ATLAS AIR WORLDWIDE HOLDINGS INC - Quarter Report: 2017 March (Form 10-Q)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, DC 20549

FORM 10-Q

For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2017  

OR

For the transition period from            to           

Commission File Number: 001-16545

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(914) 701-8000

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Not Applicable

(Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ☐    No  ☒

As of April 28, 2017, there were 25,262,899 shares of the registrant’s Common Stock outstanding.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I — FINANCIAL INFORMATION

ITEM 1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

(in thousands, except share data)

(Unaudited)

See accompanying Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

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Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Operations

(in thousands, except per share data)

(Unaudited)

See accompanying Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

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Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss)

(in thousands)

(Unaudited)

See accompanying Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

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Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(in thousands)

(Unaudited)

See accompanying Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

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Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity

(in thousands, except share data)

(Unaudited)

See accompanying Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

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Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc.

Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

March 31, 2017

1. Basis of Presentation

Our consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the holding company, Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (“AAWW”), and its consolidated subsidiaries.  AAWW is the parent company of Atlas Air, Inc. (“Atlas”) and Southern Air Holdings, Inc. (“Southern Air”).  AAWW is also the parent company of several subsidiaries related to our dry leasing services (collectively referred to as “Titan”).  AAWW has a 51% equity interest and 75% voting interest in Polar Air Cargo Worldwide, Inc. (“Polar”).  We record our share of Polar’s results under the equity method of accounting.

The terms “we,” “us,” “our,” and the “Company” mean AAWW and all entities included in its consolidated financial statements.

We provide outsourced aircraft and aviation operating services throughout the world, serving Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America through: (i) contractual service arrangements, including those through which we provide aircraft to customers and value-added services, including crew, maintenance and insurance (“ACMI”), as well as those through which we provide crew, maintenance and insurance, but not the aircraft (“CMI”); (ii) cargo and passenger charter services (“Charter”); and (iii) dry leasing aircraft and engines (“Dry Leasing” or “Dry Lease”).

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements and related notes (the “Financial Statements”) have been prepared in accordance with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) requirements for quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and consequently exclude certain disclosures normally included in audited consolidated financial statements prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”).  Intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.  The Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and the notes included in the AAWW Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, which includes additional disclosures and a summary of our significant accounting policies.  The December 31, 2016 balance sheet data was derived from that Annual Report.  In our opinion, the Financial Statements contain all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring items, necessary to fairly state the financial position of AAWW and its consolidated subsidiaries as of March 31, 2017, the results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, comprehensive income (loss) for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, and shareholders’ equity as of and for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016.

Our quarterly results are subject to seasonal and other fluctuations, and the operating results for any quarter are therefore not necessarily indicative of results that may be otherwise expected for the entire year.

Except for per share data, all dollar amounts are in thousands unless otherwise noted.

2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Heavy Maintenance

Except for engines used on our 747-8F aircraft, we account for heavy maintenance costs for airframes and engines used in our ACMI and Charter segments using the direct expense method. Under this method, heavy maintenance costs are charged to expense upon induction, based on our best estimate of the costs.

We account for heavy maintenance costs for airframes and engines used in our Dry Leasing segment and engines used on our 747-8F aircraft using the deferral method.  Under this method, we defer the expense recognition of scheduled heavy maintenance events, which are amortized over the estimated period until the next scheduled heavy maintenance event is required.  Amortization of deferred maintenance expense included in Depreciation and amortization was $0.8 million and zero for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and March 31, 2016, respectively.  Deferred maintenance included within Deferred costs and other assets is as follows:

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Supplemental Cash Flow Information

The following table provides a reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash reported within the consolidated balance sheets that sum to the total of the same such amounts shown in the consolidated statements of cash flows:

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) amended its accounting guidance for share-based compensation.  The amended guidance changes how companies account for certain aspects of share-based payment awards to employees, including the accounting for income taxes, forfeitures, and statutory tax withholding requirements, as well as classification in the statement of cash flows.  We adopted this amended guidance on January 1, 2017 on a prospective basis.  As a result, we recognized $1.5 million of excess tax benefits during the first quarter of 2017 as a reduction of income tax expense in our consolidated statements of operations.  Excess tax benefits were previously recognized within equity.  Additionally, our consolidated statements of cash flows present such excess tax benefits, which were previously presented as a financing activity, as an operating activity.

