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SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2014
Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES | SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Basis of Presentation Southwest Airlines Co. (the “Company”) operates Southwest Airlines, a major domestic airline. The Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries, which include AirTran Holdings, LLC. On May 2, 2011 (the “acquisition date”), the Company acquired all of the outstanding equity of AirTran Holdings, Inc. (“AirTran Holdings”), the former parent company of AirTran Airways, Inc. (“AirTran Airways”). Throughout these Notes, the Company makes reference to AirTran, which is meant to be inclusive of the following: (i) for periods prior to the acquisition date, AirTran Holdings and its subsidiaries, including, among others, AirTran Airways; and (ii) for periods on and after the acquisition date, AirTran Holdings, LLC, the successor to AirTran Holdings, and its subsidiaries, including among others, AirTran Airways. The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements include the results of operations and cash flows for all periods presented and all significant inter-entity balances and transactions have been eliminated. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (GAAP) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from these estimates. Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current presentation. In the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended December 31, 2013, the Company has reclassified $14 million from Capital expenditures to Assets constructed for others. See Note 4 for further information. Cash and cash equivalents Cash in excess of that necessary for operating requirements is invested in short-term, highly liquid, income-producing investments. Investments with original maturities of three months or less when purchased are classified as cash and cash equivalents, which primarily consist of certificates of deposit, money market funds, and investment grade commercial paper issued by major corporations and financial institutions. Cash and cash equivalents are stated at cost, which approximates fair value. As of December 31, 2014, $266 million in cash collateral deposits were provided by the Company to its fuel hedge counterparties and no cash collateral deposits were held by or provided by the Company to its interest rate hedge counterparties. As of December 31, 2013, the Company had no cash collateral deposits held by or provided by the Company to its fuel hedge counterparties and the Company had provided cash collateral deposits totaling $32 million to its interest rate hedge counterparties. Cash collateral amounts provided or held associated with fuel and interest rate derivative instruments are not restricted in any way and earn interest income at an agreed upon rate that approximates the rates earned on short-term securities issued by the U.S. Government. Depending on the fair value of the Company’s fuel and interest rate derivative instruments, the amounts of collateral deposits held or provided at any point in time can fluctuate significantly. See Note 10 for further information on these collateral deposits and fuel derivative instruments. Short-term and noncurrent investments Short-term investments consist of investments with original maturities of greater than three months but less than twelve months when purchased. These are primarily short-term securities issued by the U.S. Government and certificates of deposit issued by domestic banks. All of these investments are classified as available-for-sale securities and are stated at fair value, which approximates cost. For all short-term investments, at each reset period or upon reinvestment, the Company accounts for the transaction as Proceeds from sales of short-term investments for the security relinquished, and Purchases of short-investments for the security purchased, in the accompanying Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows. Unrealized gains and losses, net of tax, if any, are recognized in Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) (“AOCI”) in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet. Realized net gains and losses on specific investments, if any, are reflected in Interest income in the accompanying Consolidated Statement of Income. Both unrealized and realized gains and/or losses associated with investments were immaterial for all years presented. Noncurrent investments consist of investments with maturities of greater than twelve months. At December 31, 2014, these primarily consisted of the Company’s auction rate security instruments that it expects will not be redeemed during 2015. See Note 11 for further information. Noncurrent investments are included as a component of Other assets in the Consolidated Balance Sheet. Accounts and other receivables Accounts and other receivables are carried at cost. They primarily consist of amounts due from credit card companies associated with sales of tickets for future travel, amounts due from business partners in the Company’s frequent flyer program, and amounts due from counterparties associated with fuel derivative instruments that have settled. The allowance for doubtful accounts was immaterial at December 31, 2014 and 2013. In addition, the provision for doubtful accounts and write-offs for 2014 and 2013 were each immaterial. Inventories Inventories consist primarily of aircraft fuel, flight equipment expendable parts, materials, and supplies. All of these items are carried at average cost, less an allowance for obsolescence. These items are generally charged to expense when issued for use. The reserve for obsolescence was $46 million and $36 million at December 31, 2014, and 2013, respectively. In addition, the Company’s provision for obsolescence and write-offs for 2014, 2013, and 2012 were each immaterial. Property and equipment Property and equipment is stated at cost. Capital expenditures includes payments made for aircraft, other flight equipment, purchase deposits related to future aircraft deliveries, and ground and other property and equipment. Depreciation