities at December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 are classified as available-for-sale and generally consist of U.S. Treasury and U.S. government agency securities with contractual maturities of twelve months or less.

The Company's short-term investment securities are categorized as Level 1 instruments, as the Company uses quoted market prices in active markets when determining the fair value of these securities. For additional information, refer to Note 8, Short-term Investment Securities.

Derivative Liability

The Merger Agreement with JetBlue modified the settlement terms for any conversions of the convertible notes due 2026 (as defined below) that caused the conversion option, which is an embedded derivative, not to qualify for the derivative accounting scope exception provided under ASC 815. As such, the Company bifurcated the fair value of the conversion option of the convertible notes due 2026 as a derivative liability with subsequent changes in fair value recorded in earnings.

The Company records the fair value of the embedded derivative as a derivative liability within deferred gains and other long-term liabilities on its consolidated balance sheets. The fair value of the derivative liability was estimated as the difference in value of the traded price of the convertible notes, including the conversion option and the value of the convertible notes in the absence of the conversion option (the debt component). The value of the debt component was estimated using a discounted cash flow analysis with a yield calibrated to the traded price of the convertible notes. The change in fair value of the derivative liability is recorded within interest expense on the Company's consolidated statements of operations and is included in other liabilities within operating activities in the Company's consolidated statements of cash flows. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company recorded $18.1 million and $20.3 million, respectively, in a favorable mark to market adjustment, related to the change in fair value of the derivative liability. The fair value of the derivative liability has been determined to be Level 2 as observable inputs were used to determine the fair value of derivative liability. For additional information, refer to Note 13, Debt and Other Obligations.

Assets and liabilities measured at gross fair value on a recurring basis are summarized below:


	Fair Value Measurements as of December 31, 2023
	Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
	(in millions)
Cash and cash equivalents	$	865.2	$	865.2	$	—	$	—
Restricted cash	119.4		119.4		—		—
Short-term investment securities	112.5		112.5		—		—



Total assets	$	1,097.1	$	1,097.1	$	—	$	—



Derivative liability	$	11.1	$	—	$	11.1	$	—
Total liabilities	$	11.1	$	—	$	11.1	$	—


	Fair Value Measurements as of December 31, 2022
	Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
	(in millions)
Cash and cash equivalents	$	1,346.4	$	1,346.4	$	—	$	—
Restricted cash	119.4		119.4		—		—
Short-term investment securities	107.1		107.1		—		—



Total assets	$	1,572.9	$	1,572.9	$	—	$	—




Total liabilities	$	29.2	$	—	$	29.2	$	—

The Company had no transfers of assets or liabilities between any of the above levels during the years ended December 31, 2023 or 2022.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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