In February 2016, the FASB amended its accounting guidance for leases.  The guidance requires a lessee to recognize assets and liabilities on the balance sheet arising from leases with terms greater than twelve months.  While lessor accounting guidance is relatively unchanged, certain amendments were made to conform with changes made to lessee accounting and amended revenue recognition guidance.  The new guidance will continue to classify leases as either finance or operating, with classification affecting the pattern of expense and income recognition in the statement of operations.  It also requires additional quantitative and qualitative disclosures about leasing arrangements.  The amended guidance is effective as of the beginning of 2019, with early adoption permitted.  While we are still assessing the impact the amended guidance will have on our financial statements, we expect that recognizing the right-of-use asset and related lease liability will impact our balance sheet materially.  We have developed and are implementing a plan for adopting this amended guidance.

In May 2014, the FASB amended its accounting guidance for revenue recognition.  Subsequently, the FASB has issued several clarifications and updates.  The fundamental principles of the new guidance are that companies should recognize revenue in a manner that reflects the timing of the transfer of services to customers and consideration that a company expects to receive for the services provided.  It also requires additional disclosures necessary for the financial statement users to understand the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers.  We will adopt this guidance on its required effective date of January 1, 2018.  While we are still assessing the methods of adoption and impact the amended guidance will have on our financial statements, we expect that an immaterial amount of revenue currently recognized based on flight departure will likely be recognized over time as the services are performed.  In addition, we expect that revenue related to contracted minimum block hour guarantees under certain ACMI and CMI contracts will likely be recognized in later periods under the amended guidance.  The implementation of our plan to adopt this amended guidance is progressing as expected.

3. Related Parties

DHL Investment and Polar

AAWW has a 51% equity interest and 75% voting interest in Polar.  DHL Network Operations (USA), Inc. (“DHL”), a subsidiary of Deutsche Post AG (“DP”), holds a 49% equity interest and a 25% voting interest in Polar.  Polar is a variable interest entity that we do not consolidate because we are not the primary beneficiary as the risks associated with the direct costs of operation are with DHL.  Under a 20-year blocked space agreement (the “BSA”), Polar provides air cargo capacity to DHL.  Atlas has several agreements with Polar to provide ACMI, CMI, Dry Leasing, administrative, sales and ground support services to one another.  We do not have any financial exposure to fund debt obligations or operating losses of Polar, except for any liquidated damages that we could incur under these agreements.

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The following table summarizes our transactions with Polar:

GATS

We hold a 50% interest in GATS GP (BVI) Ltd. (“GATS”), a joint venture with an unrelated third party.  The purpose of the joint venture is to purchase rotable parts and provide repair services for those parts, primarily for our 747-8F aircraft.  The joint venture is a variable interest entity and we have not consolidated GATS because we are not the primary beneficiary as we do not exercise financial control.  As of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, our investment in GATS was $21.9 million and $22.2 million, respectively, and our maximum exposure to losses from the entity is limited to our investment, which is comprised primarily of rotable inventory parts.  GATS does not have any third-party debt obligations.  We had Accounts payable to GATS of $0.6 million as of March 31, 2017 and $2.4 million as of December 31, 2016.

4. Southern Air Acquisition

On April 7, 2016, we completed the acquisition of Southern Air and its subsidiaries, including Southern Air Inc. and Florida West International Airways, Inc. (“Florida West”).  The acquisition of Southern Air provided us with immediate entry into 777 and 737 aircraft operating platforms, with the potential for developing additional business with existing and new customers. We believe this augments our ability to offer the broadest array of aircraft and operating services for domestic, regional and international applications.  For the three months ended March 31, 2017, we incurred Transaction-related expenses of $0.9 million, primarily related to professional fees and integration costs associated with the acquisition.

