As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 8, 2020

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 20-F

OR

OR

OR

Commission file number: 001-32696

COPA HOLDINGS, S.A.

(Exact name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

Not Applicable

(Translation of Registrant’s Name Into English)

Republic of Panama

(Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)

Avenida Principal y Avenida de la Rotonda, Costa del Este

Complejo Business Park, Torre Norte

Parque Lefevre, Panama City

Panama

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

Raul Pascual

Complejo Business Park, Torre Norte

Parque Lefevre, Panama City, Panama

+507 304 2774 (Telephone)

+507 304 2535 (Facsimile)

(Registrant’s Contact Person)

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act:

None

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report: At December 31, 2019, there were outstanding 42,275,981 shares of common stock, without par value, of which 31,337,856 were Class A shares and 10,938,125 were Class B shares.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    ☒  Yes    ☐  No

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.    ☐  Yes    ☒  No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    ☒  Yes    ☐  No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).    ☒  Yes    ☐  No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or an emerging growth company. See definition of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of Exchange Act.:

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ☐

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow:

  ☐  Item 17    ☐  Item 18

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    ☐  Yes    ☒  No

Table of Contents

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Introduction

In this annual report on Form 20-F, unless the context otherwise requires, references to “Copa Airlines” are to Compañía Panameña de Aviación, S.A., the consolidated operating entity, “Copa Colombia” refers to AeroRepública, S.A., “Wingo” refers to the low-cost business model offered by AeroRepública and La Nueva Aerolínea, S.A., and references to “Copa”, “Copa Holdings”, “we”, “us” or the “Company” are to Copa Holdings, S.A. and its consolidated subsidiaries. References to “Class A shares” refer to Class A shares of Copa Holdings, S.A.

This annual report contains terms relating to operating performance that are commonly used within the airline industry and are defined as follows:

Market Data

This annual report contains certain statistical data regarding our airline routes, our competitive position, market share and the market size of the Latin American airline industry. This information has been derived from a variety of sources, including the International Air Transport Association, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, the International Monetary Fund and other third-party sources, governmental agencies or industry or general publications. Information for which no source is cited has been prepared by us on the basis of our knowledge of Latin American airline markets and other information available to us. The methodology and terminology used by different sources are not always consistent, and data from different sources are not readily comparable. In addition, sources other than us use methodologies that are not identical to ours and may produce results that differ from our own estimates. Although we have not independently verified the information concerning our competitive position, market share, market size, market growth or other similar data provided by third-party sources or by industry or general publications, we believe these sources and publications are generally accurate and reliable.

Presentation of Financial and Statistical Data

Included in this annual report are our audited consolidated statement of financial position as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, and the related audited consolidated statements of profit or loss, comprehensive income or loss, changes in equity and cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017. Our audited consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 have been restated to reflect the application of IFRS 16. The details of the changes in accounting policies and impacts due the application of IFRS 16 are disclosed in note 5 of our annual consolidated financial statements.

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The Company’s consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards or “IFRS”, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or “IASB”.

Unless otherwise indicated, all references in the annual report to “$” or “dollars” refer to U.S. dollars.

Certain figures included in this annual report have been subject to rounding adjustments. Accordingly, figures shown as totals in certain tables may not be an arithmetic aggregation of the figures that precede them.

Special Note About Forward-Looking Statements

This annual report includes forward-looking statements, principally under the captions “Risk Factors”, “Business Overview” and “Operating and Financial Review and Prospects”. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current beliefs, expectations and projections about future events and financial trends affecting our business. Many important factors, in addition to those discussed elsewhere in this annual report, could cause our actual results to differ substantially from those anticipated in our forward- looking statements, including, among other things:

The words “believe”, “may”, “will”, “aim”, “estimate”, “continue”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “expect” and similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include information concerning our possible or assumed future results of operations, business strategies, financing plans, competitive position, industry environment, potential growth opportunities, the effects of future regulation and the effects of competition. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they were made, and we undertake no obligation to update publicly or to revise any forward-looking statements after the date of this annual report because of new information, future events or other factors. In light of the risks and uncertainties described above, the forward- looking events and circumstances discussed in this annual report might not occur and are not guarantees of future performance.

Considering these limitations, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this annual report.

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PART I

Item 1. Identity of Directors, Senior Management and Advisers

Not applicable.

Item 2. Offer Statistics and Expected Timetable

Not applicable.

Item 3. Key Information

A. Selected Financial Data

The following table presents summary consolidated financial and operating data for each of the periods indicated. Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with IFRS, as issued by the IASB and are stated in U.S. dollars. You should read this information in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements included in this annual report and the information under “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” appearing elsewhere in this annual report.

The summary consolidated financial information as of December 31, 2019, and for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report. The summary consolidated financial information for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements for those years (not included herein), which have not been restated to reflect the application of IFRS 15 and IFRS 16.

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Underlying net profit for the years ended on December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 represents net income (loss) minus fuel hedge mark-to-market gain/(loss), and devaluation and translation losses in Venezuela and Argentina.

Underlying net profit is presented because the Company uses this measure to determine annual dividends. However, underlying net profit should not be considered in isolation, as a substitute for net profit (loss) prepared in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB or as a measure of our profitability. The following table presents a reconciliation of our net profit (loss) to underlying net profit for the specified periods.

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a. Capitalization and Indebtedness

Not applicable.

b. Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds

Not applicable.

c. Risk Factors

Risks Relating to Our Company

Failure to successfully implement our growth strategy may adversely affect our results of operations and harm the market value of our Class A shares.

We intend to continue expanding our service to new markets as well as increasing the frequency of flights to the markets we currently serve. Achieving these goals allows our business to benefit from cost efficiencies resulting from economies of scale. We expect to have substantial cash needs as we expand, including cash required to fund aircraft acquisitions or aircraft deposits as we add to our fleet. If we do not have enough cash to fund such projects, we may not be able to successfully expand our route system, therefore, our future revenue and earnings growth would be limited.

When we commence a new route, load factors tend to be lower than those on our established routes and our advertising and other promotional costs tend to be higher, which could result in initial losses that could have a negative impact on our results of operations as well as require a substantial amount of cash to fund. We also periodically run special promotional fare campaigns, particularly in connection with the opening of new routes. Promotional fares can have the effect of increasing load factors while reducing our yield on such routes during the period that they are in effect. The number of markets we serve and flight frequencies depend on our ability to identify the appropriate geographic markets upon which to focus and to gain suitable airport access in addition to route approval in the aforementioned markets. There can be no assurance that the new markets we enter will yield passenger traffic, at the expected fares, that is sufficient to make our operations in those new markets profitable. Any condition that would prevent or delay our access to key airports or routes, including limitations on the ability to process more passengers, the imposition of flight capacity restrictions, the inability to secure additional route rights under bilateral agreements or the inability to maintain our existing slots, flight banks and obtain additional slots, could constrain the expansion of our operations.

The expansion of our business will also require additional skilled personnel, equipment and facilities. The inability to hire, train and/or retain pilots and other personnel or secure the required equipment and facilities efficiently, cost-effectively, and on a timely basis, could adversely affect our ability to execute our plans. It also could strain our existing management resources and operational, financial and management information systems to the point where they may no longer be adequate to support our operations, requiring us to make significant expenditures in these areas. Difficulties obtaining necessary equipment could also affect the expansion of our business. For example, the mandatory grounding of Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft has affected the delivery scheduled for 2019 and 2020. Due to the Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft grounding we have experienced a constraint in capacity growth. While we currently expect operation of our Boeing 737 MAX fleet, and deliveries of the Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft, to resume by the second half of 2020, further delays are possible. Considering these factors, we cannot ensure that we will be able to successfully establish new markets or expand our existing markets, and our failure to do so could have an impact on our business and results of operations, as well as the value of our Class A shares.

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Our performance is heavily dependent on economic and political conditions in the countries in which we do business.

Passenger demand is heavily cyclical and highly dependent on global, regional and country-specific economic growth, economic expectations and foreign exchange rate variations. We have been negatively impacted by poor economic performance in certain emerging market countries in which we operate, as well as by weaker Latin American currencies. For example, in 2018 we experienced a decrease of 1.9% in passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) compared to 2017, mainly due to currency devaluation and the deteriorating demand environment in Brazil and Argentina. In addition, Venezuela has experienced difficult political conditions and declines in the rate of economic growth in recent periods as well as governmental actions that have adversely impacted businesses that operate there. The Company cancelled flights between Panama and Venezuela during April 2018, as a result of a temporary suspension of diplomatic and commercial relations between the two countries. Also, on May 15, 2019 the Homeland Security Department of the United States announced a suspension of all commercial passenger and cargo flights between United States and Venezuela. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) concurred with this determination and issued an order suspending all foreign air transportation for passengers or cargo to or from any airport in Venezuela. Any of the following developments (or a continuation or worsening of any of the following currently in existence) in the countries in which we operate could adversely affect our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations:

Additionally, a significant portion of our revenues is derived from discretionary and leisure travel, which are especially sensitive to economic downturns and political conditions. An adverse economic and/or political environment, whether global, regional or in a specific country, could result in a reduction in passenger traffic, and leisure travel in particular, as well as a reduction in our cargo business, and could also impact our ability to raise fares, which in turn would materially and negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations.

The cost of financing our aircraft may increase, which could negatively impact our business.

We have historically been able to achieve favorable financing terms through commercial and US Export-Import bank guaranteed loans, sale-leasebacks and operating leases. In recent years, due to the fact that U.S. Export-Import Bank guaranteed loans have not been available, the Company has diversified its financing sources and obtained access to very competitive financing terms. Since 2014 our aircraft deliveries have been financed through a mix of sale-leasebacks and Japanese Operating Leases with Call Options (“JOLCO”). As of December 31, 2019, we had $828.8 million of outstanding indebtedness under JOLCO financing arrangements.

We cannot ensure that we will be able to continue to raise financing from past sources, or from other sources, on terms comparable to our existing financing or at all. If the cost of such financing increases or we are unable to obtain such financing, we may be forced to incur higher than anticipated financing costs, which could have an adverse impact on the execution of our growth strategy and business.

We have historically operated using a hub-and-spoke model and are vulnerable to competitors offering direct flights between destinations we serve and/or opening new hubs.

The general structure of our flight operations follows what is known in the airline industry as a “hub-and-spoke” model. This model aggregates passengers by operating flights from a number of “spoke” origins to a central hub through which they are transported to their final destinations. In recent years, many traditional hub-and-spoke operators have faced significant and increasing competitive pressure from low-cost, point-to-point carriers on routes with sufficient demand to sustain point-to-point service. A point-to-point structure enables airlines to focus on the most profitable, high-demand routes and to offer greater convenience and, in many instances, lower fares. As demand for air travel in Latin America increases, some of our competitors have initiated non-stop service between destinations that we currently serve through our hub in Panama. Additionally, newer aircraft models, such as, Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus 320-NEO, allow nonstop flights in certain city pairs that could not be served with prior generation narrow-body aircraft and may bypass our hub. Airbus also recently announced they will launch the A321 XLR; a new model of the Airbus 320 family that will extend the range of the current Airbus 320 NEO allowing competitors to explore new competitive routes overflying our Hub, it is expected to be released on 2023. Competitors are also opening new international hubs, especially in Brazil. Competitive services, which bypass our hub in Panama, may be more convenient and possibly less expensive than our services and could significantly decrease demand for our service to those destinations. In December 2016, we launched a low-cost business model, Wingo, to diversify our offerings and to better compete with other low-cost carriers, or “LCCs,” in the market. However, our traditional hub-and-spoke model remains our primary operational model and we believe that competition from point-to-point carriers will be directed towards the largest markets that we serve and is likely to continue at this level or intensify in the future. As a result, the effect of competition on us could be significant and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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We may not realize benefits from Wingo, our low-cost business model.

Wingo, our low-cost business model, which is operated by AeroRepública, S.A., utilizes four of our 737-800s, each configured with 186 seats in a single class cabin. By 2020, we expect to incorporate a new Wingo operator, La Nueva Aerolínea S.A., which will be based in Panama and will initially operate one 737-800 from the Panama Pacífico International Airport outside of Panama City.

During the last years we have successfully operated our low-cost business model, with better results than expected. Therefore, we decided to change the 737-700s fleet to 737-800s with a greater seat density and lower unitary costs which shall make stronger our competitive position. Even though we have gained knowledge regarding the low-cost business model, we have limited experience operating it and we may not be able to accurately predict its impact on our main line services. In particular, if demand for Wingo flights is not substantial, if our pricing strategy does not adequately align with our cost structure, if Wingo does not meet customer expectations or if demand for Wingo flights cannibalizes some of our main line flights, Wingo’s operations may have a negative impact on our reputation or our operating results.

We may not realize benefits from our strategic alliances and other commercial relationships, including from our announced joint business agreement with United Airlines, Inc. (“UAL”) and Avianca Holdings (“Avianca”).

We maintain a number of strategic alliances and other commercial relationships in many of the jurisdictions in which we operate. For example, we have been a Star Alliance member since June 2012, and we renewed our strategic alliance with UAL in May 2016. In addition, on November 30, 2018, we disclosed that we have entered into a three-way joint business agreement (“JBA”) with UAL and Avianca that is intended to cover our combined network between the United States and Latin America (except Brazil). We, UAL and Avianca intend to apply for regulatory approval of the JBA and an accompanying grant of antitrust immunity from the U.S. Department of Transportation and other relevant agencies. However, we can provide no assurances as to whether or when the parties will receive such approvals, and we do not plan to fully implement the JBA until we have received such approvals. The purpose of these alliances and relationships is to increase revenues by enhancing our network and offering our customers services that we could not otherwise offer. However, the intended benefits may not be realized, or may not outweigh the technological and other costs associated with any alliance or relationship. In addition, if any of our strategic alliances or commercial relationships deteriorates, or is terminated, our business, financial condition and operational results could be adversely affected.

Our business is subject to extensive regulation which may restrict our growth, our operations or increase our costs.

Our business, financial condition and operational results could be adversely affected if we or certain aviation authorities in the countries to which we fly fail to maintain the required foreign and domestic governmental authorizations necessary for our operations. In order to maintain the necessary authorizations issued by the Panamanian Civil Aviation Authority (the Autoridad de Aeronáutica Civil, or the “AAC”), the Colombian Civil Aviation Administration (the Unidad Administrativa Especial de Aeronáutica Civil, or the “UAEAC”), and other corresponding foreign authorities, we must continue to comply with applicable statutes, rules and regulations pertaining to the airline industry, including any rules and regulations that may be adopted in the future. In addition, Panama is a member state of the International Civil Aviation Organization, or “ICAO,” a United Nations specialized agency. ICAO coordinates with its member states and various industry groups to establish and maintain international civil aviation standards and recommended practices and policies, which are then used by ICAO member states to ensure that their local civil aviation operations and regulations conform to global standards. We cannot predict or control any actions that the AAC, the UAEAC, the ICAO or other foreign aviation regulators may take in the future, which could include restricting our operations or imposing new and costly regulations or policies. Also, our fares are subject to review by the AAC, the UAEAC, and the regulators of certain other countries to which we fly, any of which may in the future impose restrictions on our fares.

We are also subject to international bilateral air transport agreements that provide for the exchange of air traffic rights between each of Panama and Colombia, and various other countries, and we must obtain permission from the applicable foreign governments to provide service to foreign destinations. There can be no assurance that existing bilateral agreements between the countries in which our airline operating companies are based and foreign governments will continue, or that we will be able to obtain more route rights under those agreements to accommodate our future expansion plans. Any modification, suspension or revocation of one or more bilateral

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agreements could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The suspension of our permits to operate to certain airports or destinations, the cancellation of any of our provisional routes, the inability for us to obtain favorable take-off and landing rights at certain high-density airports or the imposition of other sanctions could also have a negative impact on our business. We cannot be certain that a change in a foreign government’s administration of current laws and regulations or the adoption of new laws and regulations will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We plan to continue to increase the scale of our operations and revenues by expanding our presence on new and existing routes. Our ability to successfully implement this strategy will depend upon many factors, several of which are outside our control or subject to change. These factors include the permanence of a suitable political, economic and regulatory environment in the Latin American countries in which we operate or intend to operate and our ability to identify strategic local partners.

The most active government regulator among the countries to which we fly is the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, or “FAA”. The FAA from time to time issues directives and other regulations relating to the maintenance and operation of aircraft that require significant expenditures. FAA requirements cover, among other things, security measures, collision avoidance systems, airborne wind shear avoidance systems, noise abatement and other environmental issues, and increased inspections and maintenance procedures to be conducted on older aircraft. On March 13, 2019, the FAA issued an emergency order prohibiting the operation of Boeing 737 MAX series airplanes by U.S. certificated operators. The FAA emergency order is still in place, and it has had an adverse impact on our capacity growth and therefore on our expansion plans. See “—If we fail to successfully operate new aircraft, in particular our new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, our business could be harmed.” Additional new regulations continue to be regularly implemented by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, or “TSA”, as well. As we continue to expand our presence on routes to and from the United States, we expect to continue incurring expenses to comply with the FAA’s and TSA’s regulations, and any increase in the cost of compliance could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Copa Airlines is authorized by the DOT to engage in scheduled and charter air transportation services, including the transportation of persons, property (cargo) and mail, or combinations thereof, between points in Panama and points in the United States and beyond (via intermediate points in other countries). Copa Airlines holds the necessary authorizations from the DOT in the form of a foreign air carrier permit, an exemption authority and statements of authorization to conduct our current operations to and from the United States. The exemption authority was granted by the DOT in February 1998 and was due to expire in February 2000. However, the authority remains in effect by operation of law under the terms of the Administrative Procedure Act pending final DOT action on the application we filed to renew the authority on January 3, 2000. There can be no assurance that the DOT will grant the application. Our foreign air carrier permit has no expiration date. A modification, suspension or revocation of any of our DOT authorizations or FAA operating specifications could have a material adverse effect on our business.

The growth of our operations to the United States and the benefits of our code-sharing arrangements with UAL are dependent on Panama’s continued favorable safety assessment.

The FAA periodically audits the aviation regulatory authorities of other countries. As a result of this inspection, each country is given an International Aviation Safety Assessment, or “IASA”, rating. In connection with its most recent assessment in 2018 and since April 2004, IASA has rated Panama as a Category 1 country, which means that Panama complies with the safety requirements set forth by ICAO. A 2015 ICAO study found significant safety deficiencies in Panama, but the country’s category was not downgraded. A 2017 ICAO study found no significant safety deficiencies in Panama. We cannot guarantee that the government of Panama and the AAC in particular, will continue to meet international safety standards, and we have no direct control over their compliance with IASA guidelines. If Panama’s IASA rating were to be downgraded in the future, it could prohibit us from increasing service to the United States and could affect our code-share arrangement with UAL.

We are highly dependent on our hub at Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport.

Our business is heavily dependent on our operations at our hub at Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport. Most of our Copa flights either depart from or arrive at our hub. Our operations and growth strategy is therefore highly dependent on its facilities and infrastructure, including the success of its multi-phase expansion projects, certain of which have been completed while others are underway and have experienced significant delays. For example, Terminal 2 has experienced delays since one of the contractors responsible for the construction, Norberto Odebrecht Construction, was subject to penalties in 2017 for its past practices related to project approvals. Terminal 2 started operating a few gates during the early part of 2019, but construction is ongoing and is expected to be completed during 2020. Due to the magnitude of the construction required for this new Terminal 2, we may experience logistical issues and/or be subject to further increases in passenger taxes and airport charges related to the financing of the construction.

