Revenue Recognition (Notes)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Text Block]

Revenue Recognition

The Company categorizes the revenue received from contracts with its customers by revenue source as we believe it best depicts the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of our revenue and cash flow. The following table provides the revenue recognized by revenue source for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018, and 2017 (in millions):



	2019		2018		2017
Passenger revenue
Passenger travel	$	7,395	$	7,061	$	6,508
Loyalty revenue - air transportation	391		320		253
Other revenue
Loyalty revenue	201		168		140
Other revenue	107		109		111
Total revenue	$	8,094	$	7,658	$	7,012

For 2019, TrueBlue^® points earned from ticket purchases are presented as a reduction to Passenger travel within passenger revenue. Amounts presented in Loyalty revenue - air transportation represent the revenue recognized when TrueBlue points have been redeemed and the travel has occurred. The corresponding amounts for 2018 and 2017 have been reclassified to be comparable with the current year presentation. These reclassifications do not impact total passenger revenue.

Contract Liabilities

Our contract liabilities primarily consist of ticket sales for which transportation has not yet been provided, unused credits available to customers, and outstanding loyalty points available for redemption (in millions):



	December 31, 2019		December 31, 2018
Air traffic liability - passenger travel	$	929	$	892
Air traffic liability - loyalty program (air transportation)	661		580
Deferred revenue	10		10
Total	$	1,600	$	1,482

During the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, we recognized passenger revenue of $878 million and $823 million respectively, that was included in passenger travel liability at the beginning of the respective periods.

The Company elected the practical expedient that allows entities to not disclose the amount of the remaining transaction price and its expected timing of recognition for passenger tickets if the contract has an original expected duration of one year or less or if certain other conditions are met. We elected to apply this practical expedient to our contract liabilities relating to passenger travel and ancillary services as our tickets or any related passenger credits expire one year from the date of issuance.

TrueBlue^® points are combined in one homogeneous pool and are not separately identifiable. As such, the revenue is comprised of the points that were part of the air traffic liability balance at the beginning of the period as well as points that were issued during the period.

The table below presents the activity of the current and non-current air traffic liability for our loyalty program, and includes points earned and sold to participating companies (in millions):



Balance at December 31, 2017	$	502
TrueBlue^® points redeemed	(320		)
TrueBlue^® points earned and sold	398
Balance at December 31, 2018	580
TrueBlue^® points redeemed	(391		)
TrueBlue^® points earned and sold	472
Balance at December 31, 2019	$	661

The timing of our TrueBlue^® point redemptions can vary; however, the majority of our points are redeemed within approximately three years of the date of issuance.