that meets or exceeds a 9% annualized return target.  

      Funding. Our funding obligations for qualified defined benefit plans are governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 allows commercial airlines to elect alternative funding rules (“Alternative Funding Rules”) for defined benefit plans that are frozen. Delta elected the Alternative Funding Rules under which the unfunded liability for a plan (1) may be funded over a fixed 17-year period beginning at the election date and (2) is calculated using a fixed interest rate of 8.85%.The Alternative Funding Rules apply to our defined benefit pension plan for eligible non-pilot pre-Merger Delta employees and retirees, effective April 1, 2007, and to our defined benefit pension plans for eligible pre-Merger Northwest employees and retirees, effective October 1, 2006.  

     While the Pension Protection Act makes our funding obligations for these plans more predictable, factors outside our control continue to have an impact on the funding requirements. Estimates of future funding requirements are based on various assumptions and can vary materially from actual funding requirements. Assumptions include, among other things, the actual and projected market performance of assets; statutory requirements; and demographic data for participants.  

     For additional information about our defined benefit pension plans, see Note 10 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.  

Recent Accounting Standards  

     In October 2009, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued “Revenue Arrangements with Multiple Deliverables.” The standard revises guidance on the determination of when individual deliverables may be treated as separate units of accounting and the allocation of consideration among separately identified deliverables. It also expands disclosure requirements regarding an entity’s multiple element revenue arrangements. The standard is effective for fiscal years beginning on or after June 15, 2010.  

     We adopted this standard on a prospective basis beginning January 1, 2011. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements, although it could significantly impact our future financial results as we enter into new or materially modified revenue arrangements related to our SkyMiles Program.  

Supplemental Information  

     We sometimes use information that is derived from our Consolidated Financial Statements, but that is not presented in accordance with GAAP. Certain of this information is considered “non-GAAP financial measures” under the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules. The non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to results prepared in accordance with GAAP, but should not be considered a substitute for or superior to GAAP results.  

     The following table shows a reconciliation of a non-GAAP financial measure to the corresponding GAAP financial measure. We use this measure because management believes the exclusion of special items is helpful to investors to evaluate our recurring operational performance.