What wiuld be the impact on the financial statements of Delta airlines, Inc, if all its leases were required to be recorded on the balance sheet, as currently being proposed by the boards (assume that Delta consumes more than an insignificant portion of its leased airplanes)? Would this be an improvement in transparency?

The airline industry relies heavily on off-balance sheet financing through leasing. A significant proportion of aircraft utilized by major airline carriers in the United States and abroad is financed under openting leases. Below is an overview of some of these airlines and the percentage of their aircraft that is classified as off-balance sheet via operating leases as obtained from 2010 company reports. Source. Data taken from the Annual Reports of Delta. American, Air France/KL.M.Southwet, EAt, 20t0