The unaudited estimated pro forma operating revenue for AAWW, including Southern Air for the three months ended March 31, 2016 was $444.1 million if the acquisition had taken place on January 1, 2015.  This information includes adjustments to conform with our accounting policies.  The earnings of Southern Air were not material for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and, accordingly, pro forma and actual earnings information have not been presented.  

As part of integrating Southern Air, management decided and committed to pursue a plan to sell Florida West.  As a result, the financial results for Florida West were presented as a discontinued operation and the assets and liabilities of Florida West were classified as held for sale, since the date of acquisition through December 31, 2016.  In February 2017, management determined that a sale was no longer likely to occur and committed to a plan to wind-down the Florida West operations.  The wind-down of operations was completed during the first quarter of 2017.

A summary of our employee termination benefit liabilities, which are expected to be paid by the first quarter of 2018, is as follows:

5. Special Charge

During the first quarter of 2016, we classified four CF6-80 engines as held for sale, recognized an impairment loss of $6.5 million and ceased depreciation on the engines.  All four of those engines were traded in during 2016.  During the fourth quarter of

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2016, we classified two CF6-80 engines as held for sale and one of those engines was traded in during the first quarter of 2017.  The carrying value of one CF6-80 engine held for sale at March 31, 2017 was $1.4 million and two CF6-80 engines held for sale at December 31, 2016 was $2.8 million, which were included within Prepaid expenses and other current assets in the consolidated balance sheets.  The remaining CF6-80 engine classified as held for sale is expected to be sold during 2017.

6. Amazon

In May 2016, we entered into certain agreements with Amazon.com, Inc. and its subsidiary, Amazon Fulfillment Services, Inc., (collectively “Amazon”), which involves, among other things, CMI operation of 20 Boeing 767-300 freighter aircraft for Amazon by Atlas, as well as Dry Leasing by Titan.  The Dry Leases will have a term of ten years from the commencement of each lease, while the CMI operations will be for seven years from the commencement of each agreement (with an option for Amazon to extend the term to a total of ten years).  The first two aircraft were placed in service during the third quarter of 2016 and the first quarter of 2017.  The third and fourth aircraft were placed in service in May 2017 with the remainder expected to be placed in service by the end of 2018.

In conjunction with these agreements, we granted Amazon a warrant providing the right to acquire up to 20% of our outstanding common shares, after giving effect to the issuance of shares pursuant to the warrants, at an exercise price of $37.50 per share.  A portion of the warrant, representing the right to purchase 3.75 million shares, vested immediately upon issuance of the warrant and the remainder of the warrant, representing the right to purchase 3.75 million shares, will vest in increments of 375,000 as the lease and operation of each of the 11^th through 20^th aircraft commences.  The warrant will be exercisable in accordance with its terms through 2021.  As of March 31, 2017, no warrants have been exercised.

The agreements also provide incentives for future growth of the relationship as Amazon may increase its business with us.  In that regard, we granted Amazon a warrant to acquire up to an additional 10% of our outstanding common shares, after giving effect to the issuance of shares pursuant to the warrants, for an exercise price of $37.50 per share.  This warrant to purchase 3.75 million shares will vest in conjunction with payments by Amazon for additional business with us.  The warrant will be exercisable in accordance with its terms through 2023.

The $92.9 million fair value of the vested portion of the warrant issued to Amazon as of May 4, 2016 was recorded as a warrant liability within Financial instruments and other liabilities (the “Amazon Warrant”).  The initial fair value of the warrant was recognized as a customer incentive asset within Deferred costs and other assets, net and is being amortized as a reduction of revenue in proportion to the amount of revenue recognized over the terms of the Dry Leases and CMI agreements.  We amortized $0.4 million of the customer incentive asset for the three months ended March 31, 2017.  The balance of the customer incentive asset, net of amortization, was $91.9 million as of March 31, 2017 and $92.4 million as of December 31, 2016.

