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Legal Matters | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2012
Legal Matters |
Legal Matters |
Note I — Legal Matters The Company is subject to certain legal actions which it considers routine to its business activities. As of March 31, 2012, management believes, after consultation with legal counsel, that the ultimate outcome of such legal matters is not likely to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position, liquidity or results of operations. However, the following is a significant outstanding legal matter. SkyWest Airlines and ExpressJet v. Delta During the quarter ended December 31, 2007, Delta notified the Company, SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast, of a dispute under the Delta Connection Agreements executed by Delta with SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast. The dispute relates to the allocation of liability for certain irregular operation (“IROP”) expenses paid by SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast (now ExpressJet) to their passengers and vendors under certain situations. During the period between the execution of the Delta Connection Agreements in September 2005 and December 2007, SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast passed through to Delta IROP expenses that were paid pursuant to Delta’s policies, and Delta accepted and reimbursed those expenses. Delta now claims it is obligated to reimburse only a fraction of those IROP expenses. As a result, Delta withheld a combined total of approximately $25 million (pre-tax) from one of the weekly scheduled wire payments to SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast during December 2007. Since December 2007, Delta has continued to withhold payments from the weekly scheduled wire payments to SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast (now ExpressJet), and has disputed subsequent billings for IROP expenses. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had recognized a cumulative total of $31.7 million of revenue associated with the funds withheld by Delta. Since July 1, 2008, the Company has not recognized revenue related to IROP expense reimbursements withheld by Delta because collection of those reimbursements is the subject of litigation and is not reasonably assured. On February 1, 2008, SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast filed a Complaint in the Superior Court for Fulton County, Georgia (“Superior Court”) challenging Delta’s treatment of the matter and seeking recovery of the payments withheld by Delta and any future withholdings related to this issue. Delta filed an Answer to the SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Complaint and a Counterclaim against SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast on March 24, 2008. Delta’s Counterclaim alleged that SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast breached the Delta Connection Agreements by invoicing Delta for IROP expenses that were paid pursuant to Delta’s policies, and claims only a portion of those expenses may be invoiced to Delta. After proceedings that included contested motions, document discovery, and depositions, Delta voluntarily dismissed its Counterclaim. Discovery in that action was not complete at the time of dismissal. On February 14, 2011, SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast exercised their statutory rights to voluntarily dismiss their claims in the Superior Court, and filed a new complaint (the “State Court Complaint”) in the Georgia State Court of Fulton County (the “State Court”). The claims continue to include breach of contract, breach of contract based on mutual departure, breach of contract based on voluntary payment, and breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing. Delta moved for partial dismissal of the State Court Complaint, which motion was denied in its entirety. Delta also filed a separate action in the Superior Court containing claims for declaratory judgment and breach of the confidentiality provisions of the Delta Connection Agreements. SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast moved for dismissal of Delta’s claims in the Superior Court. The Superior Court dismissed Delta’s complaint in its entirety. Discovery in the lawsuit is ongoing. On October 18, 2011, Delta filed a counterclaim (the “Counterclaim”) against SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast. The Counterclaim contains claims for unjust enrichment and breach of contract related to alleged non-revenue positive space flying by SkyWest and Atlantic Southeast employees for non-Delta related business. Delta’s Counterclaim does not specify an amount of damages, but the Counterclaim alleges, on information and belief, that Delta’s damages exceed $4.5 million. SkyWest and Atlantic Southeast filed their reply to the Counterclaim on November 21, 2011, stating the allegations contained in the Counterclaim stand denied by operation of law and asserting SkyWest’s and Atlantic Southeast’s affirmative defenses. An estimated loss is accrued if the loss is probable and reasonably estimable. Because these conditions have not been satisfied, the Company has not recorded a loss in its consolidated financial statements with respect to the dispute. As of March 31, 2012, a range of reasonably possible loss is not determinable related to this Counterclaim. During 2010, the Company and Delta began preliminary settlement discussions related to the dispute. Notwithstanding the legal merits of the case, the Company offered to settle the claim for approximately $5.9 million less than the cumulative total of revenue recognized related to this matter. Those settlement discussions were not successful; however, as a result of the settlement offer, the Company wrote off $5.9 million of related receivables as of December 31, 2010. As of March 31, 2012, the Company’s estimated range of reasonably possible loss related to the dispute was $0 to $25.8 million. SkyWest Airlines and ExpressJet continue to vigorously pursue their claims set forth in the State Court Complaint and their defenses against Delta’s Counterclaim.

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