Delta Airlines 2011 Annual Report Download - page 84

We believe that our insurance would cover most of our exposure to liabilities and related indemnities associated with the commercial real estate leases and
aircraft and other equipment lease and financing agreements described above. While our insurance does not typically cover environmental liabilities, we have
certain insurance policies in place as required by 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, 2011, we had approximately 78,400 full-time equivalent employees. Approximately 16% of these employees were represented by
unions, including the following domestic employee groups.
Employee Group Approximate Number of Active Employees Represented Union Date on which Collective Bargaining Agreement Becomes
Amendable
Delta Pilots 10,850 ALPA December 31, 2012
Delta Flight Superintendents (Dispatchers) 340 PAFCA December 31, 2013
Comair Pilots 790 ALPA March 2, 2011
Comair Maintenance Employees 280 IAM December 31, 2010
Comair Flight Attendants 550 IBT December 31, 2010
All of our agreements with workgroups at our airline subsidiary, Comair, are currently amendable. Comair is in discussions with representatives of the
respective unions and we cannot predict the outcome of those discussions.
Labor unions periodically engage in organizing efforts to represent various groups of our employees, including at our airline subsidiary, that are not
represented for collective bargaining purposes.
War-Risk Insurance Contingency
As a result of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, aviation insurers significantly (1) reduced the maximum amount of insurance coverage available
to commercial air carriers for liability to persons (other than employees or passengers) for claims resulting from acts of terrorism, war or similar events and
(2) increased the premiums for such coverage and for aviation insurance in general. Since September 24, 2001, the U.S. government has been providing U.S.
airlines with war-risk insurance to cover losses, including those resulting from terrorism, to passengers, third parties (ground damage) and the aircraft hull.
The coverage currently extends through September 30, 2012 , and we expect the coverage to be further extended. The withdrawal of government support of
airline war-risk insurance would require us to obtain war-risk insurance coverage commercially, if available. Such commercial insurance could have
substantially less desirable coverage than that currently provided by the U.S. government, may not be adequate to protect our risk of loss from future acts of
terrorism, may result in a material increase to our operating expenses or may not be obtainable at all, resulting in an interruption to our operations.
Other
We have certain contracts for goods and services that require us to pay a penalty, acquire inventory specific to us or purchase contract specific equipment,
as defined by each respective contract, if we terminate the contract without cause prior to its expiration date. Because these obligations are contingent on our
termination of the contract without cause prior to its expiration date, no obligation would exist unless such a termination occurs.
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