Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND ACCOUNTING POLICY

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BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND ACCOUNTING POLICY
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2020
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND ACCOUNTING POLICY
BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND ACCOUNTING POLICY
The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Era Group Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries. Unless the context otherwise indicates, any reference in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q to the “Company” refers to Era Group Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries, and any reference to “Era Group” refers to Era Group Inc. without its subsidiaries. The condensed consolidated financial information for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 has been prepared by the Company and has not been audited by its independent registered public accounting firm. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) have been made to fairly present the Company’s financial position as of March 31, 2020, its results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, its comprehensive income for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, its changes in equity for the three months ended March 31, 2020, and 2019, and its cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019. Results of operations for the interim periods presented are not necessarily indicative of operating results for the full year or any future periods.
Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) in the United States (“U.S.”) have been condensed or omitted. These condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and related notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019.
Certain of the Company’s operations are subject to seasonal factors. Operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico are often at their highest levels from April to September, as daylight hours increase, and are at their lowest levels from December through February, as daylight hours decrease.
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) caused a significant decrease in oil and natural gas prices resulting from oversupply and demand weakness and also caused significant disruptions and volatility in the global marketplace towards the end the first quarter of 2020.  These conditions continued through April 2020 and are expected to continue for at least the near future.  These conditions were initially exacerbated by decisions by large oil producing countries that have now been altered, but the resolution has not led to a meaningful increase in oil and gas prices.  While the decline in oil and natural gas prices did not have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations or financial condition during the three months ended March 31, 2020, a sustained environment of depressed prices could have a material impact on its business and its liquidity. 
Basis of Consolidation. The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Era Group Inc., its wholly and majority-owned subsidiaries and entities that meet the criteria of variable interest entities (“VIEs”) of which the Company is the primary beneficiary. All significant inter-company accounts and transactions are eliminated in consolidation.
Revenue Recognition. The Company recognizes revenues for flight services and emergency response services with the passing of each day as the Company has the right to consideration from its customers in an amount that corresponds directly with the value to the Company’s customer of the performance completed to date. Therefore, the Company has elected to exercise the right to invoice practical expedient in its adoption of ASC 606. The right to invoice represents a method for recognizing revenue over time using the output measure of “value to the customer” which is an objective measure of an entity’s performance in a contract. The Company typically invoices its customers on a monthly basis for revenues earned during the prior month with payment terms of 30 days. The Company’s customer arrangements do not contain any significant financing component for its customers.
Current Expected Credit Losses (CECL). Customers are primarily international, independent and major integrated exploration, development and production companies, third party helicopter operators and the U.S. government. The Company designates trade receivables as a single pool of assets based on its short-term nature, similar customer base and risk characteristics. Customers are typically granted credit on a short-term basis, and related credit risks are considered minimal. The Company conducts periodic quantitative and qualitative analysis on historic customer payment trends, customer credit ratings and foreseeable economic conditions. Historically, losses on trade receivables have been immaterial and uncorrelated to each other. Based on these circumstances, the Company decides if additional reserve amounts are needed against the trade receivables asset pool, on a case by case basis. Trade receivables are deemed uncollectible and removed from accounts receivable and the allowance for doubtful accounts when collection efforts have been exhausted. As of as of March 31, 2020, the Company did not reserve any additional amounts for CECL.
Leases. The Company determines if an arrangement is a lease at inception or during modification or renewal of an existing lease. Operating leases are maintained for a number of fixed assets including land, hangars, buildings, fuel tanks and tower sites. The right-of-use assets associated with these leases are reflected under long-term assets; the current portion of the long-term payables are reflected under other current liabilities; and the payables on lease agreements past one year are recorded as long-term liabilities on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. For those contracts with terms of twelve months or less, the lease expense
is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term and recorded in operating expenses on the consolidated statement of operations.  As most of the Company’s leases do not provide an implicit rate, the incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at commencement date is used to determine the present value of future payments. Most of the Company’s lease agreements allow the option of renewal or extension, which are considered a part of the lease term. When it is reasonably certain that a lease will be extended, this is incorporated into the calculations.
New Accounting Standards - Adopted. In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, “Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments” (ASU No. 2016-13), which sets forth the current expected credit loss model, a new forward-looking impairment model for certain financial instruments based on expected losses rather than incurred losses.  The ASU is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, and early adoption of the standard was permitted.  Entities were required to adopt ASU No. 2016-13 using a modified retrospective approach, subject to certain limited exceptions.  Upon evaluating the impact of this ASU, the Company concluded that no additional reserves were necessary as historical losses were immaterial, and, based on the qualitative and quantitative analysis performed in accordance with ASC 326 requirements, the Company determined there was no reasonable expectation of credit losses associated with the Company’s trade receivables in the foreseeable future. The Company adopted ASU No. 2016-13 effective January 1, 2020, and such adoption did not have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-13, “Fair Value Measurements” (ASU No. 2018-13, update to topic ASC-820), providing guidance for the changes in unrealized gains and losses for the period included in other comprehensive income for recurring Level 3 fair value measurements held at the end of the reporting period, and the range and weighted average of significant unobservable inputs used to develop Level 3 fair value measurements. For certain unobservable inputs, an entity may disclose other quantitative information (such as the median or arithmetic average) in lieu of the weighted average if the entity determines that other quantitative information would be a more reasonable and rational method to reflect the distribution of unobservable inputs used to develop Level 3 fair value measurements. The Company adopted ASU No. 2018-13 effective January 1, 2020, and such adoption did not have an impact on its consolidated financial statements.
New Accounting Standards - Not Yet Adopted. In January 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-01, “Investments-Equity Securities” Topic 321, “Investments-Equity Method and Joint Ventures” Topic 323 and “Derivatives and Hedging” Topic 815 (ASU No. 2020-01) as an update to ASU No. 2016-01 “Financial Instruments-Overall”, further clarifying the interaction between the accounting for equity securities, equity method investments, and certain derivative instruments. This ASU clarifies that a company should consider observable transactions that require a company to either apply or discontinue the equity method of accounting under Topic 323, for the purposes of applying the measurement alternative in accordance with Topic 321 immediately before applying or upon discontinuing the equity method. With this update, the FASB aims to clarify that, when determining the accounting for certain forward contracts and purchase options a company should now consider, whether upon settlement or exercise, if the underlying securities would be accounted for under the equity method or fair value option. The FASB expects this ASU to reduce diversity in practice and increase comparability of the accounting for these interactions. This ASU is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2020. The Company is evaluating the potential impact of adopting this ASU but does not expect such adoption to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.