Special Items (Notes)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Unusual or Infrequent Items, or Both, Disclosure [Text Block]

Special Items

The following is a listing of special items presented on our consolidated statements of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 (in millions):



	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2020		2019
Special Items
Fleet impairment⁽¹⁾	$	202	$	—
Embraer E190 fleet transition costs⁽²⁾	—		9
Union contract costs⁽³⁾	—		3
Total	$	202	$	12

(1) Under the Property, Plant, and Equipment topic of the Codification, we are required to assess long-lived assets for impairment when events and circumstances indicate that the assets may be impaired. An impairment of long-lived assets exists when the sum of the estimated undiscounted future cash flows expected to be generated directly by the assets are less than the book value of the assets. Our long-lived assets include both owned and leased properties which are classified as property and equipment, and operating lease assets on our consolidated balance sheets, respectively.

As discussed in Note 2 to our condensed consolidated financial statements, our operations were adversely impacted by the unprecedented decline in demand for travel caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. To determine if impairment exists in our fleet, we grouped our aircraft by fleet-type and estimated their future cash flows based on projections of capacity, aircraft age, maintenance requirements, and other relevant conditions. Based on the assessment, we determined that the future cash flows from the operation of our Embraer E190 fleet were lower than the carrying value. For those aircraft, including the ones that are under operating lease, and related spare parts in our Embraer E190 fleet, we recorded an impairment loss of $202 million representing the difference between the book value of these assets and their fair value. We estimated the fair value of our Embraer E190 fleet using third party valuations and considered specific circumstance such as aircraft age, maintenance requirements and condition, and therefore classified as Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy. We evaluated the remaining fleet and determined the future cash flows of our Airbus A320 and Airbus A321 fleet exceeded their carrying values as of March 31, 2020. As the extent of the ongoing impact from the COVID-19 pandemic remains uncertain, we will update our assessment as new information becomes available.

(2) In July 2018, we announced our decision to exit the Embraer E190 fleet and order 60 Airbus A220-300 aircraft, formerly known as the Bombardier CS300, for expected deliveries beginning in 2020 with the option for 60 additional aircraft. For the three months ended March 31, 2019, fleet transition costs include certain contract termination costs associated with the transition.

(3) In April 2014, ALPA was certified by NMB as the representative body for JetBlue pilots after winning a representation election. We reached a final agreement for our first collective bargaining agreement which was ratified by the pilots in July 2018. The agreement is a four-year renewable contract, which became effective August 1, 2018 and included compensation, benefits, work rules, and other policies. For the three months ended March 31, 2019, union contract costs primarily include various one-time costs incurred to implement the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement into our systems.