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In addition, the hub-and-spoke structure of our operations is particularly dependent on the on-time arrival of tightly coordinated groupings of flights (or banks) to ensure that passengers can make timely connections to continuing flights. Like other airlines, we are subject to delays caused by factors beyond our control, including air traffic congestion at airports, adverse weather conditions, power outages and increased security measures. Delays affect passengers, reduce aircraft utilization and increase costs, all of which in turn negatively affect our profitability. In addition, at its current utilization level, Tocumen International Airport has limited fuel storage capacity. In the event there is a disruption in the transport of fuel to the airport, we may be forced to suspend flights, or do tankering, until fuel levels are reestablished. A significant interruption or disruption in service or fuel at Tocumen International Airport could have a serious impact on our business, financial condition and operating results. Nevertheless, new fuel storage capacity, consisting of three 1 million-gallon tanks, were added to existing storage capacity during 2019. This addition resulted in an increase of airport fuel storage capacity from 1.5 million to 4.5 million gallons, which represents approximately seven days of fuel availability at current consumption levels.

Tocumen International Airport is operated by a corporation that is owned and controlled by the government of the Republic of Panama. We depend on our good working relationship with the quasi-governmental corporation that operates the airport to ensure that we have adequate access to aircraft parking positions, landing rights and gate assignments for our aircraft to accommodate our current operations and future plans for expansion. The corporation that operates Tocumen International Airport does not enter into any formal, written leases or other agreements with airlines to govern rights to use the airport’s jet ways or aircraft parking spaces. Therefore, we would not have contractual recourse if the airport authority assigned new capacity to competing airlines, reassigned our resources to other aircraft operators, raised fees or discontinued investments in the airport’s maintenance and expansion. Any of these events could result in significant new competition for our routes or could otherwise have a material adverse effect on our current operations or capacity for future growth.

We are exposed to increases in airport charges, taxes and various other fees and cannot be assured access to adequate facilities and landing rights necessary to achieve our expansion plans.

We must pay fees to airport operators for the use of their facilities. Any additional fees or substantial increase in current airport charges, including at Tocumen International Airport, could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations. Passenger taxes and airport charges have increased in recent years, sometimes substantially. Certain important airports that we use may be privatized in the near future, which is likely to result in significant cost increases to the airlines that use these airports. We cannot ensure that the airports used by us will not impose, or further increase, passenger taxes and airport charges in the future, and any such increases could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Certain airports that we serve (or that we plan to serve in the future) are subject to capacity constraints and impose various restrictions, including slot restrictions during certain periods of the day, limits on aircraft noise levels, limits on the number of average daily departures and curfews on runway use. We cannot be certain that we will be able to obtain a sufficient number of slots, gates and other facilities at airports to expand our services in line with our growth strategy. It is also possible that airports not currently subject to capacity constraints may become so in the future. In addition, an airline must use its slots on a regular and timely basis or risk having those slots re-allocated to others. Where slots or other airport resources are not available or their availability is restricted in some way, we may have to amend our schedules, change routes or reduce aircraft utilization. Any of these alternatives could have an adverse financial impact on us. In addition, we cannot ensure that airports at which there are no such restrictions may not implement restrictions in the future or that, where such restrictions exist, they may not become more onerous. Such restrictions may limit our ability to continue to provide or to increase services at such airports.

We have significant fixed financing costs and expect to incur additional fixed costs as we expand our fleet.

The airline business is characterized by high leverage. We have significant fixed expenditures in connection with our operating leases and facility rental costs, and a significant portion of our property and equipment is pledged to secure indebtedness. For the year ended December 31, 2019, our finance cost totaled $57.4 million. At December 31, 2019, approximately 69.4% of our total indebtedness bore interest at fixed rates and the remainder was determined with reference to LIBOR. Most of our aircraft lease obligations bear interest at fixed rates.

As of December 31, 2019, the Company had one purchase contract with Boeing which entails 65 firm orders of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, agreed to be delivered between 2020 and 2025. The aircraft under this contract have an approximate value of $3.1 billion based on contractual obligations net of discounts and pre-delivery payments, including estimated amounts for contractual price escalation. We will require substantial capital from external sources to meet our future financial commitments. In addition, the acquisition and financing of these aircraft will likely result in a substantial increase in our leverage and fixed financing costs. A high degree of leverage and fixed payment obligations could:

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Any one of these factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Discontinuation, reform or replacement of LIBOR, or uncertainty related to the potential for any of the foregoing, may adversely affect us.

On July 27, 2017, the Financial Conduct Authority (the authority that regulates LIBOR) announced that it intends to stop compelling banks to submit rates for the calculation of LIBOR after 2021. It is unclear whether new methods of calculating LIBOR will be established such that it continues to exist after 2021. The U.S. Federal Reserve, in conjunction with the Alternative Reference Rates Committee, is considering replacing U.S. dollar LIBOR with a newly created index, calculated based on repurchase agreements backed by treasury securities. It is not possible to predict the effect of these changes, other reforms or the establishment of alternative reference rates in the United Kingdom, the United States or elsewhere.

If we fail to successfully operate new aircraft, in particular our new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, our business could be harmed.

We fly and rely on Boeing and Embraer aircraft. As of December 31, 2019 we operated a fleet of 88 Boeing aircraft and 14 Embraer 190 aircraft. In 2020, we expect to take delivery of ten additional Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft.

In the future we expect to continue incorporating new aircraft into our fleet. This is based on a variety of factors, including the implementation of our growth strategy. Acquisition of new aircraft involves a variety of risks relating to their ability to be successfully placed into service including:

In addition, we cannot predict the reliability of our new fleet as the aircraft matures. In particular, we cannot predict the reliability of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, powered by, Leap 1B engines, from CFM International, which first entered commercial service in May 2017. The LEAP engine was developed by Safran Aircraft Engines and GE through their joint company, CFM International, to power the next generation of single-aisle commercial jets. The LEAP-1B has been selected by Boeing as the exclusive power plant for the new 737 MAX single-aisle jetliner.

Following the Ethiopian Airlines accident involving a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft on March 10, 2019, we suspended operations of our 6 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft, after authorities in Panama and other countries grounded the 737 MAX fleet worldwide, during the investigation into the cause of the accident. We partially covered our operation, with other aircraft in our fleet, with significant cancellations and delays. Authorities in Panama and other countries in which we operate would lift the grounding after completing satisfactory testing and investigation. While we currently expect to resume operations of our Boeing 737 MAX fleet by the second half of 2020 after implementing regulatory requirements and determining that the fleet is safe for operation, further delays are possible. Boeing has announced that it will compensate all airlines impacted by the worldwide suspension of the Boeing MAX fleet operations. However, this compensation will only cover financial impact caused by the suspension of Boeing MAX operations. We cannot estimate any reputational and commercial impact that we may have suffered due the grounding of Boeing MAX aircraft. Any technical issues with our aircraft would increase our maintenance expenses and could cause flight cancellations and other disruptions in our services.

If we were to determine that our aircraft, rotable parts or inventory were impaired, it would have a significant adverse effect on our operating results.

If there is objective evidence that an impairment loss on long-lived assets carried at amortized cost has been incurred, the amount of the impairment loss is measured as the difference between the asset’s carrying amount and the higher of its fair value less cost to sell and its value in use, defined as the present value of estimated future cash flows (excluding future expected credit losses that have

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not been incurred) discounted at the asset’s risk adjusted interest rate. The carrying amount of the asset is reduced and the loss is recorded in the consolidated statement of profit or loss. In addition to the fact that the value of our fleet declines as it ages, any potential excess capacity in the airline industry, airline bankruptcies and other factors beyond our control may further contribute to the decline of the fair market value of our aircraft and related rotable parts and inventory. If such impairment does occur, we would be required under IFRS to write down these assets through a charge to earnings. A significant charge to earnings would adversely affect our financial condition and operating results. In addition, the interest rates on and the availability of certain of our aircraft financing loans are tied to the value of the aircraft securing the loans. If those values were to decrease substantially, our interest rates may rise or the lenders under those loans may cease extending credit to us, either of which could have an adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

For example, as a result of the Company’s continuing fleet optimization and efficiency efforts, in December 2018 the Company signed an aircraft sale and purchase agreement with Azorra Aviation for the sale of five Embraer 190 aircraft in 2019. In connection with the transaction, we recognized an impairment charge in respect of our entire Embraer 190 fleet and related spare parts. This impairment generated a non-cash loss of $188.6 million, which was recorded in the fourth quarter of 2018. During 2019, we announced our intention to accelerate the exit of our entire Embraer 190 fleet by selling the remaining 14 aircraft by 2020. This anticipated exit resulted in a non-cash loss of $89.3 million related to the remaining aircraft as well as General Electric CF34 spare engines, and our Embraer 190 spare parts inventory.

We rely on information and other aviation technology systems to operate our businesses and any failure or disruption of these systems may have an impact on our operational and financial results.

We rely upon information technology systems to operate our business and increase our efficiency. We are highly reliant on certain systems for flight operations, maintenance, reservations, check-in boarding, revenue management, baggage handling accounting and cargo distribution. Other systems are designed to decrease distribution costs through internet reservations and to maximize cargo distributions, crew utilization and flight scheduling. These systems may not deliver their anticipated benefits.

In the ordinary course of business, we may upgrade or replace our systems or otherwise modify and refine our existing systems to address changing business requirements. In particular, our digital channels rely on advanced technology and, as this technology is updated, older technology may become obsolete. Our operations and competitive position could be adversely affected if we are unable to upgrade or replace our systems in a timely and effective manner once they become outdated, and any inability to upgrade or replace our systems could negatively impact our financial results.

Any transition to new systems may result in a loss of data or service interruption that could harm our business. Information systems could also suffer disruptions due to events beyond our control, including natural disasters, power failures, terrorist attacks, cyber-attacks, data theft, equipment or software failures, computer viruses or telecommunications failures. We cannot ensure that our security measures or disaster recovery plans are adequate to prevent failures or disruptions. Substantial or repeated website, reservations systems or telecommunication system failures or disruptions, including failures or disruptions related to our integration of technology systems, could reduce the attractiveness of our Company versus our competitors, materially impair our ability to market our services and operate flights, result in the unauthorized release of confidential or otherwise protected information, and result in increased costs, lost revenue, or the loss or compromise of important data.

Our reputation and business may be harmed and we may be subject to legal claims if there is a loss, unlawful disclosure or misappropriation of, or unsanctioned access to, our customers’, employees’, business partners’ or our own information, or any other breaches of our information security.

We make extensive use of online services and centralized data processing, including through third-party service providers. The secure maintenance and transmission of customer and employee information is a critical element of our operations. Our information technology and other systems, or those of service providers or business partners that maintain and transmit customer information, may be compromised by a malicious third-party penetration of our security measures, or of a third-party service provider or business partner, or impacted by deliberate or inadvertent actions or inactions by our employees, or those of a third-party service provider or business partner. As a result, personal information may be lost, disclosed, accessed or taken without consent.

We transmit confidential credit card information throughout secure private retail networks and rely on encryption and authentication technology licensed from third parties to provide the security and authentication necessary to effect secure transmission and storage of confidential information, such as customer credit card information. The Company has made significant efforts to secure its data network. If our security or network were compromised in any way, it could have a material adverse effect on the reputation, business, operating results and financial condition of the Company, and could result in a loss of customers. Additionally, any material failure by the Company to achieve or maintain compliance with the Payment Card Industry security requirements or rectify a security issue may result in fines and the imposition of restrictions on the Company’s ability to accept credit cards as a form of payment.

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As a result of these types of risks, we regularly review and update procedures and processes to prevent and protect against unauthorized access to our systems and information and inadvertent misuse of data.

However, it is difficult or impossible to defend against every risk being posed by changing technologies as well as acts of cyber-crime. Increasing sophistication of cyber criminals and terrorists make keeping up with new threats difficult and controls employed by our information technology department and cloud vendors could prove inadequate. As a result, we cannot be certain that we will not be the target of attacks on our networks and intrusions into our data, particularly given continuous advances in the technical capabilities of potential attackers, and increased financial and political motivations to carry out cyber-attacks on physical systems, gain unauthorized access to information, and make information unavailable for use through, for example, ransomware or denial-of-service attacks, and otherwise exploit new and existing vulnerabilities in our infrastructure. The risk of a data security incident or disruption, particularly through cyber-attack or cyber intrusion, including by computer hackers, foreign governments, criminal organizations and cyber terrorists, has increased as the number, intensity and sophistication of attempted attacks and intrusions from around the world have increased.

Furthermore, in response to data security threats and to data privacy concerns, there has been heightened legislative and regulatory focus on attacks on critical infrastructures, including those in the transportation sector, and on data security and privacy in Panama, Brazil, the United States and other countries where we operate, including requirements for varying levels of data usage consent and data subject notification in the event of a data security incident.

Any such loss, disclosure or misappropriation of, or access to, customers’, employees’ or business partners’ information or other breach of our information security could result in legal claims or legal proceedings, including regulatory investigations and actions, may have a negative impact on our reputation and may materially adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. Furthermore, the loss, disclosure or misappropriation of our business information may materially adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

Our liquidity could be adversely impacted in the event one or more of our credit card processors were to impose material reserve requirements for payments due to us from credit card transactions.

We currently have agreements with organizations that process credit card transactions arising from purchases of air travel tickets by our customers. Credit card processors have financial risk associated with tickets purchased for travel that can occur several weeks after the purchase. Our credit card processing agreements provide for reserves to be deposited with the processor in certain circumstances. We do not currently have reserves posted for our credit card processors. If circumstances were to occur requiring us to deposit reserves, the negative impact on our liquidity could be significant, which could materially adversely affect our business.

The Company has agreements with financial institutions that process customer credit card transactions for the sale of air travel and other services. Under certain of the Company’s credit card processing agreements, the financial institutions in certain circumstances have the right to require that the Company maintain a reserve equal to a portion of advance ticket sales that has been processed by that financial institution, but for which the Company has not yet provided the air transportation. Such financial institutions may require additional cash or other collateral reserves to be established or additional withholding of payments related to receivables collected if the Company does not maintain certain minimum levels of unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments (collectively, “Unrestricted Liquidity”). The Company follows a policy of giving passengers credit to be redeemed in future dates instead of providing refunds which helps maintain healthy levels of unrestricted Liquidity.

Our quarterly results could fluctuate substantially, and the trading price of our Class A shares may be affected by such variations.

The airline industry is by nature cyclical and seasonal, and our operating results may vary from quarter to quarter. In general, demand for air travel is higher in the third and fourth quarters, particularly in international markets, because of the increase in vacation travel during these periods relative to the remainder of the year. We tend to experience the highest levels of traffic and revenue in July and August, with a smaller peak in traffic in December and January. We generally experience our lowest levels of passenger traffic in April and May. Given our high proportion of fixed costs, seasonality can affect our profitability from quarter to quarter. Demand for air travel is also affected by factors such as economic conditions, capacity additions by competitors, war or the threat of war, fare levels and weather conditions.

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Due to the factors described above and others described in this annual report, quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our operating results may not be good indicators of our future performance. In addition, it is possible that in any quarter our operating results could be below the expectations of investors and any published reports or analyses regarding our Company. In that event, the price of our Class A shares could decline, perhaps substantially.

Our reputation and financial results could be harmed in the event of an accident or incident involving our aircraft or the type of aircraft that we operate.

An accident or incident involving one of our aircraft could involve significant claims by injured passengers and others, as well as significant costs related to the repair or replacement of a damaged aircraft and its temporary or permanent loss from service. We are required by our creditors and the lessors of our aircraft under our operating lease agreements to carry liability insurance, but the amount of such liability insurance coverage may not be adequate and we may be forced to bear substantial losses in the event of an accident. Our insurance premiums may also increase, or we may lose our eligibility for insurance, due to an accident or incident affecting one of our aircraft. Substantial claims resulting from an accident in excess of our related insurance coverage or increased premiums would harm our business and financial results.

Moreover, any aircraft accident or incident, even if fully insured, could cause the public to perceive us as less safe or reliable than other airlines, which could harm our business and results of operations. The Copa brand name and our corporate reputation are important and valuable assets. Adverse publicity (whether or not justified) could tarnish our reputation and reduce the value of our brand. Adverse perceptions of the types of aircraft that we operate arising from safety concerns or other problems, whether real or perceived, or in the event of an accident involving those types of aircraft, could significantly harm our business as the public may avoid flying on our aircraft. See “—If we fail to successfully operate new aircraft, in particular our new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, our business could be harmed.”

Fluctuations in foreign exchange rates could negatively affect our net income.

In 2019, approximately 67.3% of revenues and 81.3% of expenses were denominated in U.S. dollars (for 2018, US dollar-denominated expenses and revenues were 55.3% and 44.7%, respectively). A significant part of our revenue is denominated in foreign currencies, including the Brazilian real, Colombian peso and Argentinian peso, which represented 8.7%, 8.3% and 4.8%, of our revenues in 2019, respectively (for 2018, Brazilian real, Colombian peso and Argentinian peso comprised 22.7%, 11.3% and 7.2% respectively). If any of these currencies decline in value against the U.S. dollar, our revenues, expressed in U.S. dollars, and our operating margin would be adversely affected. We may not be able to adjust our fares denominated in other currencies to offset any increases in U.S. dollar-denominated expenses, increases in interest expense or exchange losses on fixed obligations or indebtedness denominated in foreign currency.

We are also exposed to exchange rate losses, as well as gains, due to the fluctuation in the value of local currencies against the U.S. dollar during the period of time between the times we are paid in local currencies and the time we are able to repatriate the revenues in U.S. dollars. Typically, this process takes between one and two weeks in most countries to which we fly.

Changes in accounting standards could adversely affect our financial results.

The IASB, or other regulatory authorities, periodically introduce modifications to financial accounting and reporting standards or issue new financial accounting and reporting standards under which we prepare our consolidated financial statements. These changes can materially affect the way we present our financial condition and results of operations. We may also be required to retroactively apply new or revised standards, which would require us to restate previous financial statements.

Effective from January 1, 2019, we were required to adopt the new accounting standard IFRS 16 Leases (“IFRS 16”). As a result, the Company has changed its accounting policy for lease contracts. IFRS 16 supersedes IAS 17 Leases, IFRIC 4 Determining whether an arrangement contains a lease, SIC-15 operating leases-incentives, and SIC-27 Evaluating the substance of transactions involving the legal form of a lease. The standard sets out the principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of leases and requires lessees to recognize most leases on the statement of financial position.

The Company has adopted the standard using the full retrospective approach and has restated comparatives for the 2018 and 2017 reporting periods. The details of the changes in accounting policies and impacts are disclosed in note 5 to our annual consolidated financial statements.

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Our maintenance costs will increase as our fleet ages.

The average age of our fleet was approximately 9.2 years as of December 31, 2019. Historically, we have incurred low levels of maintenance expenses relative to the size of our fleet because most of the parts on our aircraft are covered under multi-year warranties. As our fleet ages and these warranties expire and the time flown by each aircraft increases, our maintenance costs will increase, both on an absolute basis and as a percentage of our operating expenses.

If we enter into a prolonged dispute with any of our employees, many of whom are represented by unions, or if we are required to substantially increase the salaries or benefits of our employees, it may have an adverse impact on our operations and financial condition.

