Leases

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Leases

Leases

(6) Leases

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

During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company acquired 35 CRJ aircraft under early lease buyout arrangements with the lessors for $142.4 million. The aircraft were in the Company’s operating fleet when the lease buyouts occurred. As of December 31, 2023, excluding aircraft financed by the Company’s major airline partners that the Company operates for them under contract, the Company leased eight aircraft under long-term lease agreements with remaining terms ranging from five to seven years. These eight aircraft are subleased to a third-party.

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 33 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 December 31, 2023, the Company’s right-of-use assets were $86.7 million, the Company’s current maturities of operating lease liabilities were $19.3 million, and the Company’s noncurrent lease liabilities were $67.4 million. During 2023, the Company paid $31.7 million in operating leases reflected as a reduction from operating cash flows.

The table below presents lease related terms and discount rates as of December 31, 2023:

Weighted-average remaining lease term for operating leases	11 years
Weighted-average discount rate for operating leases	6.1%

The Company’s lease costs for 2023, 2022 and 2021 included the following components (in thousands):

	For the year ended December 31,
	2023		2022		2021
Operating lease cost	$	48,169	$	97,998	$	89,891
Variable and short-term lease cost		2,840		1,830		4,468
Sublease income		(5,402)		(7,089)		(6,552)
Total lease cost	$	45,607	$	92,739	$	87,807

As of December 31, 2023, 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.

The following table summarizes future minimum rental payments required under operating leases that had initial or remaining non-cancelable lease terms as of December 31, 2023 (in thousands):

2024	$	19,924
2025		17,503
2026		13,752
2027		12,554
2028		9,762
Thereafter		55,568
Total future minimum operating lease payments	$	129,063