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Commitments and Contingencies | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2019
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Commitments. As of December 31, 2019, United had firm commitments and options to purchase aircraft from The Boeing Company ("Boeing"), Airbus S.A.S. ("Airbus") and Embraer S.A. ("Embraer") presented in the table below:
|  |  |  | Scheduled Aircraft Deliveries
Aircraft Type |  | Number of Firm Commitments (a) |  | 2020 |  | After 2020
Airbus A321XLR |  | 50 |  |  | — |  |  | 50 |
Airbus A350 |  | 45 |  |  | — |  |  | 45 |
Boeing 737 MAX |  | 171 |  |  | 44 |  |  | 127 |
Boeing 777-300ER |  | 2 |  |  | 2 |  |  | — |
Boeing 787 |  | 16 |  |  | 15 |  |  | 1 |
Embraer E175 |  | 20 |  |  | 20 |  |  | — |
(a) United also has options and purchase rights for additional aircraft. The aircraft listed in the table above are scheduled for delivery through 2030. The Company expects to assign the purchase obligation for each of the 20 Embraer E175 aircraft to one of its regional partners at the time of such aircraft's delivery, subject to certain conditions. To the extent the Company and the aircraft manufacturers with which the Company has existing orders for new aircraft agree to modify the contracts governing those orders, the amount and timing of the Company's future capital commitments could change. United also has agreements to purchase 20 used Airbus A319 aircraft with expected delivery dates through 2022 and 19 used Boeing 737-700 aircraft with expected delivery dates through 2021. The 44 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in the table above include 16 Boeing B737 MAX aircraft of which the Company planned to take delivery in 2019, and 28 aircraft of which the Company planned to take delivery in 2020; however, following the FAA Order, Boeing suspended deliveries of new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The extent of the delay to the scheduled deliveries of new 737 MAX aircraft is expected to be impacted by the length of time the FAA Order remains in place, Boeing's production rate and the pace at which Boeing can deliver aircraft following the lifting of the FAA Order, among other factors. As a result, the Company is unable to estimate the number of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft of which it will take delivery in 2020. The table below summarizes United's commitments as of December 31, 2019, which include aircraft and related spare engines, aircraft improvements and all non-aircraft capital commitments (in billions):
2020 |  | $ | 6.9 |
2021 |  | 4.3 |
2022 |  | 2.0 |
2023 |  | 1.0 |
2024 |  | 1.2 |
After 2024 |  | 11.3 |
|  | $ | 26.7 |
The Company secured $328 million of EETC financing to finance certain aircraft deliveries in 2020. The Company has also secured backstop financing commitments from certain of its aircraft manufacturers for a limited number of its future aircraft deliveries, subject to certain customary conditions. Financing may be necessary to satisfy the Company's capital commitments for its firm order aircraft and other related capital expenditures. Legal and Environmental. The Company has certain contingencies resulting from litigation and claims incident to the ordinary course of business. As of December 31, 2019, management believes, after considering a number of factors, including (but not limited to) the information currently available, the views of legal counsel, the nature of contingencies to which the Company is subject and prior experience, that the ultimate disposition of the litigation and claims will not materially affect the Company's consolidated financial position or results of operations. The Company records liabilities for legal and environmental claims when a loss is probable and reasonably estimable. These amounts are recorded based on the Company's assessments of the likelihood of their eventual disposition. Guarantees and Indemnifications. In the normal course of business, the Company enters into numerous real estate leasing and aircraft financing arrangements that have various guarantees included in the contracts. These guarantees are primarily in the form of indemnities under which the Company typically indemnifies the lessors and any tax/financing parties against liabilities that arise out of or relate to the use, operation or maintenance of the leased premises or financed aircraft. Currently, the Company believes that any future payments required under these guarantees or indemnities would be immaterial, as most liabilities and related indemnities are covered by insurance (subject to deductibles). Additionally, certain real estate leases include indemnities for any environmental liability that may arise out of or relate to the use of the leased premises. As of December 31, 2019, United is the guarantor of approximately $1.9 billion in aggregate principal amount of tax-exempt special facilities revenue bonds and interest thereon. These bonds, issued by various airport municipalities, are payable solely from rentals paid under long-term agreements with the respective governing bodies. The leasing arrangements associated with these obligations are accounted for as operating leases recognized on the Company's balance sheet with the associated expense recorded on a straight-line basis over the expected lease term. The obligations associated with these tax-exempt special facilities revenue bonds are included in our lease commitments disclosed in Note 11 of this report. All of these bonds are due between 2020 and 2038. In connection with funding the BRW Term Loan Agreement, the Company entered into an agreement with Kingsland, pursuant to which, in return for Kingsland's pledge of its 144.8 million common shares of AVH (which are eligible to be converted into the same number of preferred shares, which may be deposited with the depositary for AVH's American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs"), the class of AVH securities that trades on the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE"), in exchange for 18.1 million ADRs) and its consent to BRW's pledge of its AVH common shares to United under the BRW Term Loan Agreement and related agreements, United (1) granted to Kingsland the right to put its AVH common shares to United at market price on the fifth anniversary of the BRW Term Loan