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LEASES | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2014
Leases [Abstract] |
LEASES | LEASES On July 9, 2012, the Company signed an agreement with Delta Air Lines, Inc. and Boeing Capital Corp. to lease or sublease all 88 of AirTran's Boeing 717-200 aircraft (“B717s”) to Delta at agreed-upon lease rates. The first converted B717 was delivered to Delta during late September 2013, and as of September 30, 2014, the Company had delivered a total of 45 B717s to Delta. Over the expected term of the transition period for all B717s, the Company expects to average approximately three B717 conversions per month; however, as the Company has previously announced, it will discontinue all B717s from active Southwest service as of December 28, 2014. A portion of the B717 fleet that is not scheduled to be delivered to Delta until mid-to-late 2015 will be placed in storage until each aircraft is ready to be converted. Following the purchase of two formerly leased B717 aircraft during first quarter 2014, a total of 76 of the B717s are on operating lease, ten are owned, and two are currently classified as capital leases. The B717s add complexity to the Company's operations, as Southwest Airlines has historically operated an all-Boeing 737 fleet. From a fleet management perspective, the transition of approximately three B717s per month to Delta allows the Company to minimize the impact of this transaction on operations, as the B717 capacity lost has been replaced through the capacity gained as a result of (i) the Company's modification of the retirement dates for a portion of its 737-300 and 737-500 aircraft and (ii) its receipt of new 737 deliveries from Boeing or its acquisition of pre-owned 737s. The Company will pay the majority of the costs to convert the aircraft to the Delta livery and perform certain maintenance checks prior to the delivery of each aircraft. The agreement to pay these conversion and maintenance costs is a “lease incentive” under applicable accounting guidance. The sublease terms for the 76 B717s currently on operating lease and the two B717s currently classified as capital leases coincide with the Company's remaining lease terms for these aircraft from the original lessor, which range from approximately two to nine years. The leasing of the ten B717s owned by the Company is subject to certain conditions, and the lease terms are for up to seven years, after which Delta has the option to purchase the aircraft at the then-prevailing market value. The Company will account for the lease and sublease transactions with Delta as operating leases, except for the two aircraft classified by the Company as capital leases. The subleases of these two aircraft will be accounted for as direct financing leases. There are no contingent payments and no significant residual value conditions associated with the transaction. The accounting for this transaction is based on the guidance provided for lease transactions. For the components of this transaction finalized in third quarter 2012 and with respect to which the lease inception has been deemed to occur, the Company recorded a charge of approximately $137 million during third quarter 2012. The charge represented the remaining estimated cost, at the scheduled date of delivery of each B717 to Delta (including the conversion, maintenance, and other contractual costs to be incurred), of the Company's lease of the B717s that were originally accounted for as operating leases, net of the future sublease income from Delta and the remaining unfavorable aircraft lease liability established as of the acquisition date. During second quarter 2014, the Company recorded an additional $17 million in expense for its revised estimate of conversion costs for these B717s. The charges recorded by the Company for this transaction were included as a component of Acquisition and integration costs in the Company's unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income and were included as a component of Other, net in Cash flows from operating activities in the Company's unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows, and the corresponding liability for this transaction is included as a component of Current liabilities and Other noncurrent liabilities in the Company's unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet. A rollforward of the Company's B717 lease/sublease liability for 2014 and 2013 is shown below:
(in millions) |  | B717 lease/sublease liability
Balance at December 31, 2012 |  | $ | 128 |
Lease/sublease accretion |  | 6 |
Lease/sublease payments, net (a) |  | (12 | )
Balance at December 31, 2013 |  | $ | 122 |
Lease/sublease accretion |  | 4 |
Lease/sublease expense adjustment |  | 19 |
Lease/sublease payments, net (a) |  | (66 | )
Balance at September 30, 2014 |  | $ | 79 |
(a) Includes lease conversion cost payments The Company may also incur other costs associated with this transaction, such as potential changes associated with the extension of the time between when the Company removes an aircraft from revenue service and the time it is delivered to Delta. The Company has anticipated a reasonable period of transition time for the conversion process, but for some aircraft this period of time will be longer than anticipated due to the Company's plans to halt all B717 service as of December 28, 2014. The Company may incur additional charges at the time the aircraft are removed from service. Any additional charges are not expected to be material.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for lessee entity's leasing arrangements including, but not limited to, all of the following: (a.) The basis on which contingent rental payments are determined, (b.) The existence and terms of renewal or purchase options and escalation clauses, (c.) Restrictions imposed by lease agreements, such as those concerning dividends, additional debt, and further leasing. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 460 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6851643&loc=d3e12069-110248 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 840 -SubTopic 30 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6455398&loc=d3e45280-112737 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 840 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6452660&loc=d3e36991-112694 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 840 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6453985&loc=d3e41499-112717 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 840 -SubTopic 10 -Section 55 -Paragraph 40 -Subparagraph (Note 1,3) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6584154&loc=d3e38371-112697 Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 840 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6453985&loc=d3e41502-112717 + Details
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