Approximately 61.8% of our 8,877 employees are unionized. There are currently five unions covering our employees based in Panama: the pilots’ union; the flight attendants’ union; the mechanics’ union; the passenger service agents’ union; and an industry union, which represents ground personnel, messengers, drivers, passenger service agents, counter agents and other non-executive administrative staff. Copa entered into collective bargaining agreements with the pilot’s union in July 2017, the industry union in December 2017, the mechanics’ union in June 2018 and the flight attendants’ union in October 2018. Collective bargaining agreements in Panama typically have four-year terms. In addition to unions in Panama, there are four unions covering employees in Colombia; in Brazil, all airline industry employees in the country are covered by the industry union agreements, and airport employees in Argentina are affiliated to an industry union (UPADEP).

A strike, work interruption or stoppage or any prolonged dispute with our employees who are represented by any of these unions could have an adverse impact on our operations. These risks are typically exacerbated during periods of renegotiation with the unions, which typically occurs every two to four years depending on the jurisdiction and the union. Any renegotiated collective bargaining agreement could feature significant wage increases and a consequent increase in our operating expenses. Any failure to reach an agreement during negotiations with unions may require us to enter into arbitration proceedings, use financial and management resources, and potentially agree to terms that are less favorable to us than our existing agreements. Employees who are not currently members of unions may also form new unions that may seek further wage increases or benefits.

Our business is labor-intensive. We expect salaries, wages, benefits and other employee expenses to increase on a gross basis, and these costs could increase as a percentage of our overall costs. If we are unable to hire, train and retain qualified pilots and other employees at a reasonable cost, our business could be harmed and we may be unable to complete our expansion plans.

Our revenues depend on our relationship with travel agents and tour operators and we must manage the costs, rights and functionality of these third-party distribution channels effectively.

In 2019, approximately 66.8% of our revenues were derived from tickets sold through third-party distribution channels, including those provided by conventional travel agents, online travel agents, or “OTAs,” or tour operators. We cannot assure that we will be able to maintain favorable relationships with these ticket sellers. Our revenues could be adversely impacted if travel agents or tour operators elect to favor other airlines or to disfavor us. Our relationship with travel agents and tour operators may be affected by:

These third-party distribution channels, along with global distribution systems, or “GDSs,” that travel agents, “OTAs” and tour operators use to obtain airline travel information and issue airline tickets, are more expensive than those we operate ourselves, such as our website. Certain of these distribution channels also effectively restrict the manner in which we distribute our products generally. To remain competitive, we will need to successfully manage our distribution costs and rights, increase our distribution flexibility and improve the functionality of third-party distribution channels, while maintaining an industry-competitive cost structure. These initiatives may affect our relationships with our third-party distribution channels. Any inability to manage our third-party distribution costs, rights and functionality at a competitive level or any material diminishment or disruption in the distribution of our tickets could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

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We rely on third parties to provide our customers and us with services that are integral to our business.

We have several agreements with third-party contractors to provide certain services primarily outside of Panama. Maintenance services include aircraft heavy checks, engine maintenance, overhaul, component repairs and line maintenance activities. In addition to call center services, third-party contractors also provide us with airport services. At airports other than Tocumen International Airport, most of our aircraft services are performed by third-party contractors. Substantially all of our agreements with third-party contractors are subject to termination on short notice. The loss or expiration of these agreements or our inability to renew these agreements or to negotiate new agreements with other providers at comparable rates could negatively impact our business and results of operations. Further, our reliance on third parties to provide reliable equipment or essential services on our behalf could lead us to have less control over the costs, efficiency, timeliness and quality of our service. A contractor’s negligence could compromise our aircraft or endanger passengers and crew. This could also have a material adverse effect on our business. We expect to be dependent on such agreements for the foreseeable future and if we enter any new market, we will need to have similar agreements in place.

We depend on a limited number of suppliers.

We are subject to the risks of having a limited number of suppliers for our aircraft and engines. One of the elements of our business strategy is to save costs by operating a simplified fleet. Copa currently operates a fleet of Boeing 737-700/800 Next Generation aircraft powered by CFM 56-7B engines from CFM International, Embraer 190, powered by CF 34-10 engines from General Electric, and Boeing 737MAX 9, powered by, Leap 1B engines, from CFM International. If any of Boeing, Embraer, CFM International or General Electric are unable to perform their contractual obligations, or if we are unable to acquire or lease new aircraft or engines from aircraft or engine manufacturers or lessors on acceptable terms, we would have to find another supplier for a similar type of aircraft or engine.

If we have to lease or purchase aircraft from another supplier, including in connection with the recent Boeing 737 MAX aircraft grounding, we could lose the benefits we derive from our current fleet composition. We cannot ensure that any replacement aircraft would have the same operating advantages as the Boeing 737-700/800 Next Generation, Boeing 737-MAX 9 or Embraer 190 aircraft that would be replaced or that Copa could lease or purchase engines that would be as reliable and efficient as the CFM 56-7B, Leap 1B and GE CF34-10. We may also incur substantial transition costs, including costs associated with acquiring spare parts for different aircraft models, retraining our employees, replacing our manuals and adapting our facilities. Our operations could also be harmed by the failure or inability of Boeing, Embraer, CFM International or General Electric to provide sufficient parts or related support services on a timely basis.

Our business would be impacted if a design defect or mechanical problem with any of the types of aircraft, engines or components that we operate were discovered that would ground any of our aircraft while the defect or problem was being addressed, assuming it could be corrected at all. The use of our aircraft could be suspended or restricted by regulatory authorities in the event of any actual or perceived mechanical or design issues. Following the Ethiopian Airlines accident involving a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, we suspended operations of our six Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft, as regulatory authorities around the world grounded the aircraft. Our business would also be negatively impacted if the public began to avoid flying with us due to an adverse perception of the types of aircraft that we operate stemming from safety concerns or other problems, whether real or perceived, or in the event of an accident involving those types of aircraft or components.

We also depend on a limited number of suppliers with respect to supplies obtained locally, such as our fuel. These local suppliers may not be able to maintain the pace of our growth and our requirements may exceed their capabilities, which may adversely affect our ability to execute our day-to-day operations and our growth strategy.

Our business financial condition and results of operations could be materially affected by the loss of key personnel.

Our success depends to a significant extent on the ability of our senior management team and key personnel to operate and manage our business effectively. Most of our employment agreements with key personnel do not contain any non-competition provisions applicable upon termination. Competition for highly qualified personnel is intense. If we lose any executive officer, senior manager or other key employee and are not able to obtain an adequate replacement, or if we are unable to attract and retain new qualified personnel, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

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Risks Relating to the Airline Industry

An outbreak of disease or similar public health threat, such as the coronavirus, could have a material adverse impact on the Company’s business, operating results and financial condition.

An outbreak of disease or similar public health threat, or fear of such an event, that affects travel demand or travel behavior could have a material adverse impact on the Company’s business, financial condition and operating results. In addition, outbreaks of disease could result in travel bans or restrictions, increased government restrictions and regulation, including quarantines of our personnel or an inability to access facilities or our aircraft, which could adversely affect our operations.

In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus (“COVID-19”) was reported in Wuhan, China. The virus has promulgated significantly outside China, and now exists in most of the world. As a result, The World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 a pandemic. In addition, on March 13 the U.S. government declared a state of emergency and took some important actions including enhanced screenings, quarantine requirements and travel restrictions to certain countries. Other countries have put in place similar measures.

As of the date of this report, the Company is experiencing decline in near-term demand as evidence by a significant reduction in forward sales over the next few months, with declines of as much as 50% as compared to forward sales during the same period the previous year. In March 2020 we temporarily suspended, for a maximum of 30 days, some flights to markets on Central America, South America and The Caribbean due to government travel restrictions as the result of the virus.

We have implemented certain initiatives, including cost savings, temporary capacity reductions, deferral of the company’s non-essential capital expenditures, and the drawing of $300 million from medium-term liquidity facilities. All of these actions are intended to mitigate the disruptions caused by the coronavirus.

The extent of the impact of the COVID-19 on the Company’s operational and financial performance will depend on future developments, including the duration, spread of the outbreak, related travel advisories, restrictions and the impact of the COVID-19 on overall demand for air travel, all of which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted. If traffic on the Company’s routes were to remain at these levels for an extended period, and/or routes in other parts of the Company’s network begin to see significant declines in demand, our results of operations for 2020 would be materially adversely affected and we may have to take additional actions to preserve our long- term sustainability.

Our auditors have included a going concern emphasis paragraph in their opinion due to the significant drop in demand for air travel as a result of the effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic, and specifically the actions taken by governments, including the closing of the Panama City Airport, which are largely out of our control.

The Company’ consolidated financial statements have been presented on the basis that it is a going concern, which contemplates the realization of assets and satisfaction of liabilities in the ordinary course of business. However, because of the significant drop in worldwide demand for air travel caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic that has affected the entire aviation industry, and the significant travel restrictions that have been placed by numerous countries, including the decision by the government of the Republic of Panama to suspend all passenger flights for a period of one month effective on March 22, 2020, the Company’ independent registered public accounting firm, in their report on the Company’ consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019, have expressed substantial doubt about the Company’ ability to continue as a going concern.

Following the suspension of its operations as a result of the government restrictions related to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Company has implemented several measures to maintain robust liquidity levels, including the acceleration of collection of its accounts receivable through increased factoring, and the negotiation of longer payment terms with its main suppliers. As of March 15, 2020 the company had $1.0 billion in cash and equivalents, and approximately $300 million on currently available lines of credit. As of March 31, 2020 the company had drawn on $145 million of the $300 million available and ended the month of March 2020 with approximately $1.15 billion in cash and equivalents. To further bolster its cash and equivalents position the Company has the possibility of raising approximately $400 million in additional funds by refinancing its unencumbered aircraft, engines and aircraft spare parts, as well as by requesting advances from banks secured by its investments (including time deposits and fixed income instruments). In addition, the Company is reducing operational expenses and non-essential capital expenditure outflows. With these operating and financing measures it expects to decrease its monthly cash burn ratio to approximately $70 million per month for the remainder of 2020. The Company cannot guarantee that it will be successful in implementing these initiatives.

The airline industry is highly competitive.

We face intense competition throughout our route network. Overall airline industry profit margins are low and industry earnings are volatile. Airlines compete in the areas of pricing, scheduling (frequency and flight times), on-time performance, frequent flyer programs and other services. Some of our competitors have larger customer bases and greater brand recognition in the markets we serve outside Panama, and some of our competitors have significantly greater financial and marketing resources than we have. Airlines based in other countries may also receive subsidies, tax incentives or other state aid from their respective governments, which are not provided by the Panamanian government. Changes in our interactions with our passengers or our product offerings could negatively impact our business. For example, prior to 2015, we had participated in UAL’s loyalty program, MileagePlus. Starting in July 2015, we launched our own ConnectMiles frequent flyer program. Although, ConnectMiles is allowing us to build a more direct relationship with our customers, it may not be as successful as UAL’s MileagePlus program in building, and maintaining, brand loyalty. In addition, the commencement of, or increase in, service on the routes we serve by existing or new carriers could negatively impact our operating results. Likewise, competitors’ service on routes that we are targeting for expansion may make those expansion plans less attractive.

We compete with a number of other airlines that currently serve some of the routes on which we operate, including Avianca, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Aeromexico, and LATAM Group among others. Strategic alliances, bankruptcy restructurings and industry consolidations characterize the airline industry and tend to intensify competition. Several air carriers have merged and/or reorganized, including certain of our competitors, such as LAN-TAM, Avianca-Taca, American-US Airways, Delta-Northwest and, most recently, the strategic partnership between Delta Airlines and LATAM Group. As a result, they have benefited from lower operating costs and fare discounting in order to maintain cash flows and to enhance continued customer loyalty.

Traditional hub-and-spoke carriers in the United States and Europe continue to face substantial and increasing competitive pressure from LCCs offering discounted fares. The LCC business model appears to be gaining acceptance in the Latin American aviation industry. The LCCs’ operations are typically characterized by point-to-point route networks focusing on the highest demand city pairs, high aircraft utilization, single class service and fewer in-flight amenities. As a result, we may face new and substantial competition from

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LCCs in the future, which could result in significant and lasting downward pressure on the fares we charge for flights on our routes. Current LCCs such as Volaris, Spirit, JetBlue, Interjet and Gol are adding pressure to our fares and are also exploring new competitive routes overflying our Hub. We also expect more competition from new entrants in the market such as JetSmart and FlyBondi. In December 2016, Copa’s subsidiary in Colombia, AeroRepública, launched Wingo, a low-cost business model to serve domestic destinations and some point-to-point international leisure markets, to improve Copa’s position within Colombia, and better compete with low unbundled prices from LCCs. Although we intend to compete vigorously and maintain our strong competitive position in the industry, Avianca, LATAM and Viva Air represent a significant portion of the domestic market in Colombia and have access to greater resources as a result of their larger size. Therefore, Copa faces stronger competition now than in recent years, and its prior results may not be indicative of its future performance.

We must constantly react to changes in prices and services offered by our competitors to remain competitive. The airline industry is highly susceptible to price discounting, particularly because airlines incur very low marginal costs for providing service to passengers occupying otherwise unsold seats. Carriers use discount fares to stimulate traffic during periods of lower demand to generate cash flow and to increase market share. Any lower fares offered by one airline are often matched by competing airlines, which often results in lower industry yields with little or no increase in traffic levels. Price competition among airlines in the future could lead to lower fares or passenger traffic on some or all of our routes, which could negatively impact our profitability. We cannot be certain that any of our competitors will not undercut our fares in the future or increase capacity on routes in an effort to increase their respective market share. Although we intend to compete vigorously and to assert our rights against any predatory conduct, such activity by other airlines could reduce the level of fares or passenger traffic on our routes to the point where profitable levels of operations cannot be maintained. Due to our smaller size and financial resources compared to several of our competitors, we may be less able to withstand aggressive marketing tactics or fare wars engaged in by our competitors should such events occur.

Significant changes or extended periods of high fuel costs or fuel supply disruptions could materially affect our operating results.

Fuel costs constitute a significant portion of our total operating expenses, representing approximately 29.5% of operating expenses in 2019, 30.4% of operating expenses in 2018 and 27.5% in 2017. Jet fuel costs have been subject to wide fluctuations as a result of increases in demand, sudden disruptions in and other concerns about global supply, as well as market speculation. Both the cost and availability of fuel are subject to many economic, political, weather, environmental and other factors and events occurring throughout the world that we can neither control nor accurately predict, including international political and economic circumstances such as the political instability in major oil-exporting countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Any future fuel supply shortage (for example, as a result of production curtailments by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or “OPEC”, a disruption of oil imports, supply disruptions resulting from severe weather or natural disasters, the continued unrest in the Middle East or otherwise could result in higher fuel prices or further reductions in scheduled airline services). We cannot ensure that we would be able to offset any increases in the price of fuel by increasing our fares.

Furthermore, in October 2016, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) enacted a new regulation requiring sulphur content in marine fuels to be reduced from 3.5% to 0.5%. Considering that the implementation date for this regulation is January 1, 2020, airlines could be directly affected as refiner efforts to produce this new bunker product is expected to increase the price of jet fuel.

As of December 31, 2019, the Company was not a party to any outstanding fuel hedge contracts, and has adopted a new strategy of remaining unhedged, while regularly reviewing its policies based on market conditions and others factors.    For 2020, although we have not hedged any part of our anticipated fuel needs, we continue to evaluate various hedging strategies and may enter into additional hedging agreements in the future, as any substantial and prolonged increase in the price of jet fuel will likely materially and negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operation.

We may experience difficulty recruiting, training and retaining pilots and other employees.

The airline industry is a labor-intensive business. We employ a large number of flight attendants, maintenance technicians and other operating and administrative personnel. The airline industry has, from time to time, experienced a shortage of qualified personnel. As is common with most of our competitors, considerable turnover of employees may occur and may not always be predictable. When we experience higher turnover, our training costs may be higher due to the significant amount of time required to train each new employee and, in particular, each new pilot. If our pilots terminate their contracts earlier than anticipated, we may be unable to successfully recoup the costs spent to train those pilots. We cannot be certain that we will be able to recruit, train and retain the qualified employees that we need to continue our current operations to replace departing employees. A failure to hire, train and retain qualified employees at a reasonable cost could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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Under Panamanian law, there is a limit on the maximum number of non-Panamanian employees that we may employ. Our need for qualified pilots has at times exceeded the domestic supply and as such, we have had to hire a substantial number of non-Panamanian national pilots. However, we cannot ensure that we will continue to attract Panamanian and foreign pilots. The inability to attract and retain pilots, or a change in Panamanian regulations, may adversely affect our growth strategy by limiting our ability to add new routes or increase the frequency of existing routes.

Because the airline industry is characterized by high fixed costs and relatively elastic revenues, airlines cannot quickly reduce their costs to respond to shortfalls in expected revenue.

The airline industry is characterized by low gross profit margins, high fixed costs and revenues that generally exhibit substantially greater elasticity than costs. The operating costs of each flight do not vary significantly with the number of passengers flown and, therefore, a relatively small change in the number of passengers, fare pricing or traffic mix could have a significant effect on operating and financial results. These fixed costs cannot be adjusted quickly to respond to changes in revenues, and a shortfall from expected revenue levels could have a material adverse effect on our net income.

Our business may be adversely affected by downturns in the airline industry caused by terrorist attacks, political unrest, war or outbreak of disease, which may alter travel behavior or increase costs.

Demand for air transportation may be adversely affected by terrorist attacks, war or political and social instability, an outbreak of a disease or similar public health threat, natural disasters, cyber security threats and other events. Any of these events could cause governmental authorities to impose travel restrictions or otherwise cause a reduction in travel demand or changes in travel behavior in the markets in which we operate. Any of these events in our markets could have a material impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, these types of situations could have a prolonged effect on air transportation demand and on certain cost items, such as security and insurance costs.

The terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001, for example, had a severe and lasting adverse impact on the airline industry, in particular, a decrease in airline traffic in the United States and, to a lesser extent, in Latin America. Our revenues depend on the number of passengers traveling on our flights. Therefore, any future terrorist attacks or threat of attacks, whether or not involving commercial aircraft, any increase in hostilities relating to reprisals against terrorist organizations, including an escalation of military involvement in the Middle East, or otherwise, and any related economic impact could result in decreased passenger traffic and materially and negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Increases in insurance costs and/or significant reductions in coverage would harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Following the 2001 terrorist attacks, premiums for insurance against aircraft damage and liability to third parties increased substantially, and insurers could reduce their coverage or increase their premiums even further in the event of additional terrorist attacks, hijackings, airline crashes or other events adversely affecting the airline industry abroad or in Latin America. In the future, certain aviation insurance could become unaffordable, unavailable, or available only for reduced amounts of coverage that are insufficient to comply with the levels of insurance coverage required by aircraft lenders and lessors or applicable government regulations. While governments in other countries have agreed to indemnify airlines for liabilities that they might incur from terrorist attacks or provide low-cost insurance for terrorism risks, the Panamanian government has not indicated an intention to provide similar benefits to us. Increases in the cost of insurance may result in higher fares, which could result in a decreased demand and materially and negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Failure to comply with applicable environmental regulations could adversely affect our business.