The Amazon Warrant liability is marked-to-market at the end of each reporting period with changes in fair value recorded in Unrealized loss on financial instruments.  We utilize a Monte Carlo simulation approach to estimate the fair value of the Amazon Warrant which requires inputs such as our common stock price, the warrant strike price, estimated common stock price volatility and risk-free interest rate, among others.  We recognized a net unrealized loss of $5.2 million on the Amazon Warrant during the three months ended March 31, 2017.  The fair value of the Amazon Warrant liability was $101.0 million as of March 31, 2017 and $95.8 million as of December 31, 2016.

7. Accrued Liabilities

Accrued liabilities consisted of the following as of:

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8. Debt

Capital Lease

In March 2017, we amended and extended a lease for a 747-400 freighter aircraft to June 2032 at a lower monthly lease payment.  As a result of the extension, we determined that the lease qualifies as a capital lease.  The present value of the future minimum lease payments was $32.4 million.

Convertible Notes

In June 2015, we issued $224.5 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes (the “Convertible Notes”) in an underwritten public offering.  The Convertible Notes are senior unsecured obligations and accrue interest payable semiannually on June 1 and December 1 of each year at a fixed rate of 2.25%.  The Convertible Notes will mature on June 1, 2022, unless earlier converted or repurchased pursuant to their terms.  Proceeds from the issuance of the Convertible Notes were used to refinance higher-rate debt related to five 747-400 freighter aircraft that had an average cash coupon of 8.1%.  As of March 31, 2017, the remaining life of the Convertible Notes is 5.2 years and consisted of the following:

The following table presents the amount of interest expense recognized related to the Convertible Notes:

Revolving Credit Facility

In December 2016, we entered into a three-year $150.0 million secured revolving credit facility (the “Revolver”) for general corporate purposes, including financing the acquisition and conversion of 767 aircraft prior to obtaining permanent financing for the converted aircraft.  As of March 31, 2017, the outstanding balance on the Revolver, included in Long-term debt and capital lease was $150.0 million at an interest rate of 3.23%.

9. Commitments

Equipment Purchase Commitments

As of March 31, 2017, our estimated payments remaining for flight equipment purchase commitments are $211.8 million, of which $143.1 million are expected to be made during 2017.

10. Income Taxes

Our effective income tax rates were 94.0% and 42.8% for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.  The effective income tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2017 differed from the U.S. statutory rate primarily due to nondeductible changes in the value of the Amazon Warrant liability (see Note 6 to our Financial Statements), partially offset by the impact of the 2017 adoption of the amended accounting guidance for share-based compensation which requires that excess tax benefits associated with share-based compensation be recognized within income tax expense in our consolidated statement of operations.  The effective income tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2016 differed from the U.S. federal statutory rate primarily due to nondeductible acquisition-related expenses incurred in connection with the acquisition of Southern Air.  The effective

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rates for both periods were impacted by our assertion to indefinitely reinvest the net earnings of foreign subsidiaries outside the U.S.  For interim accounting purposes, we recognize income taxes using an estimated annual effective tax rate.

11. Financial Instruments

Fair value is the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (exit price). Inputs used to measure fair value are classified in the following hierarchy:

We endeavor to utilize the best available information to measure fair value.

The carrying value of Cash and cash equivalents, Short-term investments and Restricted cash is based on cost, which approximates fair value.

Long-term investments consist of debt securities for which we have both the ability and the intent to hold until maturity.  These investments are classified as held-to-maturity and reported at amortized cost.  The fair value of our Long-term investments is based on a discounted cash flow analysis using the contractual cash flows of the investments and a discount rate derived from unadjusted quoted interest rates for debt securities of comparable risk.  Such debt securities represent investments in Pass-Through Trust Certificates (“PTCs”) related to enhanced equipment trust certificates (“EETCs”) issued by Atlas in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

The fair value of our term loans, notes guaranteed by the Export-Import Bank of the United States (“Ex-Im Bank”), the Revolver and EETCs are based on a discounted cash flow analysis using current borrowing rates for instruments with similar terms.

