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Commitments and Contingencies | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2020
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Commitments. As of September 30, 2020, United had firm commitments and options to purchase aircraft from The Boeing Company ("Boeing"), Airbus S.A.S. ("Airbus") and Embraer S.A. ("Embraer") as presented in the table below:
|  |  |  | Scheduled Aircraft Deliveries |  |  |  |  |  |
Aircraft Type |  | Number of Firm Commitments (a) |  | Last Three Months of 2020 |  | 2021 |  | 2022 |  | After 2022
Airbus A321XLR |  | 50 |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 50 |
Airbus A350 |  | 45 |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 45 |
Boeing 737 MAX |  | 171 |  |  | 16 |  |  | 24 |  |  | — |  |  | 131 |
Boeing 787 |  | 11 |  |  | 3 |  |  | 8 |  |  | — |  |  | — |
Embraer E175 |  | 15 |  |  | 11 |  |  | 4 |  |  | — |  |  | — |
(a) United also has options and purchase rights for additional aircraft. |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
The aircraft listed in the table above are scheduled for delivery through 2030. To the extent the Company and the aircraft manufacturers with whom 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. Following the Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA") order issued on March 13, 2019 prohibiting the operation of Boeing 737 MAX series aircraft by U.S. certificated operators ("FAA Order"), Boeing suspended deliveries of new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. As a result, scheduled deliveries of Boeing 737 MAX series aircraft have been delayed, and the Company expects these delays to continue. The extent of the delay to the scheduled deliveries of new Boeing 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, and these factors have been and could continue to be significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, we anticipate that a certain number of 2020 and 2021 MAX deliveries described in the table above may move to later years. If the FAA Order is not lifted by the two-year anniversary of its issuance, an event of loss is likely to occur under certain of the Company's financing documents related to the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. An event of loss would require the Company to prepay at par approximately $450 million of indebtedness incurred to finance these aircraft. The Company expects that it would be able to refinance any such prepayment. In March 2020, the Company entered into a confidential settlement with Boeing with respect to compensation for financial damages incurred in 2019 due to the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. In June 2020, the Company entered into an amended and restated confidential agreement with Boeing which provides for the settlement of additional items related to aircraft delivery and updates the scheduled delivery for substantially all undelivered Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The compensation to the Company under the amended and restated settlement agreement is in the form of credit memos to be issued upon the satisfaction of certain conditions related to aircraft deliveries. The Company is accounting for this settlement as a reduction to the cost basis of future firm order Boeing 737 MAX aircraft deliveries and previously-delivered Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, which will reduce future depreciation expense associated with these aircraft. United also has agreements to purchase 20 used Airbus A319 aircraft with expected delivery dates through 2022 and 11 used Boeing 737-700 aircraft with expected delivery dates through 2021. In the first nine months of 2020, United entered into agreements with third parties to finance through sale and leaseback transactions new Boeing model 787-9 aircraft and Boeing model 737 MAX aircraft subject to purchase agreements between United and Boeing. In connection with delivery of each aircraft from Boeing, United will assign its right to purchase such aircraft to the buyer, and simultaneous with the buyer's purchase from Boeing, United will enter into a long-term lease for such aircraft with the buyer as lessor. Seven Boeing model 787-9 aircraft were delivered under these transactions (and each is presently subject to a long-term lease to United). Remaining aircraft in the agreements are scheduled to be delivered through 2021. Upon delivery of aircraft in these sale and leaseback transactions, the Company will account for these aircraft which have a repurchase option at a price other than fair value as part of Flight equipment on the Company's balance sheet and the related obligation recorded in Other current liabilities and Other financial liabilities from sale-leasebacks (noncurrent) since they do not qualify for sale recognition. The remaining aircraft in this transaction that qualify for sale recognition will be recorded as Operating lease right-of-use assets and lease liabilities on the Company's balance sheet after recognition of related gains or losses on such sale. The table below summarizes United's commitments as of September 30, 2020, which include aircraft and related spare engines, aircraft improvements and all non-aircraft capital commitments (in billions):
Last three months of 2020 |  | $ | 1.3 |
2021 |  | 3.0 |
2022 |  | 1.3 |
2023 |  | 2.8 |
2024 |  | 2.0 |
After 2024 |  | 13.9 |
|  | $ | 24.3 |
Regional CPAs. The table below summarizes the Company's expected future payments through the end of the terms of our capacity purchase agreements ("CPAs"), excluding aircraft ownership costs and variable pass-through costs such as fuel and landing fees, among others. Our future commitments under our CPAs are dependent on numerous variables, and are, therefore, difficult to predict. We have set forth below estimates based on our current assumptions of our anticipated level of flight activity or at any contractual minimum utilization levels if applicable, whichever is higher. During the third quarter, the Company’s estimate of future payments declined due to lower expected future flight activity and a wind-down of the ExpressJet Airlines, LLC ("ExpressJet") CPA agreement. Based on these assumptions as of September 30, 2020, our future payments through the end of the terms of our CPAs are presented in the table below (in billions):
Last three months of 2020 |  | $ | 0.4 |
2021 |  | 1.8 |
2022 |  | 1.8 |
2023 |  | 1.5 |
2024 |  | 1.3 |
After 2024 |  | 3.3 |
|  | $ | 10.1 |
In July 2020, the Company announced its plans to consolidate its Embraer 145 ("E145") operations into a single regional partner. As a result, the Company is in the process of terminating its CPA with ExpressJet. ExpressJet flew its last commercial flight, on behalf of United, on September 30, 2020. Additionally, United will transfer all of its E145 flying over to Champlain Enterprises, LLC d/b/a CommutAir. Guarantees. As of September 30, 2020, 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. All of these bonds are due between 2023 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 ADRs, the class of AVH securities that trades on 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 of United's security interest or any completed liquidation or dissolution of AVH, 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 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. Due to AVH's financial uncertainty due to its high level of leverage and the fact that the airline had ceased operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in March 2020, the Company recorded the full amount under this guarantee with a charge to income of $182 million as part of Nonoperating income (expense): Miscellaneous, net on the Company's statements of consolidated operations. As of September 30, 2020, United is the guarantor of $123 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. 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 the London Interbank Offered Rate ("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 September 30, 2020, the Company had $12.3 billion of floating rate debt with remaining terms of up to 12 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 12 years and an aggregate balance of $10.8 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. Labor Negotiations. As of September 30, 2020, the Company had approximately 87,887 employees, of whom approximately 85% were represented by various U.S. labor organizations and approximately 52% participated in voluntary separation programs and voluntary leave of absence programs. 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. On September 28, 2020, United's pilots approved an agreement to avoid furloughs, at least until June 2021. The agreement offers, among other things, a second round of an early separation option for all pilots with at least 10 years of service and age 50 and over. 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 ("IBT") contains provisions that require the Company to align contract terms with other airlines' workgroups under certain conditions, and a review of these terms is expected to occur in December 2020. 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 cash or other collateral reserves to be established or withholding of payments related to receivables to be collected, including if the Company does not maintain certain minimum levels of unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.

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