Our operations are covered by various local, national and international environmental regulations. These regulations cover, among other things, emissions to the atmosphere, disposal of solid waste and aqueous effluents, aircraft noise and other activities that result from the operation of aircraft. Future operations and financial results may vary as a result of such regulations. Compliance with these regulations and new or existing regulations that may be applicable to us in the future could increase our cost base and adversely affect our operations and financial results.

For example, the ICAO has issued the first edition of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (“CORSIA”) to address the increase in total CO2 emissions from international aviation. As Colombia and Panama are member states of ICAO, the Civil Aviation Authorities (“CAAs”) of Panama and Colombia are developing new regulations to implement CORSIA. They

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expect to make these regulations public in 2020. Under CORSIA, airplane operators must annually report the fuel consumption of their international commercial operations and the corresponding CO2 emissions (domestic operations are excluded from these requirements). The first report must be presented no later than May 2020. Copa Airlines and AeroRepública have already presented to their CAAs the Emission Monitoring Plan (“EMP”) required by CORSIA.

In addition to encouraging CO2 emissions reductions, CORSIA will require airline operators to offset CO2 emissions through payments to authorized carbon banks, which will invest in environmental projects to reduce the global carbon footprint. Copa Airlines and AeroRepública will not be subject to the emissions offsetting requirements until 2027, because Panama and Colombia are not participating in the voluntary first phase of CORSIA.

Risks Relating to Panama and our Region

We are highly dependent on conditions in Panama and, to a lesser extent, in Colombia.

A substantial portion of our assets is located in the Republic of Panama and a significant proportion of our passengers’ trips either originates or ends in Panama. Furthermore, substantially all of Copa’s flights operate through our hub at Tocumen International Airport. As a result, we depend on economic and political conditions prevailing from time to time in Panama. Panama’s economic conditions in turn highly depend on the continued profitability and economic impact of the Panama Canal. Control of the Panama Canal and many other assets were transferred from the United States to Panama in 1999 after nearly a century of U.S. control. Political events in Panama may significantly affect our operations.

Copa Colombia’s results of operations are highly sensitive to macroeconomic and political conditions prevailing in Colombia. Although the state of affairs in Colombia has been steadily improving since 2002, the Colombian economy’s growth slowed during 2017. Any political unrest and instability in Colombia could adversely affect Copa Colombia’s financial condition and results of operations.

According to International Monetary Fund estimates, during 2020 the Panamanian and Colombian economies are expected to grow by 5.5% and 3.6%, respectively, as measured by their GDP at constant prices. However, if either economy experiences a sustained recession, or significant political disruptions, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially and negatively affected.

Any increase in the taxes we or our shareholders pay in Panama or the other countries where we do business could adversely affect our financial performance and results of operations.

We cannot ensure that our current tax rates will not increase. Our income tax expenses were $46.4 million, $34.5 million and $49.3 million in the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively, which represented an effective income tax rate of 15.8%, 28.1% and 12.0%, respectively. We are subject to local tax regulations in each of the jurisdictions where we operate, the great majority of which are related to the taxation of income. In some of the countries to which we fly, we are not subject to pay income taxes, either because those countries do not have income tax or because of treaties or other arrangements those countries have with Panama. In the remaining countries, we pay income tax at rates ranging from 22% to 34% of income.

Different countries calculate income in different ways, but they are typically derived from sales in the applicable country multiplied by our net margin or by a presumed net margin set by the relevant tax legislation. The determination of our taxable income in certain countries is based on a combination of revenues sourced to each particular country and the allocation of expenses of our operations to that particular country. The methodology for multinational transportation company sourcing of revenues and expenses is not always specifically prescribed in the relevant tax regulations, and therefore is subject to interpretation by both us and the respective taxing authorities. Additionally, in some countries, the applicability of certain regulations governing non-income taxes and the determination of our filing status are also subject to interpretation. We cannot estimate the amount, if any, of potential tax liabilities that might result if the allocations, interpretations and filing positions used by us in our tax returns were challenged by the taxing authorities of one or more countries. If taxes were to increase, our financial performance and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. Due to the competitive revenue environment, many increases in fees and taxes have been absorbed by the airline industry rather than being passed on to the passenger. If we were to pass any of these increases in fees and taxes onto passengers, we may no longer compete effectively as those increases may result in reduced customer demand for air travel with us and we may no longer compete effectively, thereby reducing our revenues. If we were to absorb any increases in fees and taxes, the additional costs could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

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The Panamanian tax code for the airline industry states that tax is based on net income earned for passenger and cargo traffic with an origin or final destination in the Republic of Panama. The applicable tax rate is currently 25%. Dividends from our Panamanian subsidiaries, including Copa, are separately subject to a 10% percent withholding tax on the portion attributable to Panamanian-sourced income and a 5% withholding tax on the portion attributable to foreign-sourced income. Additionally, a 7% value added tax is levied on tickets issued in Panama for travel commencing in Panama and going abroad, irrespective of where such tickets were ordered. If such taxes were to increase, our financial performance and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. In February 2020, the Company received two notifications from the tax authority in Panama related to a tax audit process that began in 2019. The notifications include adjustments to the reported dividend tax for the years 2012 to 2016 and income tax 2016. The Company has filed and administrative appeal which is the first legal stage under Panamanian laws. The Company, along with its tax advisors, has concluded that it is not probable that an outflow of resources embodying economic benefits will be required to settle these notices. According to Panamanian laws, the statute of limitations is 3 and 15 years for income tax and dividend tax, respectively. If after going through the appeal process our tax position does not prevail we could have to issue a significant disbursement to the tax authorities.

Political unrest and instability in Latin American countries in which we operate may adversely affect our business and the market price of our Class A shares.

While geographic diversity helps reduce our exposure to risks in any one country, we operate primarily within Latin America and are thus subject to a full range of risks associated with our operations in these regions. These risks may include unstable political or economic conditions, lack of well-established or reliable legal systems, exchange controls and other limits on our ability to repatriate earnings and changeable legal and regulatory requirements. In Venezuela, for example, we and other airlines and foreign companies may only repatriate cash through specific governmental programs, which may effectively preclude us from repatriating cash for periods of time. In addition, Venezuela has experienced difficult political conditions and declines in the rate of economic growth in recent periods as well as governmental actions that have adversely impacted businesses that operate there. For the year ended December 31, 2019, revenue from the Company’s flights to Venezuela, including connecting traffic, represented about 6.3% of consolidated revenues and direct flights between Panama and Venezuela. Inflation, any decline in GDP or other future economic, social and political developments in Latin America may adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations.

Although conditions throughout Latin America vary from country to country, our customers’ reactions to developments in Latin America generally may result in a reduction in passenger traffic, which could materially and negatively affect our financial condition, results of operations and the market price of our Class A shares.

Risks Relating to Our Class A Shares

The value of our Class A shares may be adversely affected by ownership restrictions on our capital stock and the power of our Board of Directors to take remedial actions to preserve our operating license and international route rights by requiring sales of certain outstanding shares or issuing new stock.

Pursuant to the Panamanian Aviation Act, as amended and interpreted to date, and certain of the bilateral treaties affording us the right to fly to other countries, we are required to be “substantially owned” and “effectively controlled” by Panamanian nationals. Our failure to comply with such requirements could result in the loss of our Panamanian operating license and/or our right to fly to certain important countries. Our Articles of Incorporation (Pacto Social) give special powers to our independent directors to take certain significant actions to attempt to ensure that the amount of shares held in us by non-Panamanian nationals does not reach a level that could jeopardize our compliance with Panamanian and bilateral ownership and control requirements. If our independent directors determine it is reasonably likely that we will be in violation of these ownership and control requirements and our Class B shares represent less than 10% of our total outstanding capital stock (excluding newly issued shares sold with the approval of our independent director’s committee), our independent directors will have the power to issue additional Class B shares or Class C shares with special voting rights solely to Panamanian nationals. See “Item 10B. Memorandum and Articles of Association—Description of Capital Stock.”

If any of these remedial actions are taken, the trading price of the Class A shares may be materially and adversely affected. An issuance of Class C shares could have the effect of discouraging certain changes of control of Copa Holdings or may reduce any voting power that the Class A shares enjoy prior to the Class C share issuance. There can be no assurance that we would be able to complete an issuance of Class B shares to Panamanian nationals. We cannot be certain that restrictions on ownership by non-Panamanian nationals will not impede the development of an active public trading market for the Class A shares, adversely affect the market price of the Class A shares or materially limit our ability to raise capital in markets outside of Panama in the future.

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Our controlling shareholder has the ability to direct our business and affairs, and its interests could conflict with those of other shareholders.

All of our Class B shares, representing approximately 25.9% of the economic interest in Copa Holdings and 100% of the voting power of our capital stock, are owned by Corporación de Inversiones Aéreas, S.A., or “CIASA,” a Panamanian entity. CIASA is in turn controlled by a group of Panamanian investors. In order to comply with the Panamanian Aviation Act, as amended and interpreted to date, we have amended our organizational documents to modify our share capital so that CIASA will continue to exercise voting control of Copa Holdings. CIASA will not be able to transfer its voting control unless control of our Company will remain with Panamanian nationals. CIASA will maintain voting control of the Company so long as CIASA continues to own a majority of our Class B shares and the Class B shares continue to represent more than 10% of our total share capital (excluding newly issued shares sold with the approval of our independent director’s committee). Even if CIASA ceases to own the majority of the voting power of our capital stock, CIASA may continue to control our Board of Directors indirectly through its control of our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. As the controlling shareholder, CIASA may direct us to take actions that could be contrary to other shareholders’ interests and under certain circumstances CIASA will be able to prevent other shareholders, including you, from blocking these actions. Also, CIASA may prevent change of control transactions that might otherwise provide an opportunity to dispose of or realize a premium on investments in our Class A shares.

The Class A shares will only be permitted to vote in very limited circumstances and may never have full voting rights.

The holders of Class A shares have no right to vote at our shareholders’ meetings except with respect to corporate transformations of Copa Holdings, mergers, consolidations or spin-offs of Copa Holdings, changes of corporate purpose, voluntary delisting of the Class A shares from the NYSE, the approval of nominations of our independent directors and amendments to the foregoing provisions that adversely affect the rights and privileges of any Class A shares. The holders of Class B shares have the power to elect the Board of Directors and to determine the outcome of all other matters to be decided by a vote of shareholders. Class A shares will not have full voting rights unless the Class B shares represent less than 10% of our total capital stock (excluding newly issued shares sold with the approval of our independent director’s committee). See “Item 10B. Memorandum and Articles of Association—Description of Capital Stock.” We cannot assure that the Class A shares will ever carry full voting rights.

Substantial future sales of our Class A shares by CIASA could cause the price of the Class A shares to decrease.

CIASA owns all of our Class B shares, and those Class B shares will be converted into Class A shares if they are sold to non-Panamanian investors. In connection with our initial public offering in December 2005, Continental and CIASA reduced their ownership of our total capital stock from 49.0% to approximately 27.3% and from 51.0% to approximately 25.1%, respectively. In a follow-on offering in June 2006, Continental further reduced its ownership of our total capital stock from 27.3% to 10.0%. In May 2008, we and CIASA released Continental from its standstill obligations and they sold down their remaining shares in the public market. CIASA holds registration rights with respect to a significant portion of its shares pursuant to a registration rights agreement entered into in connection with our initial public offering. In March 2010, CIASA converted a portion of its Class B shares into 1.6 million non-voting Class A shares and sold such Class A shares in an SEC-registered public offering. In the event CIASA seeks to reduce its ownership below 10% of our total share capital, our independent directors may decide to issue special voting shares solely to Panamanian nationals to maintain the ownership requirements mandated by the Panamanian Aviation Act. As a result, the market price of our Class A shares could drop significantly if CIASA further reduces its investment in us, other significant holders of our shares sell a significant number of shares or if the market perceives that CIASA or other significant holders intend to sell their shares. As of December 31, 2019 CIASA owned 25.9% of Copa Holdings’ total capital stock.

Holders of our common stock are not entitled to preemptive rights, and as a result, shareholders may experience substantial dilution upon future issuances of stock by us.

Under Panamanian corporate law and our organizational documents, holders of our Class A shares are not entitled to any preemptive rights with respect to future issuances of capital stock by us. Therefore, unlike companies organized under the laws of many other Latin American jurisdictions, we are free to issue new shares of stock to other parties without first offering them to our existing Class A shareholders. In the future we may sell Class A or other shares to persons other than our existing shareholders at a lower price than the shares already sold, and as a result, shareholders may experience substantial dilution of their interest in us.

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Shareholders may not be able to sell our Class A shares at the price or at the time desired because an active or liquid market for the Class A shares may not continue.

Our Class A shares are listed on the NYSE. During the three months ended December 31, 2019, the average daily trading volume for our Class A shares as reported by the NYSE was approximately 272,642 shares. Active, liquid trading markets generally result in lower price volatility and more efficient execution of buy and sell orders for our investors. The liquidity of a securities market is often affected by the volume of shares publicly held by unrelated parties. We cannot predict whether an active liquid public trading market for our Class A shares will be sustained.

Our operations in Cuba may adversely affect the market price of our Class A shares

We currently offer passenger, cargo and mail transportation services to and from Cuba. For the year ended December 31, 2019, our transported passengers to and from Cuba represented approximately 4.8% of our total passengers. Our operating revenues from Cuban operations during the year ended December 31, 2019 represented approximately 2.0% of our total consolidated operating revenues for such year. Our assets located in Cuba are not significant.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on U.S. foreign policy against Cuba, and groups opposed to the Cuban regime may seek to use U.S. sanctions to exert pressure on companies doing business in Cuba. Although Cuba has been removed from the U.S. Department of State’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, uncertainty remains over the future of U.S. economic sanctions against Cuba and the impact such sanctions will have on our operations, particularly if the United States impose additional relevant sanctions. Additionally, on March 4, 2019, the U.S. Department of State announced that the U.S. government would issue only a limited suspension of Title III of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (Libertad) Act of 1996 (popularly known as the Helms-Burton Act) for an additional 30 days. Title III of Helms-Burton, which has been suspended since 1996, provides a cause of action for U.S. nationals to bring claims against any person who traffics in property expropriated by the Cuban Government. Both the possibility that the U.S. government decides to no longer suspend Title III of Helms-Burton and the scope of any potential claims are uncertain. If Title III of Helms-Burton comes into force, companies such as ours with commercial dealings in Cuba could face claims for damages.

Certain U.S. states have enacted or may enact legislation regarding investments by state-owned investors, such as public employee pension funds and state university endowments, in companies that have business activities with Cuba. As a result, such state-owned institutional investors may be subject to restrictions with respect to investments in companies such as ours, which could adversely affect the market for our shares.

Our Board of Directors may, in its discretion, amend or repeal our dividend policy. Shareholders may not receive the level of dividends provided for in the dividend policy or any dividends at all.

In February 2016, the Board of Directors approved a change to the dividend policy to limit aggregate annual dividends to an amount equal to 40% of the previous year’s annual consolidated underlying net income, to be distributed in equal quarterly installments subject to board ratification each quarter. Our Board of Directors may, in its sole discretion and for any reason, amend or repeal any aspect of this dividend policy. Our Board of Directors may decrease the level of dividends provided for in this dividend policy or entirely discontinue the payment of dividends. Future dividends with respect to shares of our common stock, if any, will depend on, among other things, our results of operations, cash requirements, financial condition, contractual restrictions, business opportunities, provisions of applicable law and other factors that our Board of Directors may deem relevant. See “Item 8A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information—Dividend Policy.”

To the extent we pay dividends to our shareholders, we will have less capital available to meet our future liquidity needs.

Our Board of Directors has reserved the right to amend the dividend policy or pay dividends in excess of the level circumscribed in the dividend policy. The aviation industry has cyclical characteristics, and many international airlines are currently experiencing difficulties meeting their liquidity needs. Also, our business strategy contemplates growth over the next several years, and we expect such growth will require a great deal of liquidity. To the extent that we pay dividends in accordance with, or in excess of, our dividend policy, the money that we distribute to shareholders will not be available to us to fund future growth and meet our other liquidity needs.

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Our Articles of Incorporation impose ownership and control restrictions on our Company that ensure that Panamanian nationals will continue to control us and these restrictions operate to prevent any change of control or some transfers of ownership in order to comply with the Aviation Act and other bilateral restrictions.

Under Law No. 21 of January 29, 2003, as amended and interpreted to date, or the “Aviation Act”, which regulates the aviation industry in the Republic of Panama, Panamanian nationals must exercise “effective control” over the operations of the airline and must maintain “substantial ownership”. Under certain of the bilateral agreements between Panama and other countries pursuant to which we have the right to fly to those other countries and over their territories, we must also continue to have substantial Panamanian ownership and effective control by Panamanian nationals to retain these rights. On November 25, 2005, the Executive Branch of the Government of Panama promulgated a decree stating that the “substantial ownership” and “effective control” requirements of the Aviation Act are met if a Panamanian citizen or a Panamanian company is the record holder of shares representing 51% or more of the voting power of the Company. Although the decree has the force of law for so long as it remains in effect, it does not supersede the Aviation Act, and it could be modified or superseded at any time by a future Executive Branch decree. Additionally, the decree has no binding effect on regulatory authorities of other countries whose bilateral agreements impose Panamanian ownership and control limitations on us. These phrases are not defined in the Aviation Act itself or in the bilateral agreements to which Panama is a party, and it is unclear how a Panamanian court or, in the case of the bilateral agreements, foreign regulatory authorities, would interpret them.

The share ownership requirements and transfer restrictions contained in our Articles of Incorporation, as well as the dual-class structure of our voting capital stock, are designed to ensure compliance with these ownership and control restrictions. See “Item 10B. Memorandum and Articles of Association—Description of Capital Stock”. At the present time, CIASA is the record owner of 100% of our Class B voting shares, representing approximately 25.9% of our total share capital and all of the voting power of our capital stock. These provisions of our Articles of Incorporation may prevent change of control transactions that might otherwise provide an opportunity to realize a premium on investments in our Class A shares. They also ensure that Panamanians will continue to control all the decisions of our Company for the foreseeable future.

The protections afforded to minority shareholders in Panama are different from and more limited than those in the United States and may be more difficult to enforce.

Under Panamanian law, the protections afforded to minority shareholders are different from, and much more limited than, those in the United States and some other Latin American countries. For example, the legal framework with respect to shareholder disputes is less developed under Panamanian law than under U.S. law and there are different procedural requirements for bringing shareholder lawsuits, including shareholder derivative suits. As a result, it may be more difficult for our minority shareholders to enforce their rights against us or our directors or controlling shareholder than it would be for shareholders of a U.S. company. In addition, Panamanian law does not afford minority shareholders as many protections for investors through corporate governance mechanisms as in the United States and provides no mandatory tender offer or similar protective mechanisms for minority shareholders in the event of a change in control. While our Articles of Incorporation provide limited rights to holders of our Class A shares to sell their shares at the same price as CIASA in the event that a sale of Class B shares by CIASA results in the purchaser having the right to elect a majority of our board, there are other change of control transactions in which holders of our Class A shares would not have the right to participate, including the sale of interests by a party that had previously acquired Class B shares from CIASA, the sale of interests by another party in conjunction with a sale by CIASA, the sale by CIASA of control to more than one party, or the sale of controlling interests in CIASA itself.

