NEW ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS AND ACCOUNTING CHANGES

On August 29, 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the "FASB") issued ASU No. 2018-15, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other—Internal-Use Software. This new standard requires a customer in a cloud computing arrangement that is a service contract to follow the internal-use software guidance in Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 350-40, Accounting for Internal-Use Software, to determine which implementation costs to (i) capitalize as assets and amortize over the term of the hosting arrangement or (ii) expense as incurred. This new standard is effective for public business entities in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted, including during an interim period. Entities have the option to apply this standard prospectively to all implementation costs incurred after the date of adoption or retrospectively. The Company is evaluating this new standard, but does not expect it to have a significant impact on its financial statement presentation or results.

On August 28, 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-13, Fair Value Measurement. This standard is effective for public business entities in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, and for interim periods within those years. Early adoption is permitted, including during an interim period. This new standard requires changes to the disclosure requirements for fair value measurements for certain Level 3 items, and specifies that some of the changes must be applied prospectively, while others should be applied retrospectively. The Company is evaluating this new standard, but does not expect it to have a significant impact on its financial statement disclosures. See Note 11 for further information on the Company's fair value measurements.

On August 28, 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-14, Compensation—Retirement Benefits—Defined Benefit Plans—General. This new standard makes changes to the disclosure requirements for sponsors of defined benefit pension and/or other postretirement benefit plans to improve effectiveness of notes to the financial statements. This standard is effective for public business entities in fiscal years ending after December 15, 2020. Early adoption is permitted. Entities will apply this standard using a retrospective approach. The Company elected to early adopt this standard as of December 31, 2018, on a retrospective basis as required. Therefore disclosures within Note 13 have been reduced to reflect the elimination of certain previously required disclosures. The adoption had no impact on the Company's Net income, earnings per share, or cash flows.

On August 28, 2017, the FASB issued the New Hedging Standard. The New Hedging Standard amends the hedge accounting model to enable entities to better portray the economics of their risk management activities in the financial statements and enhance the transparency and understandability of hedge results. The New Hedging Standard also simplifies the application of hedge accounting in certain situations. The New Hedging Standard is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted in any interim or annual period. The Company elected to early adopt the New Hedging Standard as of January 1, 2018, utilizing a modified retrospective approach, as required. The most significant impacts of the New Hedging Standard on the Company's accounting are the elimination of the requirement to separately measure and record ineffectiveness for all cash flow hedges in a hedging relationship, as well as a change in classification of premium expense associated with option contracts. Such premium expense for the Company's fuel hedges was previously reflected as a component of Other (gains) losses, net, in the Consolidated Statement of Income, but under the New Hedging Standard is reflected as a component of the line item to which the hedge relates, which is Fuel and oil expense. As such, premium expense for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, has been reclassified in order to be comparative with current period results in the accompanying Consolidated Statement of Income. The impact of the cumulative effect of the adjustment to move the reporting of ineffectiveness as of January 1, 2018, to AOCI from Retained earnings, was a $20 million loss, net of taxes. The adoption and resulting reclassification had no impact on the Company's Net income, earnings per share, or cash flows. As a result of the adoption of the New Hedging Standard, however, the Company incurred no gains or losses due to ineffectiveness in Other (gains) losses, net, in the Consolidated Statement of Income, during 2018. See Note 10 for further information and for further details on gains or losses recorded due to ineffectiveness during 2017.

On March 10, 2017, the FASB issued the New Retirement Standard. The New Retirement Standard requires employers to present the service cost component of the net periodic benefit cost in the same income statement line item as other Employee compensation costs arising from services rendered during the period. The other components of net benefit cost, including amortization of prior service cost/credit, and settlement and curtailment effects, are to be included in nonoperating expenses. As required by the New Retirement Standard, the Company adopted this guidance retrospectively as of January 1, 2018, using a practical expedient which permitted the Company to use the amounts disclosed in its pension and other postretirement benefit plan note for the prior comparative periods as the estimation basis for applying the retrospective presentation requirements. As such, the Company reclassified $14 million and $12 million of Salaries, wages, and benefits expense to Other (gains) and losses under the New Retirement Standard in the accompanying Consolidated Statement of Income for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The adoption and resulting reclassification had no impact on the Company's Net income, earnings per share, or cash flows.

