Delta Airlines 2008 Annual Report Download - page 110

Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements
NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS—(Continued)
In those circumstances where the processor can establish a Reserve, the amount of the Reserve would be equal to the potential liability of the credit card
processor for tickets purchased with Visa or MasterCard that had not yet been used for travel. There was no Reserve as of December 31, 2008 and 2007.
American Express
In December 2008, we amended our American Express credit card processing agreement (the "Amended Card Service Agreement"). The Amended
Card Service Agreement provides that no withholding of our receivables will occur except in certain circumstances, including in which we do not maintain a
required level of unrestricted cash. In those circumstances where American Express is permitted to withhold our receivables, the amount that can be withheld
is an amount up to American Express' potential liability for tickets purchased with the American Express credit card that had not yet been used for travel. No
amounts were withheld as of December 31, 2008 and 2007.
Other Contingencies
General Indemnifications
We are the lessee under many commercial real estate leases. It is common in these transactions for us, as the lessee, to agree to indemnify the lessor and
the lessor's related parties for tort, environmental and other liabilities that arise out of or relate to our use or occupancy of the leased premises. This type of
indemnity would typically make us responsible to indemnified parties for liabilities arising out of the conduct of, among others, contractors, licensees and
invitees at or in connection with the use or occupancy of the leased premises. This indemnity often extends to related liabilities arising from the negligence of
the indemnified parties, but usually excludes any liabilities caused by either their sole or gross negligence and their willful misconduct.
Our aircraft and other equipment lease and financing agreements typically contain provisions requiring us, as the lessee or obligor, to indemnify the
other parties to those agreements, including certain of those parties' related persons, against virtually any liabilities that might arise from the condition, use or
operation of the aircraft or such other equipment.
We believe that our insurance would cover most of our exposure to such liabilities and related indemnities associated with the types of lease and
financing agreements described above, including real estate leases. However, our insurance does not typically cover environmental liabilities, although we
have certain policies to meet the requirements of applicable environmental laws.
Certain of our aircraft and other financing transactions include provisions which require us to make payments to preserve an expected economic return
to the lenders if that economic return is diminished due to certain changes in law or regulations. In certain of these financing transactions, we also bear the risk
of certain changes in tax laws that would subject payments to non-U.S. lenders to withholding taxes.
We cannot reasonably estimate our potential future payments under the indemnities and related provisions described above because we cannot predict
(1) when and under what circumstances these provisions may be triggered and (2) the amount that would be payable if the provisions were triggered because
the amounts would be based on facts and circumstances existing at such time.
Employees Under Collective Bargaining Agreements
At December 31, 2008, we had 84,306 full-time equivalent employees. Approximately 42% of these employees, including all of our pilots, are
represented by labor unions.
On February 26, 2009, the National Mediation Board accepted a request by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association ("AMFA") to terminate its
certification to represent pre-merger Northwest Airlines, Inc. aircraft maintenance technicians and related employees. Approximately 900 employees were
represented by AMFA.
War-Risk Insurance Contingency
As a result of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, aviation insurers significantly reduced the maximum amount of insurance coverage available
to commercial air carriers for liability to persons (other than
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