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Item 4. Information on the Company

A. History and Development of the Company

General

Copa was established in 1947 by a group of Panamanian investors and Pan American World Airways, which provided technical and economic assistance as well as capital. Initially, Copa served three domestic destinations in Panama with a fleet of three Douglas C-47 aircraft. In the 1960s, Copa began its international service with three weekly flights to cities in Costa Rica, Jamaica and Colombia using a small fleet of Avro 748s and Electra 188s. In 1971, Pan American World Airways sold its stake in Copa to a group of Panamanian investors who retained control of the airline until 1986. During the 1980s, Copa suspended its domestic service to focus on international flights.

In 1986, CIASA purchased 99% of Copa, which was controlled by the group of Panamanian shareholders who currently control CIASA. From 1992 until 1998, Copa was a part of a commercial alliance with Grupo TACA’s network of Central American airline carriers. In 1997, together with Grupo TACA, Copa entered into a strategic alliance with American Airlines. After a year our alliance with American Airlines was terminated by mutual consent.

On May 6, 1998, Copa Holdings, S.A., the holding company for Copa and related companies was incorporated as a sociedad

anónima under the laws of Panama to facilitate the sale by CIASA of a 49% stake in Copa Holdings to Continental. In connection with Continental’s investment, we entered into an extensive alliance agreement with Continental providing for code-sharing, joint marketing, technical exchanges and other cooperative initiatives between the airlines. At the time of our initial public offering in December 2005, Continental reduced its ownership of our total capital stock from 49% to approximately 27.3%. In a follow-on offering in June 2006, Continental further reduced its ownership of our total capital stock from 27.3% to 10.0%. In May 2008, Continental sold its remaining shares in the public market. In March 2010, CIASA sold 4.2% of its interest and as of December 31, 2019 held 25.9% of our total capital stock.

Since 1998, we have grown and modernized our fleet while improving customer service and reliability. Copa has expanded its operational fleet from 13 aircraft to 102 aircraft at December 31, 2019. In 1999, we received our first Boeing 737-700s, in 2003 we received our first Boeing 737-800, and in 2005 we received our first Embraer 190. In the first quarter of 2005, we completed our fleet renovation program and discontinued the use of our last Boeing 737-200. Since 2005, we have expanded from 24 destinations in 18 countries to 80 destinations in 33 countries. We plan to continue our expansion, which includes increasing our fleet, over the next several years. In 2018, we took delivery of our first four Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft.

On April 22, 2005, we acquired an initial 85.6% equity ownership interest in AeroRepública, which was one of the largest domestic carriers in Colombia in terms of passengers carried. Through subsequent acquisitions, we increased our total ownership interest in AeroRepública to 99.9% by the end of that year. We believe that Copa Airlines’ operational coordination with Copa Colombia creates additional passenger traffic in our existing route network by providing Colombian passengers more convenient access to the international destinations served through our Panama hub.

In July 2015, we elected to cease co-branding the MileagePlus frequent flyer program in Latin America and launched our own frequent flyer program, ConnectMiles. We have reached a scale where establishing our own direct relationship with our customers is warranted. Copa and UAL will remain strong loyalty partners through our participation in Star Alliance.

In December 2016, we launched a low-cost business model, Wingo, to diversify our offerings and to better compete with other low- cost carriers in the markets. Wingo serves domestic flights in Colombia and some international cities to and from Colombia.

In addition, on November 30, 2018, we disclosed that we have entered into a three-way joint business agreement (“JBA”) with UAL and Avianca that is intended to cover our combined network between the United States and Latin America (except Brazil). We, UAL and Avianca intend to apply for regulatory approval of the JBA and an accompanying grant of antitrust immunity from the U.S. Department of Transportation and other relevant agencies. However, with the recently coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, we can provide no assurances of the approvals and subsequence implementation of the JBA.

Our registered office is located at Avenida Principal y Avenida de la Rotonda, Urbanización Costa del Este, Complejo Business Park, Torre Norte, Parque Lefevre, Panama City, Panama and our telephone number is +507 304-2774. The website of Copa Airlines is www.copaair.com. Information contained on, or accessible through, this website is not incorporated by reference herein and shall not be considered part of this annual report. Our agent for service of process in the United States is Puglisi & Associates, 850 Library Avenue, Suite 204, Newark, Delaware 19715, and its telephone number is +(302) 738-6680. Also, the SEC maintains an internet site (www.sec.gov) that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information about the Company that the Company has filed electronically with the SEC.

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Capital Expenditures

During 2019, our capital expenditures were $131.8 million, which consisted of advance payments on aircraft purchase contracts and acquisition of property and equipment, offset by reimbursement of advance payments on aircraft purchase contracts. During 2018, our capital expenditures were $183.1 million, which consisted primarily of advance payments on aircraft purchase contracts, offset by reimbursement of advance payments on aircraft purchase contracts. During 2017, our capital expenditures were $272.4 million, which consisted primarily of the acquisition of property and equipment, offset by reimbursement of advance payments on aircraft purchase contracts.

B. Business Overview

We are a leading Latin American provider of airline passenger and cargo service through our two principal operating subsidiaries, Copa Airlines and Copa Colombia. Copa Airlines operates from its strategically-located position in the Republic of Panama, and Copa Colombia flies from Colombia to Copa Airlines Hub of the Americas in Panama, and operates a low-cost business model within Colombia and various cities in the region. As of December 31, 2019 we operate a fleet of 102 aircraft, 82 Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft, 14 Embraer 190 aircraft and six Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft to meet our growing capacity requirements. The Company had one purchase contract with Boeing which entails 65 firm orders of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, agreed to be delivered between 2020 and 2025.

Copa currently offers approximately 361 daily scheduled flights among 80 destinations in 33 countries in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean from its Panama City hub. Copa provides passengers with access to flights to more than 200 other destinations through code-share arrangements with UAL and other airlines pursuant to which each airline places its name and flight designation code on the other’s flights. Through its Panama City hub, Copa is able to consolidate passenger traffic from multiple points to serve each destination effectively.

Copa has a strategic alliance with United Airlines, or “UAL” or “United,” that encompass joint marketing strategies and code-sharing arrangements, among other things. In addition, Copa has entered into a three-way JBA with UAL and Avianca that is intended to cover our combined network between the United States and Latin America (except Brazil). Copa has been a member of Star Alliance since June 2012.

Since January 2001, we have grown significantly and have established a track record of consistent profitability. Our total operating revenues increased from $0.3 billion in 2001 to $2.7 billion in 2019 while our operating income also increased from $25.0 million to $346.2 million over the same period.

Our Strengths

We believe our primary business strengths that have allowed us to compete successfully in the airline industry include the following:

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Our Strategy

Our goal is to continue to grow profitably and enhance our position as a leader in Latin American aviation by providing a combination of superior customer service, convenient schedules and competitive fares, while maintaining competitive costs. The key elements of our business strategy include the following:

Industry

In Latin America, the scheduled passenger service market consists of three principal groups of travelers: strictly leisure, business and travelers visiting friends and family. Leisure passengers and passengers visiting friends and family typically place a higher emphasis on lower fares, whereas business passengers typically place a higher emphasis on flight frequency, on-time performance, breadth of network and service enhancements, including loyalty programs and airport lounges.

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According to data from the International Air Transport Association, or “IATA”, Latin America comprised approximately 6.9% of international worldwide passengers flown in 2018 or 302 million passengers.

The Central American aviation market is dominated by international traffic. According to data from IATA, international revenue passenger kilometers, or “RPKs”, are concentrated between North America and Central America. This segment represented 75% of international RPKs flown to and from Central America in 2018, compared to 17.9% RPKs flown between Central America and South America and 6.7% for RPKs flown between Central American countries. Total RPKs flown on international flights to and from Central America increased 7.1%, and load factors on international flights to and from Central America were 84% on average.

The chart below details passenger traffic between regions in 2018:

Panama serves as a hub for connecting passenger traffic between major markets in North, South, and Central America and the Caribbean. Accordingly, passenger traffic to and from Panama is significantly influenced by economic growth in surrounding regions. Major passenger traffic markets in North, South and Central America experienced growth in their GDP in 2019. Preliminary figures indicate that real GDP increased by 4.3% in Panama and by 3.4% in Colombia, according to data of the World Economic and Financial Survey conducted by the International Monetary Fund or “IMF”.

Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database, October 2019

Panama has benefited from a stable economy with moderate inflation and steady GDP growth. According to IMF estimates, from 2013 to 2019, Panama’s real GDP grew at an average annual rate of 5.1%, while inflation averaged 1.3% per year. The IMF currently estimates Panama’s population to be approximately 4.2 million in 2019, with the majority of the population concentrated in Panama City, where our hub at Tocumen International Airport is located. We believe the combination of a stable, service-oriented economy and steady population growth has helped drive our domestic origin and destination passenger traffic.

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Domestic travel within Panama primarily consists of individuals visiting families as well as domestic and foreign tourists visiting the countryside. Most of this travel is done via ground transportation, and its main flow is to and from Panama City, where most of the economic activity and population is concentrated. Demand for domestic air travel is growing and relates primarily to leisure travel from foreign and local tourists. Since January 2015, Copa has operated daily flights to the second-largest city in Panama, David in Chiriqui. The remaining market is served primarily by one local airline, Air Panama, which operates a fleet primarily consisting of turbo prop aircraft generally with less than 50 seats. This airline offers limited international service and operates in the secondary Marcos Gelabert airport of Panama City, which is located 30 minutes by car from Tocumen International Airport.

Colombia is the third largest country in Latin America in terms of population, with a population of approximately 50.4 million in 2019 according to the IMF, and has a land area of approximately 440,000 square miles. Colombia’s GDP is estimated to be $327.9 billion for 2019, and per capita income was approximately $6.5 thousand (current prices) according to the IMF. Colombia’s geography is marked by the Andean mountains and an inadequate road and rail infrastructure, making air travel a convenient and attractive transportation alternative. Colombia shares a border with Panama, and for historic, cultural and business reasons it represents a significant market for many Panamanian businesses.

Route Network and Schedules

As of December 31, 2019, Copa provided regularly-scheduled flights to 80 cities in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. The majority of Copa flights operate through our hub in Panama City which allows us to transport passengers and cargo among a large number of destinations with service that is more frequent than if each route were served directly.

We believe our hub-and-spoke model is the most efficient way for us to operate our business since most of the origination/destination city pairs we serve do not generate sufficient traffic to justify point-to-point service. Also, since we serve many countries, it would be very difficult to obtain the bilateral route rights necessary to operate a competitive network-wide point-to-point system.

Copa schedules its hub flights using a “connecting bank” structure, where flights arrive at the hub at approximately the same time and depart a short time later. In June 2011, we increased our banks of flights from four to six a day. This allowed us to increase efficiency in the use of hub infrastructure in addition to providing more time of day choices to passengers.

As a part of our strategic relationship with UAL, Copa provides flights through code-sharing arrangements to over 200 other destinations. In addition to code-shares provided with our Star Alliance partners, Copa also has code-sharing arrangements in place with several other carriers, including Air France, KLM, Iberia, Air Europa, Emirates, Gol, Azul, Tame, Cubana and Aeromexico.

In addition to increasing the frequencies to destinations we already serve, Copa’s business strategy is also focused on adding new destinations across Latin America, the Caribbean and North America in order to increase the attractiveness of our Hub of the Americas at Tocumen International Airport for intra-American traffic. We currently plan to introduce new destinations and to increase frequencies to many of the destinations that Copa currently serves. Our fleet allows us to improve our service by increasing frequencies and service to new destinations with the right-sized aircraft.

In December 2016, we launched a low-cost business model, Wingo, to diversify our offerings and to better compete with other low-cost carriers in the markets. Wingo serves domestic flights in Colombia and some international cities to and from Colombia. We also expect to incorporate a new Wingo operator, La Nueva Aerolínea S.A., which will be based in Panama and will initially operate one 737-800 from the Panama Pacífico International Airport outside of Panama City.

Our plans to introduce new destinations and increase frequencies depend on the allocation of route rights, a process over which we do not have direct influence. Route rights are allocated through negotiations between the government of Panama and Colombia, and the governments of countries to which we intend to increase flights. If we are unable to obtain route rights, we will exercise the flexibility within our route network to re-allocate capacity as appropriate.

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Revenue by Region

The following table shows our revenue generated in each of our major operating regions.

Airline Operations

Passenger Operations

Passenger revenue accounted for approximately $2,612.6 million in 2019, $2,587.4 million in 2018, and $2,444.3 million in 2017, representing 96.5%, 96.6%, and 96.9%, respectively, of Copa’s total revenues. Leisure traffic, which makes up close to half of Copa’s total traffic, tends to coincide with holidays, school vacations and cultural events and peaks in July and August, and again in December and January. Despite these seasonal variations, Copa’s overall traffic pattern is relatively stable due to the constant influx of business travelers. Approximately one third of Copa’s passengers regard Panama City as their destination or origination point, and most of the remaining passengers pass through Panama City in transit to other points on our route network.

Cargo Operations

In addition to our passenger service, we make efficient use of extra capacity in the belly of our aircraft by carrying cargo. Our cargo operations consist principally of freight service. Copa’s cargo business generated revenues of approximately $62.5 million in 2019, $62.5 million in 2018, and $55.3 million in 2017, representing 2.3%, 2.3%, and 2.2% respectively, of Copa’s operating revenues. We primarily move our cargo in the belly of our aircraft; however, we also wet-lease and charter freighter capacity when necessary to meet our cargo customers’ needs.

Pricing and Revenue Management

Copa has designed its fare structure to balance its load factors and yields in a way that it believes will maximize profits on its flights. Copa also maintains revenue management policies and procedures that are intended to maximize total revenues, while remaining generally competitive with those of our major competitors. Copa uses Revenue Manager (RMS), the revenue management software designed by Sabre.

Copa charges higher fares for tickets sold on higher-demand routes, tickets purchased on short notice and other itineraries suggesting a passenger would be willing to pay a premium. This represents strong value to Copa’s business customers, who need more flexibility with their flight plans. The number of seats Copa offers at each fare level in each market results from a continual process of analysis and forecasting. Past booking history, seasonality, the effects of competition and current booking trends are used to forecast demand. Current fares and knowledge of upcoming events at destinations that will affect traffic volumes are included in Copa’s forecasting model to arrive at optimal seat allocations for its fares on specific routes. Copa uses a combination of approaches, taking into account yields, flight load factors and effects on load factors of continuing traffic, depending on the characteristics of the markets served, to arrive at a strategy for achieving the best possible revenue per available seat mile, balancing the average fare charged against the corresponding effect on our load factors.

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Relationship with UAL

In May 1998, Copa Airlines and Continental entered into a comprehensive alliance agreement to offer a more complete and seamless travel experience to passengers. The agreement encompasses a broad array of activities, including Copa’s participation in Continental’s frequent flyer programs and VIP lounges, as well as trademark agreements merged to permit joint marketing activities. Continental became a subsidiary of UAL after its merger with United Airlines in 2010, and UAL has recognized all benefits of our original alliance with Continental.

As a result of our alliance, we have benefited from Continental’s and UAL’s expertise and experience over the years. For example, prior to July 2015 when we launched our own frequent flyer program, ConnectMiles, we adopted Continental’s OnePass (now UAL’s MileagePlus) frequent flyer program and rolled out a co-branded joint product in most of Latin America, which enabled Copa to develop brand loyalty among travelers. The co-branding of the OnePass (now MileagePlus) loyalty program helped Copa to leverage the brand recognition that Continental already enjoyed across Latin America and has enabled Copa to compete more effectively against regional competitors such as Avianca and the Oneworld alliance represented by American Airlines and LATAM Airlines. We also have adopted several important information technology systems, such as the SHARES computer reservation system in an effort to maintain commonality with UAL.

Our alliance relationship with UAL enjoys a grant of antitrust immunity from the U.S. Department of Transportation, or “DOT”. The agreement expires in 2021, and is terminable by either airline in cases of, among other things, uncured material breaches of the alliance agreement, bankruptcy, termination of the services agreement for breach, termination of the frequent flyer participation agreement without entering into a successor agreement, certain competitive activities, certain changes of control of either of the parties and certain significant operational service failures.

Copa Holdings is also a party to a supplemental agreement with CIASA and Continental entered into in connection with Continental’s May 1998 offering of our shares. Pursuant to the supplemental agreement, Continental received the right to appoint a member of its senior management to our Board of Directors during the term of our alliance agreement with Continental.

Frequent Flyer Participation Agreement. In July 2015, we elected to cease co-branding the MileagePlus frequent flyer program in Latin America and launched our own frequent flyer program, ConnectMiles. We have reached a scale where establishing our own direct relationship with our customers is warranted. Copa and UAL will remain strong loyalty partners through our participation in Star Alliance.

Trademark License Agreement. Under our trademark license agreement with UAL, we have the right to use a logo incorporating a design that is similar to the design of the new UAL logo. We also have the right to use UAL’s trade dress, aircraft livery and certain other UAL marks under the agreement that allow us to more closely align our overall product with our strategic alliance partner. The trademark license agreement is coterminous with the alliance agreement and can also be terminated for breach. In most cases, we have a period of five years after termination to cease to use the marks on our aircraft, with less time provided for signage and other uses of the marks or in cases where the agreement is terminated for a breach by us.

Joint Business Agreement

In November 2018, Copa Airlines announced it has reached an agreement with UAL and Avianca for a JBA that, pending government approval, is expected to provide substantial benefits for customers, communities and the marketplace for air travel between the United States and 19 countries in Central and South America.

By integrating their complementary route networks into a collaborative revenue-sharing JBA, Copa, United and Avianca will offer customers many benefits, including:

The carriers expect the agreement to drive significant traffic growth at major gateway cities throughout Latin America, which the carriers believe should help bring new investment and create more economic development opportunities for their communities. Further, the carriers anticipate the JBA will provide customers with expanded codeshare flight options, competitive fares and a more streamlined travel experience.

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Additionally, allowing the three carriers to serve customers as if they were a single airline is expected to enable the companies to better align their frequent flyer programs, coordinate flight schedules and look to improve the overall travel experience.

To enable the deep coordination required to deliver these benefits to consumers, communities and the marketplace, Copa, United and Avianca plan to apply for regulatory approval of the agreement and an accompanying grant of antitrust immunity from the DOT and other regulatory agencies. The parties plan to fully implement the JBA after receiving the necessary government approvals.

The JBA currently includes cooperation between the U.S. and Central and South America, excluding Brazil. With the recently concluded Open Skies agreement between the US and Brazil, the carriers are exploring the possibility of adding Brazil to the JBA.

Once approved, the JBA will enable deep commercial and strategic cooperation that will apply exclusively in the itineraries between Latin America and the U.S. contemplated in the agreement, but each of the three airlines will remain independent companies. However, with the recently coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, we can provide no assurances of the approvals and subsequence implementation of the JBA.

Sales, Marketing and Distribution

Sales and Distribution. Approximately 65.7% of sales during 2019 were completed through travel agents, including OTAs and other airlines while approximately 34.3% were direct sales via our city ticket offices, or “CTOs”, call centers, airport counters or website. In recent years, travel agents’ base commissions have decreased significantly in most markets as more efficient back-end incentive programs have been implemented to reward selected travel agencies that exceed their sales targets.

Travel agents obtain airline travel information and issue airline tickets through global distribution systems, or “GDSs”, that enable them to make reservations on flights from a large number of airlines. GDSs are also used by travel agents to make hotel and car rental reservations. Copa participates actively in all major international GDSs, including SABRE, Amadeus, Galileo and Worldspan. In return for access to these systems, Copa pays transaction fees that are generally based on the number of reservations booked through each system.