Agreement or upon certain sales of AVH common shares owned by BRW, including upon a foreclosure, and (2) guaranteed BRW's obligation to pay Kingsland the difference (which amount, if paid by United, will increase the BRW Term Loan by such amount) if the market price of AVH common shares on the fifth anniversary, or upon any such sale, as applicable, is less than $12 per ADR on the NYSE, for an aggregate maximum possible combined put payment and guarantee amount on the fifth anniversary of $217 million. In 2018, the Company recorded a liability of $31 million for the fair value of its guarantee to loan additional funds to BRW if required. Any such additional loans to BRW would be collateralized by BRW's AVH shares and other collateral. As of December 31, 2019, United is the guarantor of $132 million of aircraft mortgage debt issued by one of United's regional carriers. The aircraft mortgage debt is subject to similar increased cost provisions as described below for the Company's debt, and the Company would potentially be responsible for those costs under the guarantees. As of December 31, 2019, United had cash collateralized $73 million of letters of credit, which generally have evergreen clauses and are expected to be renewed on an annual basis. As of December 31, 2019, United also had $414 million of surety bonds securing various obligations with expiration dates through 2023. Increased Cost Provisions. In United's financing transactions that include loans in which United is the borrower, United typically agrees to reimburse lenders for any reduced returns with respect to the loans due to any change in capital requirements and, in the case of loans with respect to which the interest rate is based on LIBOR, for certain other increased costs that the lenders incur in carrying these loans as a result of any change in law, subject, in most cases, to obligations of the lenders to take certain limited steps to mitigate the requirement for, or the amount of, such increased costs. At December 31, 2019, the Company had $3.4 billion of floating rate debt with remaining terms of up to 11 years that are subject to these increased cost provisions. In several financing transactions involving loans or leases from non-U.S. entities, with remaining terms of up to 11 years and an aggregate balance of $3.2 billion, the Company bears the risk of any change in tax laws that would subject loan or lease payments thereunder to non-U.S. entities to withholding taxes, subject to customary exclusions. Fuel Consortia. United participates in numerous fuel consortia with other air carriers at major airports to reduce the costs of fuel distribution and storage. Interline agreements govern the rights and responsibilities of the consortia members and provide for the allocation of the overall costs to operate the consortia based on usage. The consortia (and in limited cases, the participating carriers) have entered into long-term agreements to lease certain airport fuel storage and distribution facilities that are typically financed through tax-exempt bonds, either special facilities lease revenue bonds or general airport revenue bonds, issued by various local municipalities. In general, each consortium lease agreement requires the consortium to make lease payments in amounts sufficient to pay the maturing principal and interest payments on the bonds. As of December 31, 2019, approximately $1.9 billion principal amount of such bonds were secured by significant fuel facility leases in which United participates, as to which United and each of the signatory airlines has provided indirect guarantees of the debt. As of December 31, 2019, the Company's contingent exposure was approximately $175 million principal amount of such bonds based on its recent consortia participation. The Company's contingent exposure could increase if the participation of other air carriers decreases. The guarantees will expire when the tax-exempt bonds are paid in full, which ranges from 2022 to 2051. The Company did not record a liability at the time these indirect guarantees were made. Regional Capacity Purchase. As of December 31, 2019, United had 325 call options to purchase regional jet aircraft being operated by certain of its regional carriers with contract dates extending until 2029. These call options are exercisable upon wrongful termination or breach of contract, among other conditions. Credit Card Processing Agreements. The Company has agreements with financial institutions that process customer credit card transactions for the sale of air travel and other services. Under certain of the Company's credit card processing agreements, the financial institutions in certain circumstances have the right to require that the Company maintain a reserve equal to a portion of advance ticket sales that has been processed by that financial institution, but for which the Company has not yet provided the air transportation. Such financial institutions may require additional cash or other collateral reserves to be established or additional withholding of payments related to receivables collected if the Company does not maintain certain minimum levels of unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments (collectively, "Unrestricted Liquidity"). The Company's current level of Unrestricted Liquidity is substantially in excess of these minimum levels. Labor Negotiations. As of December 31, 2019, United, including its subsidiaries, had approximately 96,000 employees. Approximately 84% of United's employees were represented by various U.S. labor organizations as of December 31, 2019. On February 1, 2019, the collective bargaining agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association ("ALPA"), the labor union representing United's pilots, became amendable. The Company and ALPA are in negotiations for an amended agreement. The Company and UNITE HERE, the labor union representing United's Catering Operations employees, started negotiations for a first collective bargaining agreement in March 2019. The collective bargaining agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (the "IBT") contains provisions that require the Company to align contract terms with other airlines' workgroups under certain conditions. There were no triggering events in 2019 that invoked these provisions.

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