Special Items (Notes)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 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 and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 (in millions):



	Three Months Ended September 30,						Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2020			2019			2020			2019
Special Items
CARES Act payroll support grant recognition⁽¹⁾	$	(332	)	$	—		$	(636	)	$	—
Fleet impairment⁽²⁾	56			—			258			—
Severance and benefit costs⁽³⁾	58			—			58			—
Losses on sale-leaseback transactions⁽⁴⁾	106			—			106			—
Embraer E190 fleet transition costs⁽⁵⁾	—			(3		)	—			6
Union contract costs⁽⁶⁾	—			3			—			8
Total	$	(112	)	$	—		$	(214	)	$	14

(1) As discussed in Note 2 to our condensed consolidated financial statements, we entered into a PSP Agreement with the Treasury governing our participation in the Payroll Support Program under the CARES Act. Under the Payroll Support Program, Treasury provided us with payroll support funding totaling $963 million, consisting of $704 million in grants and $259 million in an unsecured term loan. The payroll support funds are to be used exclusively for the continuation of payment of crewmember wages, salaries and benefits. The carrying value of the payroll support grants is recorded within other liabilities and will be recognized as a contra-expense within special items on our consolidated statements of operations as the funds are utilized. We utilized $332 million and $636 million of the payroll support grants for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively.

(2) 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 the future cash flows from the operation 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 $56 million and $258 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively. These losses represent 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 circumstances 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 value as of September 30, 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

(3) The unprecedented declines in demand and in our capacity caused by COVID-19 has led to a significant reduction to our staffing needs. In June 2020, we announced a voluntary separation program which allowed eligible crewmembers the opportunity to voluntarily separate from the Company in exchange for severance, health coverage for a specified period of time, and travel privileges based on years of service. Virtually all of our crewmembers were eligible to participate in the voluntary separation program with the exception of our union-represented crewmembers and crewmembers of our wholly-owned subsidiaries (JetBlue Technology Ventures and JetBlue Travel Products). Separation agreements for the majority of the crewmembers who elected to participate in the voluntary program were executed in the third quarter. One time costs of $58 million, consisting of severance and health benefits, were recorded for the three months ended September 30, 2020 in connection with the program. Approximately $39 million of this charge was disbursed during the third quarter of 2020.

Accruals related to the voluntary separation program are primarily recorded in accrued salaries, wages and benefits, and accounts payable on our consolidated balance sheets. Additional costs may be incurred as the remaining separation agreements are executed.

(4) In the third quarter of 2020, we executed $327 million of sale-leaseback transactions. Of these transactions, $118 million did not qualify as sales for accounting purposes. The remaining $209 million qualified as sales and generated a loss of $106 million. These losses represent the difference between the book value of these assets and their fair value. We estimated the fair value of the related aircraft considering third party valuations and considered specific circumstances such as aircraft age, maintenance requirements and condition, and therefore classified as Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy.

(5) 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 and nine months ended September 30, 2019, fleet transition costs include certain contract termination costs associated with the transition.

(6) 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 and nine months ended September 30, 2019, union contract costs primarily include various one-time costs incurred to implement the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement into our systems.