On February 25, 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (the "New Lease Standard"). The New Lease Standard is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted. The New Lease Standard requires lessees to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability on the balance sheet for all leases (with the exception of short-term leases) at the lease commencement date and recognize expenses on the income statement in a similar manner to the current guidance in ASC 840, Leases ("ASC 840"). The lease liability will be measured as the present value of the unpaid lease payments and the right-of-use asset will be derived from the calculation of the lease liability. Lease payments will include fixed and in-substance fixed payments, variable payments based on an index or rate, reasonably certain purchase options, termination penalties, fees paid by the lessee to the owners of a special-purpose entity for restructuring the transaction, and probable amounts the lessee will owe under a residual value guarantee. Lease payments will not include variable lease payments other than those that depend on an index or rate, any guarantee by the lessee of the lessor’s debt, or any amount allocated to non-lease components.

The Company established a project team to evaluate and implement the New Lease Standard. The Company currently believes the most significant impact of the New Lease Standard on its accounting will be the balance sheet impact of its aircraft operating leases, which will significantly increase assets and liabilities. As of December 31, 2018, the Company had 51 leased aircraft under operating leases in its active fleet and also had another 73 aircraft under operating leases that are being subleased to another airline. The Company also has operating leases related to terminal operations space and other real estate leases. Although the real estate leases will also have a substantial impact to the balance sheet, the Company does not expect the leases related to terminal operations space to have a significant impact since variable lease payments, other than those based on an index or rate, are excluded from the measurement of the lease liability. The Company also does not expect the adoption of the New Lease Standard to impact any of its existing debt covenants.

In addition, the New Lease Standard eliminates the current build-to-suit lease accounting guidance and is expected to result in derecognition of build-to-suit assets and liabilities that remained on the balance sheet after the end of the construction period, including the related deferred taxes. See Note 4 for further information on the Company’s build-to-suit projects. However, given the Company's guarantee associated with the bonds issued to fund the Dallas Love Field Modernization Program (the "LFMP"), the Company believes that the remaining debt service amounts as of the adoption date would be considered a minimum rental payment under the New Lease Standard, and therefore will be recorded as a lease liability on the balance sheet and will be reduced through future debt service payments made in 2019 and beyond. The underlying leases for all of these facilities will be subject to evaluation under the New Lease Standard.

The Company plans to elect the package of practical expedients available under the transition provisions of the New Lease Standard, including (i) not reassessing whether expired or existing contracts contain leases, (ii) lease classification, and (iii) not revaluing initial direct costs for existing leases. Also, the Company plans to elect the practical expedient which will allow aggregation of non-lease components with the related lease components when evaluating accounting treatment. Lastly, the Company currently plans to apply the modified retrospective adoption method, utilizing the simplified transition option available in the New Lease Standard, which allows entities to continue to apply the legacy guidance in ASC 840, including its disclosure requirements, in the comparative periods presented in the year of adoption. The Company will adopt the New Lease Standard on January 1, 2019.

The expected impact of applying the New Lease Standard effective as of January 1, 2019, to the Company’s results of operations and cash flows is not expected to be significant. The expected major impacts to the balance sheet will be 1) the removal of approximately $1.5 billion in Assets constructed for others, net, and related Construction obligations, and 2) the addition of approximately $1.4 billion in Operating lease right of use assets and lease liabilities, which includes approximately $700 million from operating lease aircraft, approximately $450 million from the Company’s remaining obligations associated with the LFMP bonds, and approximately $220 million from other operating leases.