Copa has a sales and marketing network consisting of 63 domestic and international ticket offices, including city ticket offices located in Panama and Colombia, in addition to the airports where we operate.

The call center that operates Copa’s reservations and sales services handles calls from Panama as well as most other countries to which Copa flies. Such centralization has resulted in a significant increase in telephone sales, as it efficiently allows for improvements in service levels such as 24-hour-a-day, 7-days-a-week service, in three different languages.

Advertising and Promotional Activities. In recent years, we have increased our use of digital marketing, including social media via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to enhance our brand image and engage customers in a new way. Although the majority of our efforts are currently focused on digital channels, our advertising and promotional activities also include the use of television, print, radio and billboards, as well as targeted public relation events in the cities where we fly. We believe that the corporate traveler is an important part of our business, and we particularly promote our service to these customers by conveying the reliability, convenience and consistency of our service and offering value-added services such as convention and conference travel arrangements. We also promote package deals for the destinations where we fly through combined efforts with selected hotels and travel agencies.

Competition

We face considerable competition throughout our route network. Overall airline industry profit margins are relatively low and industry earnings are volatile. Airlines compete in the areas of pricing, scheduling (frequency and flight times), on-time performance, frequent flyer programs and other services. Strategic alliances, bankruptcy restructurings and industry consolidations characterize the airline industry and tend to intensify competition.

Copa competes with a number of other airlines that currently serve the routes on which we operate, including Avianca, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Spirit, JetBlue, Azul, Aeromexico, Gol, Interjet, Volaris and LATAM, among others. In order to remain competitive, we must constantly react to changes in prices and services offered by our competitors.

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The airline industry continues to experience increased consolidation and changes in international alliances, both of which have altered and will continue to alter the competitive landscape in the industry by resulting in the formation of airlines and alliances with increased financial resources, more extensive global networks and altered cost structures.

The airline industry is highly susceptible to price discounting, particularly because airlines incur very low marginal costs for providing service to passengers occupying otherwise unsold seats. Carriers use discount fares to stimulate traffic during periods of lower demand to generate cash flow and to increase market share. Any lower fares offered by one airline are often matched by competing airlines, which frequently results in lower industry yields with little or no increase in traffic levels. Price competition among airlines could lead to lower fares or passenger traffic on some or all of our routes, which could negatively impact our profitability.

Airlines based in other countries may also receive subsidies, tax incentives or other state aid from their respective governments, which are not provided by the Panamanian government. The commencement of, or increase in, service on the routes we serve by existing or new carriers could negatively impact our operating results. Likewise, competitors’ service on routes that we are targeting for expansion may make those expansion plans less attractive. We must constantly react to changes in prices and services offered by our competitors to remain competitive.

Traditional hub-and-spoke carriers in the United States and Europe have in recent years faced substantial and increasing competitive pressure from low-cost carriers offering discounted fares. The low-cost carriers’ operations are typically characterized by point-to-point route networks focusing on the highest demand city pairs, high aircraft utilization, single class service and fewer in-flight amenities. As evidenced by the operations of competitors in South and Central American countries it is clear that low-cost carriers are gaining acceptance in the Latin American aviation industry.

With respect to our cargo operations, we will continue to face competition from all of the major airfreight companies, most notably DHL, which has a cargo hub operation at Tocumen International Airport.

Aircraft

As of December 31, 2019, Copa operated a fleet consisting of 102 aircraft, including 14 Boeing 737-700 Next Generation aircraft, 68 Boeing 737-800 Next Generation aircraft and 14 Embraer 190 aircraft. Since March 2019, the six Copa’s Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft have been temporarily grounded as a function of the worldwide grounding of the 737 MAX fleet. As of December 31, 2019, Copa had firm orders to purchase 65 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to be delivered between 2020 and 2025. In October 2018 Copa signed an aircraft sale and purchase agreement with Azorra Aviation for the sale of five Embraer 190 aircraft in 2019. During 2019, we announced our intention to accelerate the exit of our entire Embraer 190 fleet by selling the remaining 14 aircraft by 2020.

The current composition of the Copa fleet as of December 31, 2019 is fully described below:

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The table below describes the expected size of our fleet at the end of each year set forth below, assuming delivery of all aircraft for which we currently have firm orders but not taking into account any aircraft for which we have purchase rights and options:

The Boeing 737 aircraft currently in our fleet are fuel-efficient and suit our operations well for the following reasons:

Our focus on profitable operations means that we periodically review our fleet composition. As a result, our fleet composition changes over time when we conclude that adding other types of aircraft will help us achieve this goal. Following our growth strategy, we placed an order for 71 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, six of which were delivered between 2018 and 2019. The 737 MAX will provide additional benefits to the current fleet such as fuel efficiency, longer range and additional capacity compared to the current Copa seat configuration. Following the Ethiopian Airlines accident involving a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, we suspended operations of our six Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft as regulatory authorities around the world grounded the aircraft.

Through several special purpose vehicles, we currently have beneficial ownership of 73 of our aircraft, including 14 Embraer 190s. In addition, we lease two of our Boeing 737-700s and 27 of our Boeing 737-800s under long-term operating lease agreements that have an average remaining term of 2.9 years. Leasing some of our aircraft provides us with flexibility to change our fleet composition if we consider it to be in our best interests to do so. We make monthly rental payments, some of which are based on floating rates, but we are not required to make termination payments at the end of the lease. Currently, we do not have purchase options under any of our operating lease agreements. Under our operating lease agreements, we are required to make supplemental rent payments at the end of the lease that are calculated with reference to the aircraft’s maintenance schedule. In either case, we must return the aircraft in the agreed-upon condition at the end of the lease term. Title to the aircraft remains with the lessor. We are responsible for the maintenance, servicing, insurance, repair and overhaul of the aircraft during the term of the lease.

To better serve the growing number of business travelers, we offer a business class (Clase Ejecutiva) configuration in our fleet. Our business class service features upgraded meal service, special check-in desks, bonus mileage for full-fare business class passengers and access to VIP lounges. In each of our Boeing 737-700 aircraft, we offer 12 business class seats with 38-inch pitch. Our Boeing 737-800 aircraft currently have two different configurations, one with 16 business class seats with 38-inch pitch; and a second, with 49-inch pitch seats, which is currently being used in 36 of our 737-800s. In order to accommodate these seats, a row from economy class was removed, decreasing the total number of seats in those aircraft from 160 to 154. On our Embraer 190s, we offer a configuration with 10 business class seats in a three abreast configuration with 38-inch pitch. The Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft feature 16 full lie-flat seats in business class (Dreams) and a total of 166 seats.

Also, within the Copa Holdings fleet, there are four 737-800s dedicated to the operations of Wingo. These aircraft are equipped with 186 economy class seats.

Each of our Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft is powered by two CFM International Model CFM 56-7B engines. Each of our Embraer 190 aircraft is powered by two CF34-10 engines made by General Electric. Our Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft are powered by two CFM International Leap 1B engines. We currently have 14 spare engines for service replacements and for periodic rotation through our fleet.

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Maintenance

The maintenance performed on our aircraft can be divided into two general categories: line and heavy maintenance. Line maintenance consists of routine, scheduled maintenance checks on our aircraft, including pre-flight, service visits, “A-checks” and any diagnostics and routine repairs. Copa’s line maintenance is performed by Copa’s own technicians at our main base in Panama and/or at the out stations by Copa Airlines and/or Copa Colombia employees or third-party contractors. Heavy maintenance consists of more complex inspections and overhauls, including “C-checks,” and servicing of the aircraft that cannot be accomplished during an overnight visit. Maintenance checks are performed intermittently as determined by the aircraft manufacturer through Copa Airlines AAC approved maintenance program. These checks are based on the number of hours, departures or calendar months flown. Historically we had contracted with certified outside maintenance providers, such as COOPESA. In October of 2010, Copa decided to begin performing a portion of the heavy maintenance work in-house. The hiring, training, facility and tooling setup, as well as enhancing certain support shops, were completed during a ten-month period. Ultimately, Copa acquired the required certifications by the local authorities to perform the first in-house C-Check in August 2011, followed by its second C-check in October of the same year. Today we are performing a continuous line of C-Checks in-house for the entire year, and on January 20, 2017 we held the ground-breaking of our new maintenance facility at Tocumen International Airport which allows us to perform up to three complete continuous lines of C-checks, as required. The new facility commenced operations in January 2019. In 2019, 33 heavy maintenance checks were successfully performed in-house. When possible, Copa attempts to schedule heavy maintenance during its lower-demand seasons in order to maximize productive use of its aircraft.

Copa has exclusive long-term contracts with GE Engines whereby they perform maintenance on all of our CFM-56 and CF-34 engines.

In October of 2014, Copa Airlines established its own maintenance technician training academy. Through this program, we recruit and train technicians through on-the-job training and formal classes. These future technicians stay in the program for four years total. After the first two years, each trainee receives their airframe license and becomes a mechanic. After the next two years, each trainee receives their power plant license and is released as a mechanic into our work force. Presently, we have 106 students in the program.

Copa Airlines and Copa Colombia employ, system-wide, around 740 maintenance professionals, who perform maintenance in accordance with maintenance programs that are established by the manufacturers and approved and certified by international aviation authorities. Every mechanic is trained in factory procedures and goes through our own rigorous in-house training program. Every mechanic is licensed by the AAC and approximately 34 of our mechanics are also licensed by the FAA. Our safety and maintenance procedures are reviewed and periodically audited by the AAC (Panama), UAEAC (Colombia), the FAA (United States), IATA (IOSA) and, to a lesser extent, every foreign country to which we fly. Copa Airlines’ maintenance facility at Tocumen International Airport has been certified by the FAA as an approved repair station, and once a year the FAA inspects this facility to validate and renew the certification. Copa’s aircraft are initially covered by warranties that have a term of four years, resulting in lower maintenance expenses during the period of coverage. All of Copa Airlines’ and Copa Colombia’s mechanics are trained to perform line maintenance on each of the Boeing 737-Next Generation, Boeing 737 MAX and Embraer 190 aircraft.

All of Copa Colombia’s maintenance and safety procedures are certified by the Aeronáutica Civil of Colombia and BVQi, the institute that issues International Organization for Standardization, or “ISO”, quality certificates. All of Copa Colombia’s maintenance personnel are licensed by the Aeronáutica Civil of Colombia. In December 2017, Copa Colombia received its IATA Operational Safety Audit, or “IOSA”, compliance certification, which will remain valid until December 2021.

Safety

We place a high priority on providing safe and reliable air service. We are focused on continuously improving our safety performance by implementing internationally recognized best practices such as Safety Management System, or “SMS”, Flight Data Analysis (FDA), internal and external operational safety audits, and associated programs.

Our SMS provides operational leaders with reactive, proactive, and predictive data analyses that are delivered on a frequent and recurring basis. This program also uses a three-tiered meeting structure to ensure the safety risk of all identified hazards are assessed and corrective actions (if required) are implemented. At the lowest meeting level, the Operational Leaders review the risk assessments, assign actions, and monitor progress. At the middle meeting level, the Chief Operations Officer meets with the Operational Leaders to ensure all cross-divisional issues are properly addressed and funded. At the highest meeting level, the Chief Executive Officer monitors the performance of the SMS program and ensures the safety risk is being properly managed.

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The SMS is supported by safety investigations and a comprehensive audit program. Investigations are initiated either by operational events or analyses of relevant trend information, such as via our Flight Data Analysis program. These investigations are conducted by properly qualified and trained internal safety professionals. Our audit program consists of three major components. The first serves as the aircraft maintenance quality assurance program and is supported by six dedicated maintenance professionals. The second team consists of an internal team dedicated to conducting standardized audits of airport, flight operations, and associated functions. The third component of our audit program is a biennial audit of all operational components by the internationally recognized standard IOSA (IATA Operational Safety Audit). We are happy to report that in 2019 Copa Airlines and Copa Colombia successfully completed IOSA audits by external providers.

Airport Facilities

We believe that our hub at Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport (PTY) is an excellent base of operations for the following reasons:

Tocumen International Airport is operated by an independent corporate entity established by the government, where stakeholders have a say in the operation and development of the airport. The law that created this entity also provided for a significant portion of revenues generated at Tocumen to be used for airport expansion and improvements. None of the airlines operating at Tocumen have any formal, written agreements with the airport management to govern access fees, landing rights or allocation of terminal gates. We rely upon our good working relationship with the airport’s management and the Panamanian government to ensure that we have access to the airport resources we need at prices that are reasonable.

We provide most of our own ground services and handling of passengers and cargo at Tocumen International Airport. In addition, we provide services to several of the main foreign airlines that operate at Tocumen. In most of the other airports where we operate, airport support services are provided by external third parties.

We use a variety of facilities at Tocumen, including our maintenance hangars and our operations facilities in the airport terminal. In January 2019, we opened a new hangar next to our existing maintenance facility. This new hangar has an area of approximately 90,000 square feet and can accommodate up to three narrow body aircraft simultaneously.

Our Gold and higher PreferMember passengers have access to a Copa Club at the Tocumen International Airport in Panama. We also expect to inaugurate in 2020 a brand new Copa Club at the new Terminal 2 of Tocumen International Airport. This new lounge will have a capacity of approximately 420 passengers with an area of more than 20,000 square feet.

These passengers also have access to five other Copa Clubs in the region, which are strategically located in San José, Guatemala City, Santo Domingo, Medellin and Bogota.

Fuel

Fuel costs are extremely volatile, as they are subject to many global economic, geopolitical, weather, environmental and other factors that we can neither control nor accurately predict. Due to its inherent volatility, aircraft fuel has historically been our most unpredictable unit cost. In the past, rapid increases in prices have come from increased demand for oil coupled with limited refinery capacity and instability in oil-exporting countries.

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In 2019, the average price of West Texas Intermediate or “WTI” crude oil, a benchmark widely used for crude oil prices that is measured in barrels and quoted in U.S. dollars, decreased by 19.9% from $64.9 per barrel to $52.0 per barrel. In 2019, we did not hedge any of our fuel needs, and we have not hedged any part of our fuel needs for 2020. Although we have not added hedge positions since August of 2015, we continue to evaluate various hedging strategies and may enter into additional hedging agreements in the future, as any substantial and prolonged increase in the price of jet fuel will likely materially and negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operation. In the past, we have managed to offset some of the increases in fuel prices with higher load factors, fuel surcharges and fare increases. In addition, our relatively young, winglet-equipped fleet also helps us mitigate the impact of higher fuel prices.

Tocumen International Airport has limited fuel storage capacity. In the event there is a disruption in the transport of fuel to the airport, we may be forced to suspend flights until the fuel tanks can be refueled. However, during 2019, new fuel storage capacity, consisting of three 1 million-gallon tanks, were added to existing storage capacity. This addition resulted in an increase of airport fuel storage capacity from 1.5 million to 4.5 million gallons, which represents approximately seven days of fuel availability at current consumption levels.

Insurance

We maintain passenger liability insurance in an amount consistent with industry practice, and we insure our aircraft against losses and damages on an “all risks” basis. We have obtained all insurance coverage required by the terms of our leases. We believe our insurance coverage is consistent with airline industry standards and appropriate to protect us from material losses in light of the activities we conduct. No assurance can be given, however, that the amount of insurance we carry will be sufficient to protect us from material losses. By leveraging the purchasing power of our alliance partner, UAL, we have been able to negotiate lower premiums than those we would get if we were to purchase a standalone Hull and Airline Liability Insurance policy.

Environmental

Our operations are covered by various local, national, and international environmental regulations. These regulations cover, among other things, gas emissions into the atmosphere, disposal of solid waste and aqueous effluents, aircraft noise, and other activities that result from the operation of aircraft and our aircraft comply with all environmental standards applicable to their operations as described in this annual report. Currently, we maintain an Environmental Management and Adequacy Program (“PAMA”), in all our facilities located in Panama, including our maintenance hangar and support facilities at the Tocumen International Airport, Administrative Offices in Costa del Este and Training Center in Clayton. This program was approved by the Panamanian National Environmental Authority (“MiAmbiente”), in 2013, and includes actions such as a recycling program, better use of natural resources and final disposition of the unfiltered water used for aircraft maintenance, among many others. Currently, the Copa Tocumen Airport’s PAMA final report is presented to MiAmbiente on an annual basis to monitor and report our environmental follow-up assessments. Copa Airlines is an active signatory company of the Global Compact of the United Nations with its local chapter of the Global Compact Network Panama, and have, thus, published our Communication on Progress (“COP”) since October 2001. This Global Compact agreement requires us to implement measures like maintaining a young fleet, incorporating new navigation technologies such as RNAV to reduce fuel consumption, installing latest generation winglets and scimitars in our planes to reduce fuel consumption and recycling, among many others.

Starting in 2019, Copa is reporting the fuel consumption burned during its annual flight operations and its gas emissions to the Panamanian Civil Aviation Authority. As a result, Copa is in line with the global aviation effort led by ICAO to implement the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation.

From January to December 2019 we collected a total of 307.71 tons of recycling materials in Panama’s Copa facilities, and strengthen the recycling culture of our employees and contractors. Because of our recycling program, we obtained a significant reduction of the waste sent to the landfill. During the same period, we recycled vehicle oil and aircraft fuel, for which we outsourced the collection

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of 11,542 gallons of hydrocarbons for use as alternative fuel for other industries, thus avoiding the contamination of natural resources. We also outsourced the collection of 378,375 gallons of oil and/or water from aircraft cleaning and painting operations, and also from vehicle maintenance process. The subsequent treatment of the collected water made it possible to recover 302,700 gallons of water which were then returned to nature. We have properly disposed of a total of 41,709 kilograms of chemical waste from Aircraft Maintenance operations. In comparison to 2018, in 2019 our environmental management reduced the generation of chemical waste and optimized the use of water during our operations.

Regulation

Panama

Authorizations and Certificates. Panamanian law requires airlines providing commercial services in Panama to hold an Operation Certificate and an Air Transportation License/Certificate issued by the AAC. The Air Transportation Certificate specifies the routes, equipment used, capacity, and frequency of flights. This certificate must be updated every time Copa acquires new aircraft, or when routes and frequencies to a particular destination are modified.

Panamanian law also requires that the aircraft operated by Copa Airlines be registered with the Panamanian National Aviation Registrar kept by the AAC, and that the AAC certifies the airworthiness of each aircraft in the fleet.

The Panamanian government does not have an equity interest in our Company. Bilateral agreements signed by the Panamanian government have protected our operational position and route network, allowing us to have a significant hub in Panama to transport traffic within and between the Americas and the Caribbean. All international fares are filed and, depending on the bilateral agreement, are technically subject to the approval of the Panamanian government. Historically, we have been able to modify ticket prices on a daily basis to respond to market conditions. Copa Airlines’ status as a private carrier means that it is not required under Panamanian law to serve any particular route and is free to withdraw service from any of the routes it currently serves, subject to bilateral agreements. We are also free to determine the frequency of service we offer across our route network without any minimum frequencies imposed by the Panamanian authorities.

