NOTE 13. DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS AND RISK MANAGEMENT

Risk Management Policies

We are exposed to market risk, primarily related to foreign exchange rates, commodity prices and interest rates. These exposures are actively monitored by management. To manage the volatility relating to certain of these exposures, we enter into a variety of derivative financial instruments. Our objective is to reduce, where it is deemed appropriate to do so, fluctuations in earnings and cash flows associated with changes in foreign currency rates, commodity prices and interest rates. It is our policy and practice to use derivative financial instruments only to the extent necessary to manage exposures. As we use price sensitive instruments to hedge a certain portion of our existing and anticipated transactions, we expect that any loss in value for those instruments generally would be offset by increases in the value of those hedged transactions. We do not hold or issue derivative financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes.

Credit Risk Management

The forward contracts, swaps and options discussed below contain an element of risk that the counterparties may be unable to meet the terms of the agreements. However, we minimize such risk exposures for these instruments by limiting the counterparties to banks and financial institutions that meet established credit guidelines, and monitoring counterparty credit risk to prevent concentrations of credit risk with any single counterparty.

We have agreements with some of our counterparties containing early termination rights and bilateral collateral provisions, whereby security is required if market risk exposure exceeds a specified threshold amount or credit ratings fall below certain levels. As of June 30, 2011, we do not have any collateral received nor posted under these contractual provisions. The remaining counterparty agreements contain early termination rights but no bilateral collateral provisions.

We have not historically incurred, and do not expect to incur in the future, any losses as a result of counterparty default.

Accounting Policy for Derivative Instruments

We recognize all derivative instruments as assets or liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets at fair value. The accounting for changes in the fair value of a derivative instrument depends on whether it has been designated and qualifies as part of a hedging relationship and, further, on the type of hedging relationship. For those derivative instruments that are designated and qualify as hedging instruments, a company must designate the derivative, based upon the exposure being hedged, as a cash flow hedge, a fair value hedge or a hedge of a net investment in a foreign operation.

A cash flow hedge refers to hedging the exposure to variability in expected future cash flows that is attributable to a particular risk. For derivative instruments that are designated and qualify as a cash flow hedge, the effective portion of the gain or loss on the derivative instrument is reported as a component of AOCI, and reclassified into earnings in the same period during which the hedged transaction affects earnings. The remaining gain or loss on the derivative instrument in excess of the cumulative change in the present value of future cash flows of the hedged item, or hedge components excluded from the assessment of effectiveness, are recognized in the statements of consolidated income during the current period.

A fair value hedge refers to hedging the exposure to changes in the fair value of an existing asset or liability on the consolidated balance sheets that is attributable to a particular risk. For derivative instruments that are designated and qualify as a fair value hedge, the gain or loss on the derivative instrument is recognized in the statements of consolidated income during the current period, as well as the offsetting gain or loss on the hedged item.

A net investment hedge refers to the use of cross currency swaps, forward contracts or foreign currency denominated debt to hedge portions of our net investments in foreign operations. For hedges that meet the effectiveness requirements, the net gains or losses attributable to changes in spot exchange rates are recorded in the cumulative translation adjustment within other AOCI. The remainder of the change in value of such instruments is recorded in earnings.

Types of Hedges

Commodity Risk Management

Currently, the fuel surcharges that we apply to our domestic and international package and LTL services are the primary means of reducing the risk of adverse fuel price changes on our business. We periodically enter into option contracts on energy commodity products to manage the price risk associated with forecasted transactions involving refined fuels, principally jet-A, diesel and unleaded gasoline. The objective of the hedges is to reduce the variability of cash flows, due to changing fuel prices, associated with the forecasted transactions involving those products. We have designated and account for these contracts as cash flow hedges of the underlying forecasted transactions involving these fuel products and, therefore, the resulting gains and losses from these hedges are recognized as a component of fuel expense or revenue when the underlying transactions occur.

Foreign Currency Risk Management

To protect against the reduction in value of forecasted foreign currency cash flows from our international package business, we maintain a foreign currency cash flow hedging program. Our most significant foreign currency exposures relate to the Euro, the British Pound Sterling and the Canadian Dollar. We hedge portions of our forecasted revenue denominated in foreign currencies with option contracts. We have designated and account for these contracts as cash flow hedges of anticipated foreign currency denominated revenue and, therefore, the resulting gains and losses from these hedges are recognized as a component of international package revenue when the underlying sales transactions occur.

