Leases, Commitments and Contingencies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Leases, Commitments and Contingencies

Leases, Commitments and Contingencies

Note 7 — Leases, Commitments and Contingencies

Effective January 1, 2019, the Company adopted Topic 842. The Company leases property and equipment under operating leases. For leases with durations longer than 12 months, the Company recorded the related operating lease right-of-use asset and operating lease liability at the present value of lease payments over the term. The Company used its incremental borrowing rate to discount the lease payments based on information available at lease commencement.

Aircraft

As of September 30, 2020, the Company had 107 aircraft under operating leases with remaining terms ranging from less than one year to ten years.

With the adoption of Topic 842 on January 1, 2019, the Company evaluated whether leased aircraft asset groups within the Company’s fleet were impaired. Under the transition guidance for Topic 842, a company is permitted to recognize a previously unrecognized impairment related to a right-of-use asset in the period prior to the adoption date of Topic 842 if the event giving rise to the impairment occurred before the adoption date. In 2016, the Company recorded an impairment on certain of its long-lived assets, which included the Company’s CRJ200 aircraft. In 2016, the market lease rate was less than the contractual lease rate on the Company’s CRJ200 leased aircraft. The Company recorded an impairment of $13.1 million (net of tax) as an adjustment to the Company’s January 1, 2019 retained earnings related to the previously unrecognized impairment of these leased CRJ200s. The Company had no impairment charges related to its leased CRJ200s during the nine months ended September 30, 2020.

Airport facilities

The Company has operating leases for facility space including airport terminals, office space, cargo warehouses and maintenance facilities. The Company generally leases this space from government agencies that control the use of the various airports. The remaining lease terms for facility space vary from one month to 36 years. The Company’s operating leases with lease rates that are variable based on airport operating costs, use of the facilities or other variable factors are excluded from the Company’s right-of-use assets and operating lease liabilities in accordance with accounting guidance.

Leases

As of September 30, 2020, the Company’s right-of-use assets were $296.4 million, the Company’s current maturities of operating lease liabilities were $83.3 million, and the Company’s noncurrent lease liabilities were $221.8 million. During the nine months ended September 30, 2020, the Company paid $68.0 million in operating leases reflected as a reduction from operating cash flows.

The table below presents lease related terms and discount rates as of September 30, 2020.

	As of September 30, 2020
Weighted-average remaining lease term for operating leases	6.6 years
Weighted-average discount rate for operating leases		6.1%

The Company’s lease costs for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 included the following components (in thousands):

	For the three months ended September 30,				For the nine months ended September 30,
	2020		2019		2020		2019
Operating lease cost	$	23,538	$	25,173	$	72,696	$	80,041
Variable and short-term lease cost		950		1,343		3,501		4,164
Sublease income		(1,587)		(357)		(4,718)		(357)
Total lease cost	$	22,901	$	26,159	$	71,479	$	83,848

As of September 30, 2020, the Company leased aircraft, airport facilities, office space, and other property and equipment under non-cancelable operating leases, which are generally on a long-term, triple-net lease basis pursuant to which the Company pays taxes, maintenance, insurance and certain other operating expenses applicable to the leased property. The Company expects that, in the normal course of business, such operating leases that expire will be renewed or replaced by other leases, or the property may be purchased rather than leased. The following table summarizes future minimum rental payments primarily related to leased aircraft required under operating leases that had initial or remaining non-cancelable lease terms as of September 30, 2020 (in thousands):

October 2020 through December 2020	$	22,393
2021		85,599
2022		76,923
2023		69,419
2024		28,091
Thereafter		98,448
	$	380,873

The Company is coordinating with its major airline partners on the timing of upcoming fleet deliveries under previously announced deals in response to COVID-19-related schedule reductions. The anticipated future delivery dates are subject to change. As of September 30, 2020, the Company had a firm purchase commitment for 24 E175 aircraft from Embraer, S.A. (“Embraer”) with anticipated delivery dates through 2022.

Subsequent to September 30, 2020, the Company also secured agreements to acquire 21 used CRJ700 aircraft and lease the aircraft under a multi-year term to another regional airline operating for United Airlines. The aircraft purchases are expected to be financed with debt during the three months ended December 31, 2020.

The following table summarizes the Company’s commitments and obligations as noted for each of the next five years and thereafter (in thousands):

	Total		Oct - Dec 2020		2021		2022		2023		2024		Thereafter
Operating lease payments for aircraft and facility obligations	$	380,873	$	22,393	$	85,599	$	76,923	$	69,419	$	28,091	$	98,448
Firm aircraft and spare engine commitments		655,906		114,223		139,003		402,680		—		—		—
Interest commitments (1)		541,062		28,777		114,652		99,811		82,790		67,376		147,656
Principal maturities on long-term debt		3,101,657		69,405		387,309		388,152		397,913		351,431		1,507,447
Total commitments and obligations	$	4,679,498	$	234,798	$	726,563	$	967,566	$	550,122	$	446,898	$	1,753,551

(1) At September 30, 2020, the Company had variable rate notes representing only 2.4% of its total long-term debt.