The fair value of our Convertible Notes is based on unadjusted quoted market prices for these securities.

The fair value of the Amazon Warrant is based on a Monte Carlo simulation which requires inputs such as our common stock price, the warrant strike price, estimated common stock price volatility, and risk-free interest rate, among others.

The following table summarizes the carrying value, estimated fair value and classification of our financial instruments as of:

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The following table presents the carrying value, gross unrealized gain (loss) and fair value of our long-term investments and accrued interest by contractual maturity as of:

12. Segment Reporting

Our business is organized into three operating segments based on our service offerings: ACMI, Charter and Dry Leasing.  All segments are directly or indirectly engaged in the business of air transportation services but have different commercial and economic characteristics.  Each operating segment is separately reviewed by our chief operating decision maker to assess operating results and make resource allocation decisions.  We do not aggregate our operating segments and, therefore, our operating segments are our reportable segments.

We use an economic performance metric (“Direct Contribution”) that shows the profitability of each segment after allocation of direct operating and ownership costs.  Direct Contribution represents Income from continuing operations before income taxes excluding the following: Special charges, Transaction-related expenses, nonrecurring items, Losses (gains) on the disposal of aircraft, Losses on early extinguishment of debt, Unrealized losses (gains) on financial instruments, Gains on investments and Unallocated income and expenses, net.  Direct operating and ownership costs include crew costs, maintenance, fuel, ground operations, sales costs, aircraft rent, interest expense on the portion of debt used for financing aircraft, interest income on debt securities and aircraft depreciation.  Unallocated income and expenses, net include corporate overhead, nonaircraft depreciation, noncash expenses and income, interest expense on the portion of debt used for general corporate purposes, interest income on nondebt securities, capitalized interest, foreign exchange gains and losses, other revenue and other non-operating costs.

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The following table sets forth Operating Revenue and Direct Contribution for our reportable segments reconciled to Operating Income and Income from continuing operations before income taxes:

Given the nature of our business and international flying, geographic information for revenue, long-lived assets and total assets is not presented because it is impracticable to do so.

We are exposed to a concentration of revenue from the U.S. Military Air Mobility Command (the “AMC”), Polar and DHL (see Note 3 for further discussion regarding Polar).  No other customer accounted for more than 10.0% of our Total Operating Revenue.  Revenue from the AMC was $131.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and $111.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016.  Accounts receivable from the AMC were $24.2 million and $9.0 million as of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively.  Revenue from DHL was $54.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and $23.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016.  Accounts receivable from DHL were $10.6 million and $29.1 million as of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively.  We have not experienced any credit issues with any of these customers.

13. Labor and Legal Proceedings

Labor

Pilots of Atlas and Southern Air, and flight dispatchers of Atlas and Polar are represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (the “IBT”).  We have a five-year collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) with our Atlas pilots, which became amendable in September 2016 and a four-year CBA with the Southern Air pilots, which became amendable in November 2016. We also have a five-year CBA with our Atlas and Polar dispatchers, which was extended in April 2017 for an additional four years, making the CBA amendable in November 2021.

After we completed the acquisition of Southern Air in April 2016, we informed the IBT of our intention to pursue (and we have been pursuing) a complete operational merger of Atlas and Southern Air.  Pursuant to the merger provisions in both the Atlas and Southern Air CBAs, joint negotiations for a single CBA for Atlas and Southern Air should commence promptly.  Further to this

