the funding obligations for the Delta Non-Pilot Plan and the Northwest Pension Plans over the next several years compared to what our funding obligations would be under rules applicable to other DB plans. While the Alternative Funding Rules also make our funding obligations for these plans more predictable, our estimates of future funding requirements of the Delta Non-Pilot Plan and

 

Northwest Pension Plans are based on various assumptions concerning factors outside our control, including, among other things, the market performance of assets; statutory requirements; and demographic data for participants, including the number of participants and the rate of participant attrition. Results that vary significantly from our assumptions could have a material impact on our future funding obligations.

We estimate that the funding requirements for the Delta Non-Pilot Plan and the Northwest Pension Plans will total approximately $275 million in 2009. Due primarily to the recent decline in the investment markets, we expect our contributions to these plans to significantly increase for 2010 and thereafter.

Contract Carrier Agreements . During the year ended December 31, 2008, seven regional air carriers (“Contract Carriers”) operated for us (in addition to our wholly-owned subsidiaries, Comair, Inc. (“Comair”), Compass Airlines, Inc. (“Compass”) and Mesaba Aviation, Inc. (“Mesaba”)) pursuant to capacity purchase agreements. Under these agreements, the regional air carriers operate some or all of their aircraft using our flight designator codes, and we control the scheduling, pricing, reservations, ticketing and seat inventories of those aircraft and retain the revenues associated with those flights. We pay those airlines an amount, as defined in the applicable agreement, which is based on a determination of their cost of operating those flights and other factors intended to approximate market rates for those services.

The above table shows our minimum fixed obligations under these capacity purchase agreements (excluding Comair, Compass and Mesaba). The obligations set forth in the table contemplate minimum levels of flying by the Contract Carriers under the respective agreements and also reflect assumptions regarding certain costs associated with the minimum levels of flying such as for fuel, labor, maintenance, insurance, catering, property tax and landing fees. Accordingly, our actual payments under these agreements could differ materially from the minimum fixed obligations set forth in the table above.

For information regarding payments we may be required to make in connection with certain terminations of our capacity purchase agreements with Chautauqua and Shuttle America, see “Contingencies Related to Termination of Contract Carrier Agreements” in Note 8 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

FIN 48. We adopted FASB Interpretation No. 48, “Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes—an interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109,” on January 1, 2007. The total amount of unrecognized tax benefits on the Consolidated Balance Sheet at December 31, 2008 is $29 million. We have accrued $5 million for the payment of interest and $8