This Subtopic provides accounting guidance for take-off and landing slots for entities in the airline industry.
New entrants to a market and airlines expanding in markets need gates and take-off and landing slots available to them at the airports in those markets. At certain airports, the frequency of take-offs and landings at all times is generally at capacity. At other airports, the slots during popular travel times are at capacity. Because an airline cannot enter a market where no slots are available, the Department of Transportation has adopted a rule under which airlines may sell or trade slots. These transactions frequently include the sale of or access to gates for the acquiring airlines. Although slots, particularly those in high-demand time periods, have always had intrinsic value, the Department of Transportation policy of transferability through sale or exchange has made the slot a salable right.