Ownership Requirements. The most significant restriction on our Company imposed by the Panamanian Aviation Act, as amended and interpreted to date, is that Panamanian nationals must exercise “effective control” over the operations of the airline and must maintain “substantial ownership”. These phrases are not defined in the Aviation Act itself and it is unclear how a Panamanian court would interpret them. The share ownership requirements and transfer restrictions contained in our Articles of Incorporation, as well as the structure of our capital stock described under the caption “Description of Capital Stock”, are designed to ensure compliance with these ownership and control restrictions created by the Aviation Act. While we believe that our ownership structure complies with the ownership and control restrictions of the Aviation Act as interpreted by a decree by the Executive Branch, we cannot assure you that a Panamanian court would share our interpretation of the Aviation Act or the decree or that any such interpretations would remain valid for the entire time you hold our Class A shares.

Although the Panamanian government does not currently have the authority to dictate the terms of our service, the government is responsible for negotiating the bilateral agreements with other nations that allow us to fly to other countries. Several of these agreements require Copa to remain “effectively controlled” and “substantially owned” by Panamanian nationals in order for us to use the rights conferred by the agreements. Such requirements are analogous to the Panamanian Aviation Act described above that requires Panamanian control of our business.

Antitrust Regulations. In 1996, the Republic of Panama enacted antitrust legislation, which regulates industry concentration and vertical anticompetitive practices and prohibits horizontal collusion. The Consumer Protection and Free Trade Authority is in charge of enforcement and may impose fines only after a competent court renders an adverse judgment. The law also provides for direct action by any affected market participant or consumer, independently or through class actions. The law does not provide for the granting of antitrust immunity, as is the case in the United States. In February 2006, the antitrust legislation was amended to increase the maximum fines that may be assessed to $1,000,000 for violations and $250,000 for minor infractions of antitrust law. In October 2007, the antitrust legislation was amended again to include new regulations.

Colombia

Even though the Colombian aviation market continues to be regulated by the Colombian Civil Aviation Administration, Unidad Especial Administrativa de Aeronáutica Civil, or “Aeronáutica Civil”, the government policies have become more liberal in recent years.

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Colombia has expanded its open-skies agreements with several countries in the last years. In addition to Aruba and the Andean Pact nations of Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, open-skies agreements have been negotiated with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama and Dominican Republic. In the framework of liberalization between Colombia and Panama, any airline has the right to operate unlimited frequencies between any city pair of the two countries. As a result, Copa offers scheduled services between eight main cities in Colombia and Panama. In November 2010, Colombia signed an open-skies agreement with the United States, which took effect in January 2013. With respect to domestic aviation, airlines must present feasibility studies to secure specific route rights, and no airline may serve the city pairs with the most traffic unless that airline has at least five aircraft with valid airworthiness certificates. While Aeronáutica Civil has historically regulated the competition on domestic routes, in December 2012 it revoked a restriction requiring a maximum number of competing airlines on each domestic route.

In October 2011, Aeronáutica Civil announced its decision to liberalize air fares in Colombia starting April 1, 2012, including the elimination of fuel surcharges. However, airlines are required to charge an administrative fee (tarifa administrativa) for each ticket sold on domestic routes within Colombia through an airline’s direct channels. Passengers in Colombia are also entitled by law to compensation in the event of delays in excess of four hours, over-bookings and cancellations. Currently, the San Andrés, Bogotá, Pereira, Cali, Cartagena, Medellin, Bucaramanga, Cucuta, and Santa Marta airports, among others, are under private management arrangements. The government’s decision to privatize airport administration in order to finance the necessary expansion projects and increase the efficiency of operations has increased airports fees and facility rentals at those airports.

Authorization and Certificates. Colombian law requires airlines providing commercial services in Colombia to hold an operation certificate issued by the Aeronáutica Civil, which is renewed every five years. Copa Colombia’s operation certificate was renewed in 2017.

Safety Assessment. On December 9, 2010, Colombia was re-certified as a Category 1 country under the FAA’s IASA program.

Ownership Requirements. Colombian regulations establish that an airline satisfies the ownership requirements of Colombia if it is registered under the Colombian Laws and Regulations.

Antitrust Regulations. In 2009, an antitrust law was issued by the Republic of Colombia; however, commercial aviation activities remain under the authority of the Aeronáutica Civil.

Airport Facilities. The airports of the major cities in Colombia have been granted to concessionaries, who impose charges on the airlines for the rendering of airport services. The ability to contest these charges is limited, but contractual negotiations with the concessionaries are possible.

United States

Operations to the United States by non-U.S. airlines, such as Copa Airlines, are subject to Title 49 of the U.S. Code, under which the DOT, the FAA and the TSA exercise regulatory authority. The U.S. Department of Justice also has jurisdiction over airline competition matters under federal antitrust laws.

Authorizations and Licenses. The DOT has jurisdiction over international aviation with respect to air transportation to and from the United States, including regulation of related route authorities, the granting of which are subject to review by the President of the United States. The DOT exercises its jurisdiction with respect to unfair practices and methods of competition by airlines and related consumer protection matters as to all airlines operating to and from the United States. Copa Airlines is authorized by the DOT to engage in scheduled and charter air transportation services, including the transportation of persons, property (cargo) and mail, or combinations thereof, between points in Panama and points in the United States and beyond (via intermediate points in other countries). Copa Airlines holds the necessary authorizations from the DOT in the form of a foreign air carrier permit, an exemption authority and statements of authorization to conduct our current operations to and from the United States. The exemption authority was granted by the DOT in February 1998 and was due to expire in February 2000. However, the authority remains in effect by operation of law under the terms of the Administrative Procedure Act pending final DOT action on the application we filed to renew the authority on January 3, 2000. There can be no assurance that the DOT will grant the application. Our foreign air carrier permit has no expiration date.

Copa Airlines’ operations in the United States are also subject to regulation by the FAA with respect to aviation safety matters, including aircraft maintenance and operations, equipment, aircraft noise, ground facilities, dispatch, communications, personnel, training, weather observation, air traffic control and other matters affecting air safety. The FAA requires each foreign air carrier serving the United States to obtain operational specifications pursuant to 14 CFR Part 129 of its regulations and to meet operational criteria associated with

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operating specified equipment on approved international routes. We believe that we are in compliance in all material respects with all requirements necessary to maintain in good standing our operations specifications issued by the FAA. The FAA can amend, suspend, revoke or terminate those specifications, or can temporarily suspend or permanently revoke our authority if we fail to comply with the regulations, and can assess civil penalties for such failure. A modification, suspension or revocation of any of our DOT authorizations or FAA operating specifications could have a material adverse effect on our business. The FAA also conducts safety audits and has the power to impose fines and other sanctions for violations of airline safety regulations. We have not incurred any material fines related to operations. The FAA also conducts safety International Aviation Safety Assessment, or “IASA”, as to Panama’s compliance with ICAO safety standards. Panama is currently considered a Category 1 country that complies with ICAO international safety standards. As a Category 1 country, no limitations are placed upon our operating rights to the Unites States. If the FAA should determine that Panama does not meet the ICAO safety standards, the FAA and DOT would restrict our rights to expand operations to the United States.

Security. On November 19, 2001, the U.S. Congress passed, and the President signed into law, the Aviation and Transportation Security Act or the “Aviation Security Act”. This law federalized substantially all aspects of civil aviation security and created the TSA, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security, to which the security responsibilities previously held by the FAA were transitioned. The Aviation Security Act requires, among other things, the implementation of certain security measures by airlines and airports, such as the requirement that all passengers, their bags and all cargo be screened for explosives and other security-related contraband. Funding for airline and airport security required under the Aviation Security Act is provided in part by a $2.50 per segment passenger security fees for flights departing from the United States, subject to a $10 per roundtrip cap; however, airlines are responsible for costs incurred to meet security requirements beyond those provided by the TSA. The United States government is considering increases to this fee as the TSA’s costs exceed the revenue it receives from these fees. Implementation of the requirements of the Aviation Security Act has resulted in increased costs for airlines and their passengers. Since the events of September 11, 2001, the U.S. Congress has mandated and the TSA has implemented numerous security procedures and requirements that have imposed and will continue to impose burdens on airlines, passengers and shippers.

Passenger Facility Charges. Most major U.S. airports impose passenger facility charges. The ability of airlines to contest increases in these charges is restricted by federal legislation, DOT regulations and judicial decisions. With certain exceptions, air carriers pass these charges on to passengers. However, our ability to pass through passenger facility charges to our customers is subject to various factors, including market conditions and competitive factors. Passenger facility charges are capped at $4.50 per flight segment with a maximum of two PFCs charged on a one-way trip or four PFCs on a round trip, for a maximum of $18 total, respectively.

Airport Access. Two U.S. airports at which we operate, O’Hare International Airport in Chicago (O’Hare) and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, or “JFK”, were formerly designated by the FAA as “high density” traffic airports subject to arrival and departure slot restrictions during certain periods of the day. From time to time, the FAA has also issued temporary orders imposing slot restrictions at certain airports. Although slot restrictions at JFK were formally eliminated as of January 1, 2007, on January 15, 2008, the FAA issued an order limiting the number of scheduled flight operations at JFK during peak hours to address the over-scheduling, congestion and delays at JFK. The FAA is currently contemplating the implementation of a long-term congestion management rule at LaGuardia Airport, JFK and Newark Liberty International Airport, which would replace the order currently in effect at JFK. We cannot predict the outcome of this potential rule change on our costs or ability to operate at JFK.

On July 8, 2008, the DOT also issued a revised Airport Rates and Charges policy that allows airports to establish non-weight based fees during peak hours and to apportion certain expenses from “reliever” airports to the charges for larger airports in an effort to limit congestion.

Noise Restrictions. Under the Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 and related FAA regulations, aircraft that fly to the United States must comply with certain Stage 3 noise restrictions, which are currently the most stringent FAA operating noise requirements. All of our Copa aircraft meet the Stage 3 requirement.

Other Regulation. U.S. laws and regulations have been proposed from time to time that could significantly increase the cost of airline operations by imposing additional requirements or restrictions on airlines. There can be no assurance that laws and regulations currently enacted or enacted in the future will not adversely affect our ability to maintain our current level of operating results.

Other Jurisdictions

We are also subject to regulation by the aviation regulatory bodies that set standards and enforce national aviation legislation in each of the jurisdictions to which we fly. These regulators may have the power to set fares, enforce environmental and safety standards, levy fines, restrict operations within their respective jurisdictions or any other powers associated with aviation regulation. We cannot predict how these various regulatory bodies will perform in the future, and the evolving standards enforced by any of them could have a material adverse effect on our operations.

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C. Organizational Structure

The following is an organizational chart showing Copa Holdings and its principal subsidiaries.

Copa Airlines is our principal airline operating subsidiary that operates out of our hub in Panama and provides passenger service in North, South and Central America and the Caribbean. Copa Airlines Colombia is our operating subsidiary that provides air travel from Colombia to Copa Airlines Hub of the Americas in Panama, and operates a low-cost business model within Colombia and various cities in the region. Oval Financial Leasing, Ltd. controls the special purpose vehicles that have a beneficial interest in the majority of our fleet.

D. Property, plants and equipment

Headquarters

Our headquarters are located six miles away from Tocumen International Airport. We have leased six floors consisting of approximately 121,686 square feet of the building from Desarollo Inmobiliario Del Este, S.A., an entity controlled by the same group of investors that controls CIASA, under a ten-year lease that began in January 2015 at a rate of $0.2 million per month.

Other Property

At Tocumen International Airport, we lease two maintenance hangars, operations offices in the terminal, counter space, parking spaces and other operational properties from the entity that manages the airport. We pay approximately $241,402 per month for this leased property. Around Panama City, we also lease various office spaces, parking spaces and other properties from a variety of lessors, for which we pay approximately $198,905 per month in the aggregate.

In each of our destination cities, we also lease space at the airport for check-in, reservations and airport ticket office sales, and we lease space for CTOs in those cities.

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Copa Colombia leases most of its airport offices and CTOs. Owned properties only include one CTO and a warehouse close to the Bogota airport.

See also our discussion of “Aircraft” and “Airport Facilities” above.

Item 4A. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

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Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects

A. Operating Results

You should read the following discussion in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes and the other financial information included elsewhere in this annual report. Discussions of year-over-year comparisons between 2018 and 2017 that are not included in this Form 20-F can be found in Part I, Item 5, Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” of our Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018.

We are a leading Latin American provider of airline passenger and cargo service through our two principal operating subsidiaries, Copa Airlines and Copa Colombia. Copa Airlines operates from its strategically located position in the Republic of Panama, and Copa Colombia provides air travel from Colombia to Copa Airlines Hub of the Americas in Panama and operates a low-cost business model within Colombia and various cities in the region.

Copa currently offers approximately 361 daily scheduled flights among 80 destinations in 33 countries in North, Central, South America and the Caribbean from its Panama City hub. Copa provides passengers with access to flights to more than 200 other destinations through code-share arrangements with our Star Alliance partners and other carriers including Air France, KLM, Iberia, Emirates, Gol, Azul, Tame, Cubana and Aeromexico. Through its Panama City hub, Copa Airlines is able to consolidate passenger traffic from multiple points to serve each destination effectively.

As of December 31, 2019, Copa Airlines and Copa Colombia operate a modern fleet of 88 Boeing 737 aircraft and 14 Embraer 190 aircraft. To meet growing capacity requirements, we have firm orders, including purchase and lease commitments. The Company had one purchase contract with Boeing which entails 65 firm orders of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, agreed to be delivered between 2020 and 2025. However, the Boeing 737 MAX fleet is still grounded, and we have suspended operations of our six Boeing 737 MAX 9.

Factors Affecting Our Results of Operations

Fuel

In 2019, the average price of WTI crude oil, a benchmark widely used for crude oil prices that is measured in barrels and quoted in U.S. dollars, decreased by 19.9% from $64.9 per barrel to $52.0 per barrel. In 2019, we did not hedge any of our fuel needs. For 2020 although we have not hedged any part of our anticipated fuel needs, we continue to evaluate various hedging strategies and may enter into additional hedging agreements in the future, as any substantial and prolonged increase in the price of jet fuel will likely materially and negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operation. In the past, we have managed to offset some of the increases in fuel prices with higher load factors, fuel surcharges and fare increases. In addition, our relatively young, winglet-equipped fleet also helps us mitigate the impact of higher fuel prices.

Regional Economic Environment

Our historical financial results have been, and we expect them to continue to be, materially affected by the general level of economic activity and growth of per capita disposable income in North, South and Central America and the Caribbean, which have a material impact on discretionary and leisure travel (drivers of our passenger revenue) and the volume of trade between countries in the region (the principal driver of our cargo revenue). As an example, passenger revenue totaled $2.6 billion in 2019, a 1.1% increase over passenger revenue of $2.6 billion in 2018 mainly driven by a 1.7% increase in passenger traffic compared to 2018. However, passenger average fare decreased 0.7% in 2019.

In Colombia, real GDP growth, at constant prices, was approximately 3.4% in 2019, which represented a faster growth rate than in 2018. Average inflation of consumer prices in Colombia rose approximately 3.6% in 2019, according to the IMF.

In previous years our yields in Venezuela were negatively impacted by exchange controls, along with high inflation and political uncertainty, which led us to restrict ticket sales for passengers paying in Venezuelan bolivars. Today, sales in Venezuela are very limited (0.1% of our total sales) and operational feasibility of Venezuela flights is closely monitored in order to deliver optimal profitability and avoid accumulations of Venezuelan bolivars. According to data from the IMF, Venezuela’s GDP contracted by 35% in 2019. Exact data regarding inflation rates in Venezuela varies significantly, depending on the source. In response to continued hyperinflation, the Venezuelan government introduced the Bolivar Soberano on August 20, 2018, replacing the Bolivar Fuerte at a rate of 1 to 100,000.

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According to data from The Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean, an annual United Nations publication prepared by the Economic Development Division, the economy of Latin America (including the Caribbean) increased by 0.1% in 2019 and is estimated to increase by 1.3% in 2020. In recent years, the Panamanian economy has outpaced the economic growth of the United States and of Latin America as a whole. Preliminary figures for 2019 indicate that the Panamanian economy grew by 4.3% (versus 3.7% in 2018). Headline inflation in Panama (as indicated by the consumer price index) presented no significant change in 2019 compared to 2018. Additionally, the Colombian economy has experienced relatively stable growth. The Colombian gross domestic product grew by 3.4% in 2019 and is estimated to grow by 3.6% in 2020, while headline inflation (as indicated by the consumer price index) rose by 3.6% in 2019.

Revenues

We derive our revenues primarily from passenger transportation, which represented 96.5% of our revenues for the year ended December 31, 2019. In addition, 2.3%of our total revenues are derived from cargo and 1.2% from other activities.

We recognize passenger revenue from tickets when transportation is provided rather than when a ticket is sold. Passenger revenues reflect the capacity of our aircraft on the routes we fly, load factor and yield. Our capacity is measured in terms of available seat miles, or “ASMs”, which represents the number of seats available on our aircraft multiplied by the number of miles the seats are flown. Our usage is measured in terms of RPMs, which is the number of revenue passengers multiplied by the miles these passengers fly. Load factor, or the percentage of our capacity that is actually used by paying customers, is calculated by dividing RPMs by ASMs. Yield is the average amount that one passenger pays to fly one mile. We use a combination of approaches, taking into account yields, flight load factors and effects on load factors of connecting traffic, depending on the characteristics of the markets served, to arrive at a strategy for achieving the best possible revenue per available seat mile, balancing the average fare charged against the corresponding effect on our load factors.

We recognize cargo revenue when transportation is provided. Historically our other revenue consists primarily of commissions earned on tickets sold for flights on other airlines, special charges, non-air frequent flyer program revenue and services provided to other airlines.

Overall demand for our passenger and cargo services is highly dependent on the regional economic environment in which we operate, including the GDP of the countries we serve and the disposable income of the residents of those countries. Approximately 40% of our passengers travel at least in part for business reasons, and the growth of intraregional trade greatly affects that portion of our business. The remaining 60% of our passengers are tourists or travelers visiting friends and family.

The following table sets forth our capacity, load factor and yields for the periods indicated.

Seasonality

Generally, our revenues from and the profitability of our flights peak during the northern hemisphere’s summer season in July and August and again during the December and January holiday season. Given our high proportion of fixed costs, this seasonality is likely to cause our results of operations to vary from quarter to quarter.

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Operating Expenses

The main components of our operating expenses are aircraft fuel, wages, salaries, benefits and other employees’ expenses, sales and distribution and airport facilities and handling charges. A common measure of per unit costs in the airline industry is cost per available seat mile, or “CASM”, which is generally defined as operating expenses divided by ASMs.

Fuel. The price we pay for aircraft fuel varies significantly from country to country primarily due to local taxes. While we purchase aircraft fuel at most of the airports to which we fly, we attempt to negotiate fueling contracts with companies that have a multinational presence in order to benefit from volume purchases. During 2019, as a result of the location of its hub, Copa purchased 57% of its aircraft fuel in Panama. Copa has 22 suppliers of aircraft fuel across its network. In some cases, we tanker fuel in order to minimize our cost, by fueling in airports where fuel prices are lowest. Our aircraft fuel expenses are variable and fluctuate based on global oil prices.

Wages, salaries and other employees’ expenses. Salary and benefit expenses have historically increased at the rate of inflation and by the growth in the number of our employees. In some cases, we have adjusted the salaries of our employees to correspond to changes in the cost of living in the countries where these employees work. We do not increase salaries based on seniority.

