We are at risk of losses and adverse publicity stemming from any public incident involving our company, our people or our brand, including any accident or other public incident involving our personnel or aircraft, or the personnel or aircraft of our regional, codeshare or joint business operators.
In a modern world where news can be captured and travel rapidly, we are at risk of adverse publicity stemming from any public incident involving our company, our people or our brand. Such an incident could involve the actual or alleged behavior of any of our more than 131,000 employees. Further, if our personnel, one of our aircraft, a type of aircraft in our fleet, or personnel of, or an aircraft that is operated under our brand by, one of our regional operators or an airline with which we have a marketing alliance, joint business or codeshare relationship, were to be involved in a public incident, accident, catastrophe or regulatory enforcement action, we could be exposed to significant reputational harm and potential legal liability. The insurance we carry may be inapplicable or inadequate to cover any such incident, accident, catastrophe or action. In the event that our insurance is inapplicable or inadequate, we may be forced to bear substantial losses from an incident or accident. In addition, any such incident, accident, catastrophe or action involving our personnel, one of our aircraft (or personnel and aircraft of our regional operators and our codeshare partners), or a type of aircraft fleet could create an adverse public perception, which could harm our reputation, result in air travelers being reluctant to fly on our aircraft or those of our regional operators or codeshare partners, and adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our business is subject to extensive government regulation, which may result in increases in our costs, disruptions to our operations, limits on our operating flexibility, reductions in the demand for air travel, and competitive disadvantages.
Airlines are subject to extensive domestic and international regulatory requirements. In the last several years, Congress has passed laws, and the DOT, the Federal Aviation Administration (the “FAA”), the Transportation Security Administration, the Department of Homeland Security and several of their respective international counterparts have issued regulations and a number of other directives, that affect the airline industry. These requirements impose substantial costs on us and restrict the ways we may conduct our business.
For example, the FAA from time to time issues directives and other regulations relating to the maintenance and operation of aircraft that require significant expenditures or operational restrictions. These requirements can be issued with little or no notice, or can otherwise impact our ability to efficiently or fully utilize our aircraft, and in some instances have resulted in the temporary grounding of aircraft types altogether (including the March 2019 grounding of all Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, including the 24 aircraft in our fleet, which remains in place as of the date hereof), or otherwise caused substantial disruption and resulted in material costs to us and lost revenues. The FAA also exercises comprehensive regulatory authority over nearly all technical aspects of our operations. Our failure to comply with such requirements has in the past and may in the future result in fines and other enforcement actions by the FAA or other regulators. In the future, any new regulatory requirements, particularly requirements that limit our ability to operate or price our products, could have a material adverse effect on us and the industry.
DOT consumer rules, and rules promulgated by certain analogous agencies in other countries we serve, dictate procedures for customer handling during long onboard delays, further regulate airline interactions with passengers, including passengers with disabilities, through the ticketing process, at the airport, and onboard the aircraft, and require disclosures concerning airline fares and ancillary fees such as baggage fees. Other DOT rules apply to post-ticket purchase price increases and an expansion of tarmac delay regulations to international airlines. In 2020, the DOT is expected to implement a number of new regulations that will impact us, including disability rules for accessible lavatories and refunds for checked bag fees in the event of certain delays in delivery.
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