New York, August 13, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") assigned a Baa2 rating to JetBlue
Airways Corp.'s ("JetBlue") $115.584 million of Pass
Through Certificates, Series 2019-1B (Certificates) that
the company announced earlier today. JetBlue's Ba2 corporate family
rating ("CFR") and negative outlook on all of Moody's ratings of JetBlue
including the A2 and Baa1 ratings assigned to the company's Series
2019-1 Class AA and Class A Pass Through Certificates, respectively,
are unaffected by today's rating assignment.
The final expected distribution date, which precedes the respective
legal final maturity dates by 18 months, is November 15, 2027.
The Certificate obligations will be secured on a junior basis by 25 Airbus
A321ceo (current engine option) aircraft delivered new to JetBlue in 2017
or 2018. The company will use the proceeds for general corporate
purposes.
RATINGS RATIONALE
The rating reflects the credit quality of JetBlue; the typical benefits
of Enhanced Equipment Trust Certificates (EETCs), including the
applicability of Section 1110, cross-default and cross-collateralization
of the equipment notes; an 18-month liquidity facility provided
by Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, acting through
its New York Branch; and cross-subordination pursuant to the
Intercreditor Agreement.
The ratings also reflect Moody's opinion that the A321s in the transaction
will remain important to JetBlue's long-term network and fleet
strategy, which increases the likelihood of the company affirming
the transaction under a reorganization scenario. JetBlue's current
fleet includes 63 A321ceos and 10 A321neos. The company's orderbook
includes 76 A321neos and 70 Airbus A220s. Deliveries of the A321s
are currently scheduled through 2024; however, Moody's believes
the schedule is likely to be delayed because of the impacts of the coronavirus.
The young age of the aircraft and the relatively large proportion relative
to the total A321 fleet informs Moody's view that JetBlue would affirm
the transaction in a reorganization scenario.
Moody's current estimates of the peak loan-to-values before
priority claims for repossession and remarketing costs and of liquidity
providers ("LTV") for the Class AA, Class A and Class B are about
64%, 75%, and 83% respectively.
The LTV profile of the Class AA is upward sloping, with Moody's
projected LTV steady at about 55% through 2025, then increasing
to 65% at the final scheduled payment date in May 2032.
The amortization profile of the Class A is modestly upwards sloping,
from 72% currently, to about 76% at its final scheduled
payment date in May 2028. The profile of the Class B is modestly
downward sloping, with a projected LTV of about 78% just
before the expected final distribution in November 2027. Moody's
uses a 5% annual rate of decline and a 1% inflation rate
when projecting the current market value of the A321ceo aircraft in this
transaction. Moody's estimates the current aggregate market value
of the 25 aircraft at about $1.035 billion, and projects
declines to about $760 million in November 2025 and to about $380
million at scheduled maturity in May 2032.
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATING
Changes in the EETC ratings can result from any combination of changes
in the underlying credit quality or ratings of JetBlue, Moody's
opinion of the importance of aircraft models to the airline's network,
or Moody's estimates of aircraft market values, which will affect
estimates of loan-to-value.
The methodologies used in this rating were Enhanced Equipment Trust and
Equipment Trust Certificates published in July 2018 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1125852,
and Passenger Airline Industry published in April 2018 and available at
https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1091811.
Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of these methodologies.
JetBlue Airways Corp., based in Long Island City, New
York, operates a low-cost, point-to-point
airline from its primary focus cities -- New York from John
F. Kennedy International airport, Boston, Fort Lauderdale
and Los Angeles. JetBlue serves more than 100 cities with an average
of more than 1,000 daily flights. Revenue was $8.1
billion in 2019 and $5.9 billion in the last 12 months ended
June 30, 2020.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For further specification of Moody's key rating assumptions and
sensitivity analysis, see the sections Methodology Assumptions and
Sensitivity to Assumptions in the disclosure form. Moody's
Rating Symbols and Definitions can be found at: https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_79004.
For ratings issued on a program, series, category/class of
debt or security this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures
in relation to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the
same series, category/class of debt, security or pursuant
to a program for which the ratings are derived exclusively from existing
ratings in accordance with Moody's rating practices. For ratings
issued on a support provider, this announcement provides certain
regulatory disclosures in relation to the credit rating action on the
support provider and in relation to each particular credit rating action
for securities that derive their credit ratings from the support provider's
credit rating. For provisional ratings, this announcement
provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the provisional
rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive rating that may
be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt, in each
case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed prior
to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would have
affected the rating. For further information please see the ratings
tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
For any affected securities or rated entities receiving direct credit
support from the primary entity(ies) of this credit rating action,
and whose ratings may change as a result of this credit rating action,
the associated regulatory disclosures will be those of the guarantor entity.
Exceptions to this approach exist for the following disclosures,
if applicable to jurisdiction: Ancillary Services, Disclosure
to rated entity, Disclosure from rated entity.
The rating has been disclosed to the rated entity or its designated agent(s)
and issued with no amendment resulting from that disclosure.
This rating is solicited. Please refer to Moody's Policy
for Designating and Assigning Unsolicited Credit Ratings available on
its website www.moodys.com.
Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit
rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating
review.
Moody's general principles for assessing environmental, social
and governance (ESG) risks in our credit analysis can be found at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1133569.
The Global Scale Credit Rating on this Credit Rating Announcement was
issued by one of Moody's affiliates outside the EU and is endorsed
by Moody's Deutschland GmbH, An der Welle 5, Frankfurt
am Main 60322, Germany, in accordance with Art.4 paragraph
3 of the Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 on Credit Rating Agencies.
Further information on the EU endorsement status and on the Moody's
office that issued the credit rating is available on www.moodys.com.
Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued
the rating.
Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.
Jonathan Root, CFA
Senior Vice President
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653
Russell Solomon
Associate Managing Director
Corporate Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653