Delta Airlines 2014 Annual Report Download - page 42

Financing Activities
Debt and Capital Leases. Our principal amount of debt and capital leases has declined from $14.4 billion at the beginning of 2012 to $9.9 billion at
December 31, 2014 . Since December 31, 2009, we have reduced our principal amount of debt and capital leases by $8.4 billion. We have focused on
reducing our total debt in recent years as part of our strategy to strengthen our balance sheet. In addition, we have refinanced debt to reduce our total
future interest expense.
Capital Returns to Shareholders. In May 2013, we announced a plan to return more than $1 billion to shareholders over the next three years. As
part of this plan, our Board of Directors initiated a quarterly dividend program and a $500 million share repurchase program, which was to be
completed no later than June 30, 2016. We completed this share repurchase authorization during the June 2014 quarter.
In May 2014, we announced the next phase of capital returns to shareholders. The Board of Directors approved a program to increase the quarterly
dividend by 50% to $0.09 per share beginning in the September 2014 quarter and authorized a new $2 billion share repurchase program to be
completed no later than December 31, 2016. Together, the increased dividend program and the new repurchase program are expected to return $2.75
billion to shareholders through 2016. During the year ended December 31, 2014, we repurchased and retired 21.3 million shares at a cost of $850
million under the new program. Including the shares repurchased under the May 2013 share repurchase authorization, we repurchased and retired 28.6
million shares at a cost of $1.1 billion for the year ended December 31, 2014.
On October 24, 2014, the Board of Directors declared a $0.09 per share dividend for shareholders of record as of November 7, 2014. This dividend
was paid in December 2014 and totaled $75 million. Including dividend payments in the first three quarters, we paid $251 million of dividends for the
year ended December 31, 2014. On February 6, 2015, the Board of Directors declared a $0.09 per share dividend for shareholders of record as of
February 20, 2015.
Undrawn Lines of Credit
We have available $1.9 billion in undrawn revolving lines of credit. Our credit facilities have covenants, including minimum collateral coverage
ratios. If we are not in compliance with these covenants, we may be required to repay amounts borrowed under the credit facilities or we may not be
able to draw on them. We currently have a substantial amount of unencumbered assets available to pledge as collateral.
Covenants
We were in compliance with the covenants in our financing agreements at December 31, 2014 .
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