is provided by the straight-line method to estimated residual values over periods generally ranging from 23 to 25 years for flight equipment and 5 to 30 years for ground property and equipment once the asset is placed in service. Residual values estimated for aircraft generally range from 2 to 20 percent and for ground property and equipment generally range from 0 to 10 percent. Property under capital leases and related obligations are initially recorded at an amount equal to the present value of future minimum lease payments computed on the basis of the Company’s incremental borrowing rate or, when known, the interest rate implicit in the lease. Amortization of property under capital leases is on a straight-line basis over the lease term and is included in Depreciation and amortization expense. Leasehold improvements generally are amortized on a straight-line basis over the shorter of the estimated useful life of the improvement or the remaining term of the lease. Assets constructed for others primarily consists of airport improvement projects, once placed into service, in which the Company is considered the accounting owner of the facilities, and such assets are amortized to estimated residual value over the term of the Company's lease or the expected life of the asset. See Note 4 for further information. The Company evaluates its long-lived assets used in operations for impairment when events and circumstances indicate that the undiscounted cash flows to be generated by that asset are less than the carrying amounts of the asset and may not be recoverable. Factors that would indicate potential impairment include, but are not limited to, significant decreases in the market value of the long-lived asset(s), a significant change in the long-lived asset’s physical condition, and operating or cash flow losses associated with the use of the long-lived asset. If an asset is deemed to be impaired, an impairment loss is recorded for the excess of the asset book value in relation to its estimated fair value. During first quarter 2012 the Company changed the estimated retirement dates of several 737-300 and 737-500 aircraft based on revisions in the Company’s fleet plan. This change, which was accounted for on a prospective basis, resulted in an acceleration of depreciation expense, since the majority of these aircraft had previously been expected to retire in periods beyond 2012, but were subsequently expected to be retired during 2012. The impact of this change on the year ended December 31, 2012 was an increase to Depreciation expense of $12 million. Excluding the impact of Profitsharing and income taxes, the change resulted a $6 million decrease to Net income and a $0.01 decrease to Basic and Diluted Net income per share for the year ended December 31, 2012. During third quarter 2012 the Company changed the estimated residual values of its entire fleet of owned 737-300 and 737-500 aircraft. This change was based on an agreement entered into during July 2012, pursuant to which the Company will lease or sublease certain aircraft to Delta Air Lines, Inc., and the resulting impact this transaction will have on how the Company manages the ultimate retirement of its owned 737-300 and 737-500 aircraft. See Note 7 for further information on the lease/sublease transaction. Based on the expected retirement dates and then current and expected future market conditions related to its owned 737-300 and 737-500 aircraft, the Company reduced the residual values of these aircraft from approximately ten percent of original cost to approximately two percent of original cost. As this reduction in residual value was considered a change in estimate, it was accounted for on a prospective basis, and thus the Company will record additional depreciation expense over the remainder of the useful lives for each aircraft. The impact of this change on the year ended December 31, 2012 was an increase to Depreciation expense of $34 million. Excluding the impact of Profitsharing and income taxes, the change resulted an $18 million decrease to Net income and a $0.02 decrease to Basic and Diluted Net income per share for the year ended December 31, 2012. Aircraft and engine maintenance The cost of scheduled inspections and repairs and routine maintenance costs for all aircraft and engines are charged to Maintenance materials and repairs expense as incurred. The Company also has “power-by-the-hour” agreements related to certain of its aircraft engines with external service providers. Under these agreements, which the Company has determined effectively transfers the risk and creates an obligation associated with the maintenance on such engines to the counterparty, expense is recorded commensurate with each hour flown on an engine. In situations where the payments to the counterparty do not sufficiently match the level of services received during the period, expense is recorded on a straight-line basis over the term of the agreement based on our best estimate of expected future aircraft utilization. For its engine maintenance contracts that do not transfer risk to the service provider, the Company records expense on a time and materials basis when an engine repair event takes place. Modifications that significantly enhance the operating performance or extend the useful lives of aircraft or engines are capitalized and amortized over the remaining life of the asset. Goodwill and intangible assets The Company applies a fair value based impairment test to the carrying value of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets on an annual basis (as of October 1), or more frequently if certain events or circumstances indicate that an impairment loss may have been incurred. The FASB standard “Testing Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets for Impairment” gives companies the option to perform a qualitative assessment to determine whether it is more likely than not that an indefinite-lived intangible asset is impaired rather than calculating the fair value of the indefinite-lived intangible asset. The Company adopted this standard and has applied the provisions to its annual indefinite-lived intangible asset impairment test