Leases, Commitments, Guarantees and Contingencies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2025

Leases, Commitments, Guarantees and Contingencies

Leases, Commitments, Guarantees and Contingencies

(7) Leases, Commitments, Guarantees and Contingencies

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 June 30, 2025, 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 four to five years. The Company is subleasing these eight aircraft 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 31 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 June 30, 2025, the Company’s right-of-use assets were $79.9 million, the Company’s current maturities of operating lease liabilities were $20.1 million, and the Company’s noncurrent lease liabilities were $59.8 million. During the six months ended June 30, 2025, the Company paid $17.0 million under operating leases reflected as a reduction from operating cash flows.

The table below presents lease related terms and discount rates as of June 30, 2025:

Weighted-average remaining lease term for operating leases	11.0 years
Weighted-average discount rate for operating leases	6.3%

The Company’s lease costs for the three and six months ended June 30, 2025 and 2024 included the following components (in thousands):

	For the three months ended June 30,				For the six months ended June 30,
	2025		2024		2025		2024
Operating lease cost	$	8,946	$	6,658	$	17,196	$	13,917
Variable and short-term lease cost		639		543		1,128		1,576
Sublease income		(1,004)		(1,268)		(2,119)		(2,514)
Total lease cost	$	8,581	$	5,933	$	16,205	$	12,979

As of June 30, 2025, 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.

As of June 30, 2025, the Company had a firm purchase commitment for 74 E175 aircraft from Embraer with anticipated delivery dates through 2032, including a purchase agreement the Company entered into with Embraer during the second quarter of 2025. Under this commitment, the Company expects to purchase and place into service 13 E175 aircraft with United, one E175 aircraft with Alaska and 16 E175 aircraft with Delta. Additionally, the Company has secured delivery positions for 44 additional E175 aircraft from 2028 through 2032. The Company also had a purchase agreement to acquire 21 used CRJ900 airframes with anticipated closing dates in 2025.

The following table summarizes the Company’s commitments and obligations for future minimum rental payments required under operating leases that had initial or remaining non-cancelable lease terms as of June 30, 2025, firm aircraft and spare engine commitments, interest commitments and principal maturities on long-term debt as noted for each of the next five years and thereafter (in thousands):

	Total		Jul - Dec 2025		2026		2027		2028		2029		Thereafter
Operating lease payments for aircraft and facility obligations	$	118,743	$	10,479	$	19,009	$	16,149	$	10,857	$	9,140	$	53,109
Firm aircraft and spare engine commitments		2,434,032		206,791		229,169		323,267		329,050		309,213		1,036,542
Interest commitments		378,901		52,465		89,342		66,074		49,244		36,917		84,859
Principal maturities on long-term debt		2,514,645		266,934		535,083		490,204		320,265		216,724		685,435
Total commitments and obligations	$	5,446,321	$	536,669	$	872,603	$	895,694	$	709,416	$	571,994	$	1,859,945

In addition to the table above, in 2024, the Company entered into a master equipment purchase agreement with another airline to acquire certain airframes and engines and lease the assets back to the airline under a five-year term. The Company accounted for the transaction as a failed sale-leaseback in accordance with ASC 842 as the criteria for a sale were not met. At June 30, 2025, the Company estimated the remaining financing obligation under the agreement will be between $50.0 million and $60.0 million and anticipated closing on the remaining financings through 2026.

Guarantees

In 2022, the Company agreed to guarantee $19.8 million of debt for a 14 CFR Part 135 air carrier. The debt is secured by the Part 135 air carrier’s aircraft and engines and has a five-year term. In exchange for providing the guarantee, the Company received 6.5% of the guaranteed amount as consideration, payable in the estimated value of common stock of the Part 135 air carrier, all of which was sold in 2023. The balance of the debt under the guarantee was $13.3 million as of June 30, 2025.

In 2023, the Company agreed to guarantee up to $12.0 million of debt for an aviation school. The debt was secured by the school’s aircraft and engines and had a five-year term. In exchange for providing the guarantee, the Company received 2.0% of the guaranteed amount annually as consideration in cash. In June 2025, the aviation school fully repaid the debt under the guarantee agreement. As a result, the Company was no longer a guarantor at June 30, 2025.

The purpose of these guarantees is to help reduce the financing costs of aircraft for the third parties in an effort to increase the potential number of commercial pilots in the Company’s hiring pipeline. The Company also recorded the estimated credit loss associated with the guarantees based on publicly available historical default rates issued by a third party for companies with similar credit ratings, factoring the collateral and guarantee term.