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process, once a seniority list is presented to us by the unions, it triggers an agreed-upon time frame to negotiate a new joint CBA with any unresolved issues submitted to binding arbitration.  After the merger process began, the IBT filed an application for mediation with the National Mediation Board (“NMB”) on behalf of the Atlas pilots, and subsequently the IBT filed a similar application on behalf of Southern Air pilots.  We have opposed both mediation applications as they are not in accordance with the merger provisions in the parties’ existing CBAs.  The Atlas and Southern Air CBAs have a defined and streamlined process for negotiating a joint CBA when a merger occurs, as in the case with the Atlas and Southern Air merger.  The NMB conducted a pre-mediation investigation on the Atlas application in June 2016, which is currently pending (along with Southern Air’s application).  Due to a lack of meaningful progress in such discussions, in February 2017, we filed a lawsuit against the IBT to compel arbitration on the issue of whether the merger provisions in Atlas and Southern Air's CBAs apply to the bargaining process. While this lawsuit is pending in the Southern District Court of New York, the Company and the IBT continue to have ongoing discussions about the bargaining process.

We are subject to risks of work interruption or stoppage as permitted by the Railway Labor Act of 1926 (the “Railway Labor Act”) and may incur additional administrative expenses associated with union representation of our employees.

Matters Related to Alleged Pricing Practices

The Company and Polar Air Cargo, LLC (“Old Polar”), a consolidated subsidiary, were named defendants, along with a number of other cargo carriers, in several class actions in the U.S. arising from allegations about the pricing practices of Old Polar and a number of air cargo carriers.  These actions were all centralized in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.  Polar was later joined as an additional defendant.  The consolidated complaint alleged, among other things, that the defendants, including the Company and Old Polar, manipulated the market price for air cargo services sold domestically and abroad through the use of surcharges, in violation of U.S., state, and European Union antitrust laws.  The suit sought treble damages and attorneys’ fees.

On January 7, 2016, the Company, Old Polar, and Polar entered into a settlement agreement to settle all claims by participating class members against the Company, Old Polar and Polar. The Company, Polar, and Old Polar deny any wrongdoing, and there is no admission of any wrongdoing in the settlement agreement.  Pursuant to the settlement agreement, the Company, Old Polar and Polar have agreed to make installment payments over three years to settle the plaintiffs’ claims, with payments of $35.0 million paid in January 2016 and 2017, and $30.0 million due on or before January 15, 2018.  The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York issued an order granting preliminary approval of the settlement on January 12, 2016.  On October 6, 2016, the final judgment was issued and the settlement was approved.

In the United Kingdom, several groups of named claimants have brought suit against British Airways in connection with the same alleged pricing practices at issue in the proceedings described above and are seeking damages allegedly arising from that conduct.  British Airways has filed claims in the lawsuit against Old Polar and a number of air cargo carriers for contribution should British Airways be found liable to claimants.  Old Polar’s formal statement of defense was filed on March 2, 2015.  On October 14, 2015, the U.K. Court of Appeal released decisions favorable to the defendant and contributory defendants on two matters under appeal.  Permission was sought to appeal the U.K. Court of Appeal's decisions to the U.K. Supreme Court.  Permission was denied.  In December 2015, certain claimants settled with British Airways removing a significant portion of the claim against British Airways and therefore reducing the potential contribution required by the other airlines, including Old Polar.  On December 16, 2015, the European General Court released decisions annulling decisions that the European Commission made against the majority of the air cargo carriers.  The European Commission did not appeal the General Court decision but has, in early 2017, reissued a revised decision to which Old Polar is, again, not an addressee.  On April 13, 2017, Old Polar and claimants represented by Hausfeld & Co. LLP (the “Hausfeld Claimants”) entered into a bilateral settlement agreement in relation to the English proceedings (the “Settlement Agreement”).  The Settlement Agreement contains a mechanism by which the Hausfeld Claimants will release Old Polar and remove from the English proceedings all claims for damages alleged by the Hausfeld Claimants to be attributable to air cargo purchases from Old Polar (and each of Old Polar’s parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, predecessors, successors, agents and assignees).  The amount of the settlement, which is tax deductible and was previously accrued for, does not have a material adverse impact on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.