for 2014. The Company first utilizes a qualitative approach and analyzes various factors to determine if events and circumstances have affected the fair value of the goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets. If the Company determines it is more likely than not that the asset value may be impaired, the Company then uses the quantitative approach to assess the asset’s fair value and amount of impairment. As a result of the Company’s qualitative analyses performed during 2014 the Company concluded it was more likely than not that the fair values of its Goodwill and Indefinite-lived intangible assets was greater than the carrying value and; therefore, a quantitative assessment was not necessary. Intangible assets primarily consist of acquired leasehold rights to certain airport owned gates at Chicago’s Midway International Airport, take-off and landing slots at certain domestic slot-controlled airports, and certain intangible assets recognized from the AirTran acquisition. The following table is a summary of the Company’s intangible assets, which are included as a component of Other assets in the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheet, as of December 31, 2014 and 2013:
|  |  | Year ended December 31, 2014 |  | Year ended December 31, 2013
(in millions) | Weighted-average useful life (in years) |  | Gross carrying amount |  | Accumulated amortization |  | Gross carrying amount |  | Accumulated Amortization
Customer relationships/marketing agreements | 9 |  | $ | 38 |  |  | $ | 26 |  |  | $ | 39 |  |  | $ | 23 |
Trademarks/trade names | 6 |  | 36 |  |  | 30 |  |  | 36 |  |  | 25 |
Owned domestic slots | Indefinite |  | 303 |  |  | n/a |  |  | 93 |  |  | n/a |
Leased domestic slots (a) | 39 |  | 19 |  |  | 5 |  |  | 19 |  |  | 4 |
Non-compete agreements | 2 |  | 5 |  |  | 5 |  |  | 5 |  |  | 5 |
Gate leasehold rights | 19 |  | 60 |  |  | 32 |  |  | 60 |  |  | 29 |
Total | 15 |  | $ | 461 |  |  | $ | 98 |  |  | $ | 252 |  |  | $ | 86 |
(a) Useful life of leased slots is based on the stated lease term. During fourth quarter 2013, following the Company’s acquisition of additional slots at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, the Company made the determination that all of its owned domestic slots should be assigned an indefinite life and would thus not be subject to further amortization, including those that are owned but leased to other carriers. In addition, during first quarter 2014, the Company acquired additional slots at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport which were also assigned an indefinite life. Among other factors, the determination that all of the Company's owned domestic slots should be assigned an indefinite life was due to the Company’s reassessment of the current size and importance of its operations at New York’s LaGuardia Airport and Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport versus when the Company first began service to these airports in recent years. The impact of this prospective change in accounting estimate is immaterial. The aggregate amortization expense for 2014, 2013, and 2012 was $13 million, $19 million, and $25 million, respectively. Estimated aggregate amortization expense for the five succeeding years and thereafter is as follows: 2015 – $11 million, 2016 – $8 million, 2017 – $5 million, 2018 – $5 million, 2019 – $4 million, and thereafter – $27 million. Revenue recognition Tickets sold are initially deferred as Air traffic liability. Passenger revenue is recognized when transportation is provided. Air traffic liability primarily represents tickets sold for future travel dates and estimated refunds and exchanges of tickets sold for past travel dates. The majority of the Company’s tickets sold are nonrefundable. Refundable tickets that are sold but not flown on the travel date can be reused for another flight, up to a year from the date of sale, or refunded. A small percentage of tickets (or partial tickets) expire unused. The Company estimates the amount of tickets that expire unused and recognizes such amounts in Passenger revenue using the redemption method based on scheduled flight date. Prior to September 13, 2013, funds associated with tickets in which a passenger did not show up for a flight without canceling were able to be reused on another flight for up to twelve months. On September 13, 2013, Southwest implemented a No Show policy that applies to nonrefundable fares that are not canceled or changed by a Customer at least ten minutes prior to a flight's scheduled departure. Based on the Company's revenue recognition policy, revenue is now recorded at the flight date for a Customer who does not change his/her itinerary and loses his/her funds. Amounts collected from passengers for ancillary services such as baggage and other fees are generally recognized as Other revenue when the service is provided, which is typically the flight date. The Company's policy is to record revenue for the estimated spoilage of tickets (including partial tickets) once the flight date has passed, under the redemption method. Initial spoilage estimates are routinely adjusted and ultimately finalized once the tickets expire, which is typically twelve months after the original purchase date. Spoilage estimates are based on the Customers' historical travel behavior as well as assumptions about the Customers' future travel behavior. Assumptions used to generate spoilage estimates can be impacted by several factors including, but not limited to: fare increases, fare sales, changes to the Company's ticketing policies, changes to the Company’s refund, exchange and unused funds policies, or economic factors. The Company is also required to collect certain taxes and fees from Customers on behalf of government agencies and remit these back to the applicable governmental entity on a periodic basis. These taxes and fees include U.S. federal transportation taxes, federal security charges, and airport passenger facility charges. These items are collected from Customers at the time they purchase their tickets, but are not included in Passenger revenue. The Company records a liability upon collection from the Customer and