Income Taxes

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2014

Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

As a result of the Merger, US Airways Group and its subsidiaries are included in the AAG consolidated federal and state income tax returns for the three months ended March 31, 2014. The Merger resulted in a statutory "ownership change" on December 9, 2013, as defined in Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (Section 382), which limits the Company's future ability to utilize NOLs generated before the ownership change and certain subsequently recognized "built-in" losses and deductions, if any, existing as of the date of the ownership change. The general limitation rules for a debtor in a bankruptcy case are liberalized where an ownership change occurs upon emergence from bankruptcy. The Company's ability to utilize any new NOLs arising after the ownership change is not affected.

At December 31, 2013, the Company had approximately $10.6 billion of gross NOLs to reduce future federal taxable income, the majority of which are expected to be available for use in 2014, subject to the Section 382 limitation described above. The federal NOLs will expire beginning in 2022 if unused. These NOLs include an unrealized tax benefit of $762 million related to the implementation of share-based compensation accounting guidance that will be recorded in equity when realized. The Company also had approximately $4.7 billion of gross NOLs to reduce future state taxable income at December 31, 2013, which will expire in years 2014 through 2033 if unused. At December 31, 2013, the Company had an Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) credit carryforward of approximately $370 million available for federal income tax purposes, which is available for an indefinite period. The Company's net deferred tax assets, which include the NOLs, are subject to a full valuation allowance. At December 31, 2013, the federal and state valuation allowances were $4.6 billion and $415 million, respectively. In accordance with GAAP, utilization of the NOLs after December 9, 2013 will result in a corresponding decrease in the valuation allowance and offset the Company's tax provision dollar for dollar.

For the three months ended March 31, 2014, the Company utilized NOLs to reduce its income tax obligation. However, the Company recorded a special $8 million non-cash deferred income tax provision related to certain indefinite-lived intangible assets and $5 million of state and international income tax expense related to certain states and countries where NOLs were limited or unavailable to be used.

For the three months ended March 31, 2013, the Company reported a loss before income taxes and recorded an income tax benefit of approximately $22 million as a result of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.

When profitable, the Company is ordinarily subject to AMT. However as a result of a special tax election made in 2009, the Company was able to utilize AMT NOLs to fully offset its AMT taxable income for the three months ended March 31, 2014.

AA [Member]

Income Tax Disclosure [Line Items]

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

The Merger resulted in a statutory "ownership change" on December 9, 2013, as defined in Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (Section 382), which limits American's future ability to utilize NOLs generated before the ownership change and certain subsequently recognized "built-in" losses and deductions, if any, existing as of the date of the ownership change. The general limitation rules for a debtor in a bankruptcy case are liberalized where an ownership change occurs upon emergence from bankruptcy. American's ability to utilize any new NOLs arising after the ownership change is not affected.

At December 31, 2013, American had approximately $9.5 billion of gross NOLs to reduce future federal taxable income, the majority of which are expected to be available for use in 2014, subject to the Section 382 limitation described above. The federal NOLs will expire beginning in 2022 if unused. These NOLs include an unrealized tax benefit of $647 million related to the implementation of share-based compensation accounting guidance that will be recorded in equity when realized. American also had approximately $3.8 billion of gross NOLs to reduce future state taxable income at December 31, 2013, which will expire in years 2014 through 2033 if unused. At December 31, 2013, American had an Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) credit carryforward of approximately $467 million available for federal income tax purposes, which is available for an indefinite period. American's net deferred tax assets, which include the NOLs, are subject to a full valuation allowance. At December 31, 2013, the federal and state valuation allowances were $4.9 billion and $378 million, respectively. In accordance with GAAP, utilization of the NOLs after December 9, 2013 will result in a corresponding decrease in the valuation allowance and offset American's tax provision dollar for dollar.

For the three months ended March 31, 2014, American utilized NOLs to reduce its income tax obligation. However, American recorded a special $7 million non-cash deferred income tax provision related to certain indefinite-lived intangible assets and $4 million of state and international income tax expense related to certain states and countries where NOLs were limited or unavailable to be used.

For the three months ended March 31, 2013, American reported a loss before income taxes and recorded an income tax benefit of approximately $30 million as a result of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.

When profitable, American is ordinarily subject to AMT. However as a result of a special tax election made in 2009, American was able to utilize AMT NOLs to fully offset its AMT taxable income for the three months ended March 31, 2014.