We also hedge portions of our anticipated cash settlements of intercompany transactions subject to foreign currency remeasurement using foreign currency forward contracts. We have designated and account for these contracts as cash flow hedges of forecasted foreign currency denominated transactions, and therefore the resulting gains and losses from these hedges are recognized as a component of other operating expense when the underlying transactions are subject to currency remeasurement.

We have foreign currency denominated debt obligations and capital lease obligations associated with our aircraft. For some of these debt obligations and leases, we hedge the foreign currency denominated contractual payments using cross-currency interest rate swaps, which effectively convert the foreign currency denominated contractual payments into U.S. Dollar denominated payments. We have designated and account for these swaps as cash flow hedges of the forecasted contractual payments and, therefore, the resulting gains and losses from these hedges are recognized in the statements of consolidated income when the currency remeasurement gains and losses on the underlying debt obligations and leases are incurred.

Interest Rate Risk Management

Our indebtedness under our various financing arrangements creates interest rate risk. We use a combination of derivative instruments, including interest rate swaps and cross-currency interest rate swaps, as part of our program to manage the fixed and floating interest rate mix of our total debt portfolio and related overall cost of borrowing. The notional amount, interest payment date and maturity date of the swaps match the terms of the associated debt being hedged. Interest rate swaps allow us to maintain a target range of floating rate debt within our capital structure.

We have designated and account for interest rate swaps that convert fixed rate interest payments into floating rate interest payments as hedges of the fair value of the associated debt instruments. Therefore, the gains and losses resulting from fair value adjustments to the interest rate swaps and fair value adjustments to the associated debt instruments are recorded to interest expense in the period in which the gains and losses occur. We have designated and account for interest rate swaps that convert floating rate interest payments into fixed rate interest payments as cash flow hedges of the forecasted payment obligations. The gains and losses resulting from fair value adjustments to the interest rate swaps are recorded to AOCI.

We periodically hedge the forecasted fixed-coupon interest payments associated with anticipated debt offerings, using forward starting interest rate swaps, interest rate locks or similar derivatives. These agreements effectively lock a portion of our interest rate exposure between the time the agreement is entered into and the date when the debt offering is completed, thereby mitigating the impact of interest rate changes on future interest expense. These derivatives are settled commensurate with the issuance of the debt, and any gain or loss upon settlement is amortized as an adjustment to the effective interest yield on the debt.

Outstanding Positions

As of June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010, the notional amounts of our outstanding derivative positions were as follows (in millions):

As of June 30, 2011, we had no outstanding commodity hedge positions. The maximum term over which we are hedging exposures to the variability of cash flow is 39 years.

Balance Sheet Recognition and Fair Value Measurements

The following table indicates the location on the consolidated balance sheets in which our derivative assets and liabilities have been recognized, the fair value hierarchy level applicable to each derivative type, and the related fair values of those derivatives (in millions). The table is segregated between those derivative instruments that qualify and are designated as hedging instruments and those that are not, as well as by type of contract and whether the derivative is in an asset or liability position.

Our foreign currency, interest rate and energy derivatives are largely comprised of over-the-counter derivatives, which are primarily valued using pricing models that rely on market observable inputs such as yield curves, currency exchange rates and commodity forward prices, and therefore are classified as Level 2.

Income Statement Recognition

The following table indicates the amount and location in the income statement for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 and 2010 in which derivative gains and losses, as well as the related amounts reclassified from AOCI, have been recognized for those derivatives designated as cash flow hedges (in millions).

Three Months Ended June 30:

Six Months Ended June 30:

As of June 30, 2011, $132 million of pre-tax losses related to cash flow hedges that are currently deferred in AOCI are expected to be reclassified to income over the 12 month period ended June 30, 2012. The actual amounts that will be reclassified to income over the next 12 months will vary from this amount as a result of changes in market conditions.

The amount of ineffectiveness recognized in income on derivative instruments designated in cash flow hedging relationships was immaterial for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 and 2010.

The following table indicates the amount and location in the statements of consolidated income in which derivative gains and losses, as well as the associated gains and losses on the underlying exposure, have been recognized for those derivatives designated as fair value hedges for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 and 2010 (in millions).

Additionally, we maintain some interest rate swap and foreign exchange forward contracts that are not designated as hedges. These interest rate swap contracts are intended to provide an economic hedge of a portfolio of interest bearing receivables, however the income statement impact of these hedges was not material for any period presented. These foreign exchange forward contracts are intended to provide an economic offset to foreign currency remeasurement risks for certain assets and liabilities in our consolidated balance sheets. The following is a summary of the amounts recorded in the statements of consolidated income related to fair value changes and settlements of these foreign currency forward contracts not designated as hedges (in millions):