relieves the liability when payments are remitted to the applicable governmental agency. Frequent flyer program The Company records a liability for the estimated incremental cost of providing free travel under its frequent flyer program for all amounts earned from flight activity that are expected to be redeemed for future travel. The estimated incremental cost includes direct passenger costs such as fuel, food, and other operational costs, but does not include any contribution to fixed overhead costs or profit. Southwest also sells frequent flyer points and related services to companies participating in its frequent flyer program. Funds received from the sale of these points are accounted for using the residual method. Under this method, the Company determined the portion of funds received that relate to free travel were currently estimated to be 100 percent of the amount received under the Company's Rapid Reward program as of December 31, 2014. These amounts are deferred and recognized as Passenger revenue when the ultimate free travel awards are flown. For all points sold to business partners that are expected to expire unused, the Company recognizes spoilage in accordance with the redemption method. The Company's consolidated liability associated with the sale of frequent flyer points and/or flight credits, was approximately $1.3 billion and $1.1 billion as of December 31, 2014, and 2013, respectively. This liability is included as part of Air Traffic liability in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheet. During fourth quarter 2014, the Company increased the amount of spoilage recorded associated with frequent flyer points sold to business partners as a result of continued monitoring of Member redemption activity and behavior under its Rapid Rewards program. Based on a sufficient amount of historical data and Member attributes observed since the new program was launched in 2011, the Company developed a predictive statistical model to analyze the amount of spoilage expected. In estimating spoilage, the Company takes into account the Member’s past behavior, as well as several factors that are expected to be indicative of the likelihood of future point redemption. These factors include, but are not limited to, tenure with program, points accrued in the program, and whether or not the customer has a co-branded credit card. This change in estimate, which was recorded on a prospective basis, effective October 1, 2014, increased Passenger revenues by approximately $55 million for the quarter and the year ended December 31, 2014. After consideration of profitsharing and taxes, the impact of this change to net income was an increase of $29 million, or $.04 per Basic and Diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2014. The higher spoilage rate is expected to continue in 2015; however, the precise revenue impact will not be determinable until the actual number of point redemptions for the period is known. Advertising Advertising costs are charged to expense as incurred. Advertising and promotions expense for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013, and 2012 was $207 million, $208 million, and $223 million, respectively, and is included as a component of Other operating expense in the accompanying Consolidated Statement of Income. Share-based Employee compensation The Company has share-based compensation plans covering certain Employees, including plans covering the Company’s Board of Directors. The Company accounts for share-based compensation based on its grant date fair value. See Note 9 for further information. Financial derivative instruments The Company accounts for financial derivative instruments at fair value and applies hedge accounting rules where appropriate. The Company utilizes various derivative instruments, including jet fuel, crude oil, unleaded gasoline, and heating oil-based derivatives, to attempt to reduce the risk of its exposure to jet fuel price increases. These instruments consist primarily of purchased call options, collar structures, call spreads, put spreads, and fixed price swap agreements, and upon proper qualification are accounted for as cash-flow hedges. The Company also has interest rate swap agreements to convert a portion of its fixed-rate debt to floating rates and has swap agreements that convert certain floating-rate debt to a fixed-rate. These interest rate hedges are appropriately designated as either fair value hedges or as cash flow hedges. Since the majority of the Company’s financial derivative instruments are not traded on a market exchange, the Company estimates their fair values. Depending on the type of instrument, the values are determined by the use of present value methods or option value models with assumptions about commodity prices based on those observed in underlying markets. Also, since there is not a reliable forward market for jet fuel, the Company must estimate the future prices of jet fuel in order to measure the effectiveness of the hedging instruments in offsetting changes to those prices. Forward jet fuel prices are estimated through utilization of a statistical-based regression equation with data from market forward prices of like commodities. This equation is then adjusted for certain items, such as transportation costs, that are stated in the Company’s fuel purchasing contracts with its vendors. For the effective portion of settled fuel hedges, the Company records the associated gains or losses as a component of Fuel and oil expense in the Consolidated Statement of Income. For amounts representing ineffectiveness, as defined, or changes in fair value of derivative instruments for which hedge accounting is not applied, the Company records any gains or losses as a component of Other (gains) losses, net, in the Consolidated Statement of Income. Amounts that are paid or received in connection with the purchase or sale of financial derivative instruments (i.e., premium costs of option contracts) are classified as a component of Other (gains) losses, net, in the Consolidated Statement of Income in the period in which the instrument settles or expires. All cash flows associated with purchasing and selling