Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

Hedging

As discussed in Note 3 to the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, the Company endeavors to acquire jet fuel at the lowest possible price and to reduce volatility in operating expenses through its fuel hedging program with the use of financial derivative instruments. As of March 31, 2024, the estimated fair value of outstanding contracts was a net asset of $257 million.

The Company's credit exposure related to fuel derivative instruments is represented by the fair value of contracts that are in an asset position to the Company. At such times, these outstanding instruments expose the Company to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the counterparties to the agreements. As of March 31, 2024, the Company had eight counterparties for which the derivatives held were an asset and none in a loss position. To manage credit risk, the Company selects and periodically reviews counterparties based on credit ratings, limits its exposure with respect to each counterparty, and monitors the market position of the fuel hedging program and its relative market position with each counterparty. However, if one or more of these counterparties were in a net liability position to the Company and were unable to meet their obligations, any open derivative contracts with the counterparty could be subject to early termination, which could result in substantial losses for the Company. As of March 31, 2024, the Company had agreements with all of its active counterparties containing early termination rights and/or bilateral collateral provisions whereby security is required if market risk exposure exceeds a specified threshold amount based on the counterparty's credit rating. The Company also had agreements with counterparties in which cash deposits and/or letters of credit are required to be posted as collateral whenever the net fair value of derivatives associated with those counterparties exceeds specific thresholds. Refer to the counterparty credit risk and collateral table provided in Note 3 to the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for the fair values of fuel derivatives, amounts held as collateral, and applicable collateral posting threshold amounts as of March 31, 2024, at which such postings are triggered.

As of March 31, 2024, $50 million in cash collateral deposits were held by the Company from counterparties based on the Company's outstanding fuel derivative instrument portfolio. Due to the types of derivatives held as of March 31, 2024, the Company does not have cash collateral exposure. See Note 3 to the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

The Company is also subject to the risk that the fuel derivatives it uses to hedge against fuel price volatility do not provide adequate protection. The Company has found that financial derivative instruments in commodities, such as WTI crude oil, Brent crude oil, and refined products, such as heating oil and unleaded gasoline, can be useful in decreasing its exposure to jet fuel price volatility.

Financial Market Risk

The Company currently has agreements with organizations that process credit card transactions arising from purchases of air travel tickets by its Customers utilizing American Express, Discover, and MasterCard/VISA. Credit card processors have financial risk associated with tickets purchased for travel because the processor generally forwards the cash related to the purchase to the Company soon after the purchase is completed, but the air travel generally occurs after that time; therefore, the processor will have liability if the Company does not ultimately provide the air travel. Under these processing agreements, and based on specified conditions, increasing amounts of cash reserves could be required to be posted with the counterparty. There was no cash reserved for this purpose as of March 31, 2024.

A majority of the Company’s sales transactions are processed by Chase Paymentech. Should chargebacks processed by Chase Paymentech reach a certain level, proceeds from advance ticket sales could be held back and used to establish a reserve account to cover such chargebacks and any other disputed charges that might occur. Additionally, cash reserves are required to be established if the Company’s credit rating falls to specified levels below investment grade. Cash reserve requirements are based on the Company’s public debt rating and a corresponding percentage of the Company’s Air traffic liability. As of March 31, 2024, no holdbacks were in place.

See Item 7A "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, for further information about market risk, and Note 3 to the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements in this Form 10-Q for further information about the Company's fuel derivative instruments.