On May 28, 2014, the FASB issued the New Revenue Standard, also referred to as ASC 606, Revenue From Contracts With Customers ("ASC 606"), which replaces numerous revenue recognition requirements in GAAP, including industry-specific requirements, and provides companies with a single revenue recognition model for recognizing revenue from contracts with Customers. The New Revenue Standard establishes a five-step model whereby revenue is recognized as performance obligations within a contract are satisfied in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to receive in exchange for satisfaction of those performance obligations, or standalone selling price. The New Revenue Standard also requires new, expanded disclosures regarding revenue recognition. See Note 5 for further information. The Company adopted the provisions of the New Revenue Standard effective January 1, 2018, using the full retrospective method. As such, results for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, have been recast under the New Revenue Standard in order to be comparative with current period results in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Income and Cash Flows. The amounts in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2017, have also been recast.

The most significant impact of the New Revenue Standard relates to the accounting for the Company’s loyalty program. The New Revenue Standard eliminated the incremental cost method for flight points awarded, which was previously allowed in prior accounting guidance. The Company now accounts for the revenue and liability for loyalty points earned through flight activity using a relative fair value approach.

The New Revenue Standard also resulted in different income statement classification for certain types of revenues (primarily ancillary revenues) which were previously classified as Other revenues, but under the New Revenue Standard are included in Passenger revenues, and certain expenses, which were previously classified as Other operating expenses, but under the New Revenue Standard are offset against Passenger revenues.

The following table provides the impact of applying the New Revenue Standard to the Company’s previously reported balances as of December 31, 2017:



	Balance as of December 31, 2017
(in millions)	As Reported		New Revenue Standard			As Recast
Accrued liabilities	$	1,777	$	(77	)	$	1,700
Air traffic liability	3,460		35			3,495
Air traffic liability - noncurrent	—		1,070			1,070
Deferred income taxes	2,358		(239		)	2,119
Retained earnings	14,621		(789		)	13,832

The impacts of applying the New Revenue Standard, the New Retirement Standard, and the New Hedging Standard to the Company’s Consolidated Statement of Income for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, are as follows (amounts may not recalculate due to rounding):



	Year ended December 31, 2017
(in millions), except per share amounts	As Reported			New Revenue Standard			New Retirement Standard			New Hedging Standard			As Recast
Passenger revenue	$	19,141		$	622		$	—		$	—		$	19,763
Other revenue	1,857			(647		)	—			—			1,210
Salaries, wages, and benefits	7,319			—			(14		)	—			7,305
Fuel and oil expense	3,940			—			—			136			4,076
Other operating expenses	2,886			(39		)	—			—			2,847
Other (gains) losses, net	234			—			14			(136		)	112
Provision for income taxes	(237		)	145			—			—			(92		)
Net income	3,488			(131		)	—			—			3,357
Net income per share, basic	5.80			(0.22		)	—			—			5.58
Net income per share, diluted	5.79			(0.22		)	—			—			5.57



	Year ended December 31, 2016
(in millions), except per share amounts	As Reported		New Revenue Standard			New Retirement Standard			New Hedging Standard			As Recast
Passenger revenue	$	18,594	$	474		$	—		$	—		$	19,068
Other revenue	1,660		(610		)	—			—			1,050
Salaries, wages, and benefits	6,798		—			(12		)	—			6,786
Fuel and oil expense	3,647		—			—			154			3,801
Other operating expenses	2,743		(40		)	—			—			2,703
Other (gains) losses, net	162		—			12			(154		)	21
Provision for income taxes	1,303		(36		)	—			—			1,267
Net income	2,244		(60		)	—			—			2,183
Net income per share, basic	3.58		(0.10		)	—			—			3.48
Net income per share, diluted	3.55		(0.10		)	—			—			3.45

The impacts of applying the New Revenue Standard to the Company’s Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, are as follows (amounts may not recalculate due to rounding):



	Year ended December 31, 2017
(in millions)	As Reported			New Revenue Standard			As Recast
Net income	$	3,488		$	(131	)	$	3,357
Deferred income taxes	(1,212		)	145			(1,066		)
Changes in certain assets and liabilities	227			(14		)	212
Net cash provided by operating activities	3,929			—			3,929



	Year ended December 31, 2016
(in millions)	As Reported		New Revenue Standard			As Recast
Net income	$	2,244	$	(60	)	$	2,183
Deferred income taxes	455		(36		)	419
Changes in certain assets and liabilities	182		96			279
Net cash provided by operating activities	4,293		—			4,293