derivatives are classified as operating cash flows in the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows, within Changes in certain assets and liabilities. See Note 10 for further information on hedge accounting and financial derivative instruments. The Company classifies its cash collateral provided to or held from counterparties in a “net” presentation on the Consolidated Balance Sheet against the fair value of the derivative positions with those counterparties. See Note 10 for further information. Software capitalization The Company capitalizes certain internal and external costs related to the acquisition and development of internal use software during the application development stages of projects. The Company amortizes these costs using the straight-line method over the estimated useful life of the software, which typically ranges from five to fifteen years. Costs incurred during the preliminary project or the post-implementation/operation stages of the project are expensed as incurred. Capitalized computer software, included as a component of Ground property and equipment in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet, net of accumulated depreciation, was $403 million and $357 million at December 31, 2014, and 2013, respectively. Computer software depreciation expense was $122 million, $90 million, and $59 million for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013, and 2012, respectively, and is included as a component of Depreciation and amortization expense in the accompanying Consolidated Statement of Income. Income taxes The Company accounts for deferred income taxes utilizing an asset and liability method, whereby deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized based on the tax effect of temporary differences between the financial statements and the tax basis of assets and liabilities, as measured by current enacted tax rates. The Company also evaluates the need for a valuation allowance to reduce deferred tax assets to estimated recoverable amounts. The Company’s policy for recording interest and penalties associated with uncertain tax positions is to record such items as a component of income before income taxes. Penalties are recorded in Other (gains) losses, net, and interest paid or received is recorded in Interest expense or Interest income, respectively, in the Consolidated Statement of Income. Amounts recorded for penalties and interest related to uncertain tax positions were immaterial for all years presented. Concentration risk Approximately 83 percent of the Company’s full-time equivalent Employees are unionized and are covered by collective bargaining agreements. The Company manages this risk by maintaining positive relationships with its Employees and its Employees’ Representatives. The majority of the Company's unionized Employees, including its Pilots, Mechanics, Ramp, Operations, Provisioning and Freight Agents, Flight Attendants, Material Specialists, Dispatchers, Flight Crew Training Instructors, Flight Simulator Technicians, and Facilities Maintenance Technicians are in discussions on labor agreements or have labor agreements which will become amendable within one year. These Employee groups represent approximately 70 percent of the Company’s full-time equivalent Employees as of December 31, 2014. The Company attempts to minimize its concentration risk with regards to its cash, cash equivalents, and its investment portfolio. This is accomplished by diversifying and limiting amounts among different counterparties, the type of investment, and the amount invested in any individual security or money market fund. To manage risk associated with financial derivative instruments held, the Company selects and will periodically review counterparties based on credit ratings, limits its exposure to a single counterparty, and monitors the market position of the program and its relative market position with each counterparty. The Company also has agreements with counterparties containing early termination rights and/or bilateral collateral provisions whereby security is required if market risk exposure exceeds a specified threshold amount or credit ratings fall below certain levels. Collateral deposits provided to or held from counterparties serve to decrease, but not totally eliminate, the credit risk associated with the Company’s hedging program. See Note 10 for further information. As of December 31, 2014, the Company operates an all-Boeing fleet, all of which are variations of the Boeing 737. Following the 2011 acquisition of AirTran, the Company also operated a fleet of Boeing 717's, but these aircraft were removed from the Company's operations prior to the end of 2014. See Note 7 for further information. If the Company were unable to acquire additional aircraft or associated aircraft parts from Boeing, or Boeing were unable or unwilling to make timely deliveries of aircraft or to provide adequate support for its products, the Company’s operations would be materially adversely impacted. In addition, the Company would be materially adversely impacted in the event of a mechanical or regulatory issue associated with the Boeing 737 aircraft type, whether as a result of downtime for part or all of the Company’s fleet or because of a negative perception by the flying public. The Company is also dependent on sole suppliers for aircraft engines and certain other aircraft parts and would, therefore, also be materially adversely impacted in the event of the unavailability of, or a mechanical or regulatory issue associated with, engines and other parts. The Company has historically entered into agreements with some of its co-brand, payment, and loyalty partners that contain exclusivity aspects which place certain confidential restrictions on the Company from entering into certain arrangements with other payment and loyalty partners. These arrangements generally extend for the terms of the partnerships, none of which currently extend beyond May 2017. The Company believes the financial benefits generated by the exclusivity aspects of these arrangements outweigh the risks involved with such agreements.

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