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INVESTMENTS
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2024
Investments, Debt and Equity Securities [Abstract]  
INVESTMENTS INVESTMENTS
We have developed strategic relationships with a number of airlines and airline services companies through joint ventures and other forms of cooperation and support, including equity investments. Our equity investments reinforce our commitment to these relationships and generally enhance our ability to offer input to the investee on strategic issues and direction, in some cases through representation on the board of directors of the investee.

Fair Value Investments. Changes in the valuation of investments accounted for at fair value are recorded in gain/(loss) on investments, net in our income statement within non-operating expense and are driven by changes in stock prices, foreign currency fluctuations and other valuation techniques for investments in companies without publicly-traded shares.

Equity Method Investments. We record our share of our equity method investees' financial results in our income statement as described in the table below.

Equity investments ownership interest and carrying value
Accounting TreatmentOwnership InterestCarrying Value
(in millions)December 31, 2024December 31, 2023December 31, 2024December 31, 2023
Air France-KLMFair Value%%$62 $110 
China EasternFair Value%%155 134 
Grupo Aeroméxico
Equity Method(1)
20 %20 %354 421 
Hanjin-KAL
Fair Value(2)
15 %15 %507 561 
LATAMFair Value10 %10 %837 658 
Unifi Aviation
Equity Method(3)
49 %49 %146 162 
Wheels Up
Fair Value(4)
38 %38 %435 903 
Other investmentsVarious350 508 
Equity investments$2,846 $3,457 
(1)Results are included in miscellaneous, net in our income statement under non-operating expense.
(2)At December 31, 2024, we held 14.8% of the outstanding shares (including common and preferred), and 14.9% of the common shares, of Hanjin KAL.
(3)Results are included in contracted services in our income statement as this entity is integral to the operations of our business by providing services at many of our airport locations.
(4)Our voting rights with respect to Wheels Up are capped at 29.9%. We elected to account for our investment under the fair value option.
Wheels Up. We concluded that Wheels Up is a variable interest entity ("VIE"). A VIE requires consolidation by the entity’s primary beneficiary. We determined that we are not the primary beneficiary after assessing the decision-making process for the significant activities of Wheels Up, concluding that Wheels Up's Board of Directors continues to possess the decision-making authority over the significant activities, and we do not control Wheels Up's Board. Based on this assessment, Wheels Up is not consolidated in our financial statements.

Our investment is subject to contractual transfer restrictions until September 2025 and thereafter will remain subject to certain, more limited transfer restrictions.

During the December 2024 quarter, Wheels Up entered into a five year Note Purchase Agreement with third parties which provides for the issuance of Revolving Equipment Notes in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $332 million under a Revolving Equipment Notes Facility. We have provided credit support for the Revolving Equipment Notes Facility which effectively guarantees the Wheels Up payment obligations. As a result, and consistent with our fair value option election, we recorded the immaterial fair value of the guarantee in other noncurrent liabilities on our balance sheet.

Other Investments

This category includes various investments that are accounted for at fair value or under the equity method, depending on our ownership interest and the level of influence conveyed by our investment. Among others, this category includes our equity method investments in Virgin Atlantic and JFK IAT Member LLC and our fair value investment in CLEAR.

Virgin Atlantic. The carrying value of our investment in Virgin Atlantic remains zero as of December 31, 2024. We maintain our 49% equity interest and continue to track our share of Virgin Atlantic's losses under the equity method of accounting. These previously unrecognized losses are only recorded to the extent we make additional investments in Virgin Atlantic (i.e., additional shareholder support). As of December 31, 2024, we have approximately $480 million of unrecognized equity method losses related to our 49% interest in Virgin Atlantic.

CLEAR. In 2024, we sold in multiple transactions our equity ownership in Clear Secure, Inc. ("CLEAR"). This sale is recorded in gain/(loss) on investments, net on our income statement and cash proceeds are recorded in other, net within investing activities on our cash flows statement.

JFK IAT Member LLC. We have an equity method investment in JFK IAT Member LLC, which owns JFK International Air Terminal LLC ("IAT"), our landlord at the New York-JFK Airport. We have a long-term agreement with IAT to sublease space in Terminal 4 through 2043 ("Sublease") which requires us to pay certain fixed management fees. We determined that the investment is a VIE and assessed whether we have a controlling financial interest in IAT. Our rights under the Sublease, with respect to management of Terminal 4, are consistent with rights granted to an anchor tenant under a standard airport lease. Accordingly, we do not consolidate this entity in our Consolidated Financial Statements.