Passenger servicing. Our passenger servicing expenses consist of catering, in-flight entertainment and liability insurance among others. These expenses are generally directly related to the number of passengers we carry or the number of flights we operate.

Airport facilities and handling charges. Our airport facility and handling charges consist of take-off/landing charges, aircraft parking charges, baggage handling, and airport security charges. These charges are mainly driven by the number of flights we operate.

Sales and distribution. Our sales and distribution expenses are driven mainly by passenger revenues, indirect channel penetration performance, agreed commission rates, and from payments to global distribution systems “GDS”, such as Amadeus and Sabre. Our commission expenses consist primarily of payments for ticket sales made by travel agents and commissions paid to credit card companies, depending on the country. During the last few years we have reduced our commission expense per available seat mile as a result of an industry-wide trend of paying lower commissions to travel agencies and by increasing the proportion of our sales made through direct channels. We expect this trend to continue as more of our customers become accustomed to purchasing through our website at www.copaair.com, mobile app, and call centers. While increasing direct sales may increase the commissions we pay to credit card companies, we expect that the savings from the corresponding reduction in travel agency commissions will more than offset this increase. In recent years, base commissions paid to travel agents have decreased significantly. At the same time, we have encouraged travel agencies to move from standard base commissions to incentive compensation based on sales volume and fare types. In addition, the GDS or reservation systems tend to raise their rates periodically, but we expect that if we are successful in encouraging our customers to purchase tickets through our direct sales channels, these costs will decrease as a percentage of our operating costs. A portion of our reservations and sales expenses is also comprised of our licensing payments for the SHARES reservation and check-in management software we use, which is not expected to change significantly from period to period.

Maintenance, materials and repairs. Our maintenance, materials and repairs expenses consist of aircraft repair expenses and charges related to the line maintenance of our aircraft, including maintenance materials, and aircraft return costs. As the age of our fleet increases and our warranties expire, our maintenance expenses will increase. We conduct line and heavy maintenance internally and outsource some of the heavy maintenance to independent third-party contractors. In 2015, we restructured the original contract negotiated with GE Engine Services in 2003 for the repair and maintenance of our CFM-56 engines which power our Boeing 737-Next Generation fleet. Our engine maintenance costs are also aided by the sea-level elevation of our hub and the use of winglets which allow us to operate the engines on our Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft with lower thrust, thus putting less strain on the engines. In 2011, we negotiated a maintenance agreement with GE Engine Services for the repair and maintenance of our CF-34 engines.

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Depreciation, amortization and impairment. These expenses correspond primarily to the depreciation of aircraft owned by the company, engines, maintenance components, other related flight equipment and the depreciation of the right of use on leased assets.

Flight operations. These expenses are related to the charges that the countries which we overfly levy on our aircraft as overflight charges. These fees are generally related to the number of flights we operate.

Other operating and administrative expenses. Other expenses include cargo and courier expenses, overhead expenditures and miscellaneous expenses. Also includes the expense for contract services, variable lease payments, short term and low value leases.

Taxes

We pay taxes in the Republic of Panama and in other countries in which we operate, based on regulations in effect in each respective country. Our revenues come principally from foreign operations, and according to the Panamanian Fiscal Code income from these foreign operations are not subject to income tax in Panama.

The Panamanian Fiscal Code for the airline industry states that tax is based on net income earned for traffic whose origin or final destination is the Republic of Panama. The applicable tax rate is currently 25%. Dividends from our Panamanian subsidiaries, including Copa, are separately subject to a 10% percent withholding tax on the portion attributable to Panamanian sourced income and a 5% withholding tax on the portion attributable to foreign sourced income. Additionally, a 7% value added tax is levied on tickets issued in Panama for travel commencing in Panama and going abroad, irrespective of where such tickets were ordered. In February 2020, the Company received two notifications from the tax authority in Panama related to a tax audit process that began in 2019. The notifications include adjustments to the reported dividend tax for the years 2012 to 2016 and income tax 2016. The Company has filed an administrative appeal which is the first legal stage under Panamanian laws. The Company, along with its tax advisors, has concluded that it is not probable that an outflow of resources embodying economic benefits will be required to settle these notices. According to Panamanian laws, the statute of limitations is 3 and 15 years for income tax and dividend tax, respectively.

We are also subject to local tax regulations in each of the other jurisdictions where we operate, the great majority of which are related to the taxation of our income. In some of the countries to which we fly, we do not pay any income taxes because we do not generate income under the laws of those countries either because they do not have income taxes or due to treaties or other arrangements those countries have with Panama. In the remaining countries, we pay income tax at rates ranging from 22% to 34% of our income attributable to those countries. Different countries calculate our income in different ways, but they are typically derived from our sales in the applicable country multiplied by our net margin or by a presumed net margin set by the relevant tax legislation.

The determination of our taxable income in several countries is based on a combination of revenues sourced to each particular country and the allocation of expenses to that particular country. The methodology for multinational transportation company sourcing of revenue and expense is not always specifically prescribed in the relevant tax regulations, and therefore is subject to interpretation by both ourselves and the respective tax authorities. Additionally, in some countries, the applicability of certain regulations governing non-income taxes and the determination of our filing status are also subject to interpretation. We cannot estimate the amount, if any, of the potential tax liabilities that might result if the allocations, interpretations and filing positions we use in preparing our income tax returns were challenged by the tax authorities of one or more countries. If taxes were to increase, our financial performance and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. Due to the competitive revenue environment, many increases in fees and taxes have been absorbed by the airline industry rather than being passed on to the passenger. Any such increases in our fees and taxes may reduce demand for air travel and thus our revenues.

Under a reciprocal exemption confirmed by a bilateral agreement between Panama and the United States, we are exempt from the U.S. source transportation income tax derived from the international operation of aircraft.

Our income tax expense totaled approximately $46.4 million in 2019, $34.5 million in 2018 and $49.3 million in 2017.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The preparation of our consolidated financial statements in conformity with IFRS as issued by the IASB requires our management to adopt accounting policies and make estimates and judgments to develop amounts reported in our consolidated financial statements and related notes. We strive to maintain a process to review the application of our accounting policies and to evaluate the appropriateness of the estimates required for the preparation of our consolidated financial statements. We believe that our estimates and judgments are reasonable; however, actual results and the timing of recognition of such amounts could differ from those estimates. In addition, estimates routinely require adjustments based on changing circumstances and the receipt of new or better information.

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Our critical accounting policies and estimates are described below as those that are reflective of significant judgments and uncertainties and potentially result in materially different results under different assumptions and conditions. For a more extensive disclosure of these and other accounting policies, see notes 3 and 4 to our annual consolidated financial statements in Item 18 of this report.

Revenue recognition

Revenue is recognized when control of the goods or services is transferred to the customer at an amount that reflects the consideration to which the Company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The consideration received or receivable is measured taking into account contractually defined terms of payment and excluding taxes or duties. The following specific recognition criteria must also be met before revenue is recognized:

Passenger tickets. Passenger revenue from tickets is recognized when transportation is provided rather than when a ticket is sold. The amount of passenger ticket sales, not yet recognized as revenue, is reflected under “Air traffic liability” in the consolidated statement of financial position. Refundable and nonrefundable tickets expire after one year from the date of issuance. The Company performs a monthly liability evaluation using its historical experience with refundable and nonrefundable expired tickets and other facts, and a provision is recognized for tickets that are expected not to be used. A year after the sales is made, actual ticket breakage is removed from “Air Traffic liability” and recognized as revenue, and the provision is reversed.

Estimating the expected expiration tickets requires management’s judgment, among other things, the historical data and experience is an indication of future customer behavior.

Frequent flyer program. The Company’s frequent flyer program objective, is to reward customer loyalty. Members in this program earn miles for travel on Copa Airlines, Star Alliance partners’ airlines and also by purchasing the goods and services of the Company network of non-airline partners and co-branded credit cards. The miles or points earned can be exchanged for flights on Copa or any of other Star Alliance partners’ airlines.

Passenger revenue includes flights redeemed under our frequent flyer program. When a passenger elects to receive Copa’s frequent flyer miles in connection with a flight, the Company recognizes a portion of the tickets sale as revenue when the air transportation is provided and recognizes a deferred liability (Frequent flyer deferred revenue) for the portion of the ticket sale representing the value of the related miles as a separate performance obligation. To determine the amount of revenue to be deferred, the Company estimates and allocates the fair value of the miles that were essentially sold along with the airfare, based on a weighted average ticket value, which incorporates the expected redemption of miles including factors such as redemption pattern, cabin class and geographic region.

A statistical model that estimates the percentages of points that will not be redeemed before expiration is used to estimate breakage. The breakage and the fair value of the miles are reviewed at least annually, and any adjustments are reflected on a prospective basis to passenger revenues.

The Company calculates the short and long-term portion of the frequent flyer deferred revenue, using a model that includes estimates based on the members’ redemption rates projected by management due to clients’ behavior.

Currently, when a member of another carrier frequent flyer program redeems miles on Copa Airlines or Copa Colombia flights, those carriers pay to the Company a per mile rate. The rates paid by them depend on the class of service, the flight length and the availability of the reward, and is included in passenger revenues.

Ancillaries revenues. Are primarily composed of services performed in conjunction with a passenger’s flight, including administrative fees (such as ticket change fees), baggage fees, and other ticket-related fees. These ancillary fees are part of the travel performance obligation and, as such, are recognized as passenger revenue when the travel occurs.

Cargo and mail revenue. Cargo and mail revenue are recognized when the Company provides and completes the shipping services as requested by the client and the risks on the merchandise and goods are transferred.

Other operating revenue. Other operating revenue includes revenue associated with the marketing component of the frequent flyer program. This revenue is comprised of the marketing component of mileage sales to co-branded card, other partners and other marketing related payments.

The Company sells miles to non-airline businesses with which it has marketing agreements. The main contracts to sell miles are related to co-branded credit card relationships with major banks in the region. The Company determined the selling prices of miles according to a method which allocates consideration based upon the relative selling price of the deliverables. The relative selling price of the deliverables is determined based upon the estimated standalone selling prices of each deliverable in the arrangement and is allocated between the miles sold to the passenger (as described above) and the marketing elements. Revenue allocated to the performance obligations, related to marketing components, is recorded in other operating revenue when miles are delivered.

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The remaining amounts included within other revenue is related to lease income, advertising and vacation-related services.

Accounting for property and equipment

Property and equipment comprise mainly airframe, engines, and other related flight equipment. All property and equipment is stated at cost, net of accumulated depreciation and accumulated impairment losses, if any.

When a major maintenance inspection or overhaul cost is embedded in the initial purchase cost of an aircraft, the Company estimates the carrying amount of the component. These initial built-in maintenance assets are depreciated over the estimated time period until the first maintenance event is performed. The cost of major maintenance events completed after the aircraft acquisition are capitalized and depreciated over the estimated time period until the next major maintenance event. The remaining value of the previously capitalized component if any, is charged to expense upon completion of the subsequent maintenance event.

The Company recognizes the depreciation on a straight-line basis, which for some aircraft components is akin to depreciation based on use, over the estimated useful life of the assets. Depreciation is recognized in the consolidated statement of profit or loss from the date the property, and equipment is installed and ready for use.

An item of property and equipment and any significant part initially recognized is derecognized upon disposal or when no future economic benefits are expected from its use or disposal. Any gain or loss arising on derecognition of the asset (calculated as the difference between the net disposal proceeds and the carrying amount of the asset) is included in the statement of profit or loss when the asset is derecognized.

The costs of major maintenance events for leased aircraft are capitalized and depreciated over the shorter of the scheduled usage period to the next major inspection event or the remaining life of lease term (as appropriate) the remaining value of the previously capitalized maintenance or the right-of-use asset (“ROU”) component if any, is charged to expense upon completion of the subsequent maintenance event.

The residual values, useful life and methods of depreciation of property and equipment are reviewed at each financial year-end and adjusted prospectively, if appropriate.

Pre-delivery deposits refer to prepayments made based on the agreements entered into with the Boeing Company for the purchase of aircraft and include interest and other finance charges incurred during the manufacture of aircraft. Interest costs incurred on borrowings that fund progress payments on assets under construction, including pre-delivery deposits to acquire new aircraft, are capitalized and included as part of the cost of the assets through the earlier of the date of completion or aircraft delivery.

We evaluate annually whether there is an indication that our property, plant and equipment may be impaired. Factors that would indicate potential impairment may include, but are not limited to technological obsolescence, significant decreases in the market value of long-lived asset(s), a significant change in physical condition or useful life of long-lived asset(s) and operating or cash flow losses associated with the use of long-lived asset(s). In November 2019, the Company announced its decision to accelerate the exit of its Embraer 190 fleet and is initiated an active program to locate a buyer to sell the remaining 14 aircraft, spare engines, spare parts and inventory by 2020. The decision responds to the continued deterioration of the Embraer 190 fleet performance and the need to grow capacity in some markets aligned with the fleet optimization plan. This anticipated exit results in impairment losses of $89.3 million to write down the assets to the lower of its carrying amount and its fair value less cost to sell. To meet its capacity demands, the Company is evaluating entering into a short term leaseback of the Embraer fleet.

Goodwill. Goodwill is initially measured at cost, being the excess of the aggregate of the consideration transferred over the net identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed of the acquired subsidiary at the date of acquisition. After initial recognition, goodwill is measured at cost less any accumulated impairment losses. For the purpose of impairment testing, goodwill acquired in a business combination is, from the acquisition date, allocated to each of the Company’s Cash Generating Unit (CGU) or group of CGU’s that are expected to benefit from the combination, irrespective of whether other assets or liabilities of the acquiree are assigned to those units. When the recoverable amount of the CGU is less than its carrying amount, an impairment loss is recognized. The Company performed an annual impairment test.

Lease accounting. The Company enters into contracts for the use of the aircraft it operates and real estate which include, airport and terminal facilities, sales offices, maintenance facilities, and general offices. The Company assesses, based on the terms and conditions of the arrangements, whether the contract is, or contains, a lease. A contract is, or contains, a lease if the contract conveys the right to control the use of an identified asset for a period of time in exchange for consideration.

At the commencement date, the Company recognizes a ROU and a lease liability.

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The ROU is subsequently depreciated using the straight line method from the commencement date to the earlier of the end of the useful life of the ROU or component, or lease term. The estimated useful life of ROU is determined of the same basis of those property and equipment.

The lease liability, is initially measured at the present value of the lease payments that are not paid at that date, discounted using the interest rate implicit in the lease, if that rate can be readily determined or the lessee’s incremental borrowing rate.

For leases under IFRS 16 the Company recognizes a provision to estimate the costs for work required to be performed just before the redelivery of the aircraft to the lessors and which does not depend of the aircraft utilization, this provision is booked as a dismantling provision cost under “long term liabilities” in the consolidated statement of financial position.

The lease liability is subsequent measured at amortized cost using the effective interest method. It is remeasured when there is a change in future lease payments arising from a change in an index or a rate, if there a change in the Company’s estimated amount expected to be payable under a residual value guarantee or if the Company changes its assessment of whether it will exercise a purchase, extension or termination option.

Lease accounting is critical for us because it requires an extensive analysis of the lease agreements in order to classify and measure the transactions in our financial statements and significantly impacts our financial position and results of operations. Changes in the terms of our outstanding lease agreements and the terms of future lease agreements may impact the accounting for the lease transactions and our future financial position and results of operations.

Provision for return condition

The Company records a provision to accrue for the cost that will be incurred in order to return the lease aircraft to their lessor in the agreed-upon condition, excluded estimated dismantling costs not based on utilization of the aircraft which are included in the ROU asset and long term liabilities. The methodology applied to calculate the provision requires management to make assumptions, including the future maintenance costs, discount rate, related inflation rates and aircraft utilization. The cash flows are discounted at a current pre-tax rate that reflects the risks specific to the decommissioning. Any difference in the actual maintenance cost incurred and the amount of the provision is recorded under “Maintenance, materials and repairs” in the consolidated statement of profit or loss. The effect of any changes in estimates, including those mentioned above, is also recognized under “Maintenance, materials and repairs” for the period.

Deferred taxes. Deferred taxes are recognized for tax losses, tax credits, and temporary differences between tax bases and carrying amounts for financial reporting purposes of our assets and liabilities. Recognition and measurement of deferred taxes is a critical accounting policy for us because it requires a number of assumptions and is based on our best estimate of our projections related to future taxable profit. In addition, because the preparation of our business plan is subject to a variety of market conditions, the results of our operations may vary significantly from our projections and as such, the amounts recorded as deferred tax assets may be impacted significantly in the future.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

The standards and interpretations that are issued, but not yet effective, up to date of issuance of the Company’s financial statements are disclosed below. The Company intends to adopt these standards, if applicable, when they become effective.

Effective from January 1, 2019, we were required to adopt the new accounting standard IFRS 16 Leases (“IFRS 16”). As a result, the Company has changed its accounting policy for lease contracts. IFRS 16 supersedes IAS 17 Leases, IFRIC 4 Determining whether an arrangement contains a lease, SIC-15 operating leases-incentives, and SIC-27 Evaluating the substance of transactions involving the legal form of a lease. The standard sets out the principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of leases and requires lessees to recognize most leases on the statement of financial position.

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For a discussion of these improvements to IFRS, see note 6 to our annual consolidated financial statements.

Results of Operation

The following table shows each of the line items in our statement of profit or loss for the periods indicated as a percentage of our total operating revenues for that period:

Year 2019 Compared to Year 2018

Our consolidated net profit in 2019 totaled $247.0 million, a 180.1% increase from net profit of $88.2 million in 2018. In addition, we had consolidated operating profit of $346.2 million in 2019, a 116.9% increase over operating profit of $159.6 million in 2018. Our consolidated operating margin in 2019 was 12.8%, an increase of 6.8 percentage points versus 2018. This results include a non-cash loss of $89.3 million in 2019 and $188.6 million in 2018 related to an impairment of non-financial assets due to the sale of our Embraer fleet.

Operating revenue

Our consolidated revenue totaled $2.7 billion in 2019, a 1.1% increase over operating revenue of $2.7 billion in 2018, mainly due to an increase of 1.0% in passenger revenue. This was driven by a 1.7% increase in passenger traffic partially offset by a 0.7% decrease in passenger average fare compared to 2018.

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Passenger revenue. Passenger revenue totaled $2.6 billion in 2019, a 1.0% increase over passenger revenue of $2.6 billion in 2018. This was driven by a 1.7% increase in passenger traffic, partially offset by a decrease of 0.7% in passenger average fare compared to 2018.

Cargo and mail revenue. Cargo and mail revenue totaled $62.5 million in 2019, a minor difference from cargo and mail revenue of $62.5 million in 2018, reflecting a decrease in capacity, that was offset by a higher average fare per kilo.

Other operating revenue. Other operating revenue totaled $32.3 million in 2019, a 16.5% increase from other revenue of $27.8 million in 2018 driven by an increase in frequent flyer program partnership revenues. Other operating revenue includes revenue associated with the marketing component of the frequent flyer program.

Operating expenses

Our consolidated operating expenses totaled $2.4 billion in 2019, a 6.2% decrease over operating expenses of $2.5 billion in 2018. This resulted mainly from a decrease in fuel and depreciation expenses.

An overview of the major variances in operating expenses on a consolidated basis follows:

Fuel. Aircraft fuel totaled $696.2 million in 2019, a 9.1% decrease from aircraft fuel of $765.8 million in 2018, mainly due to a 7.2% lower effective fuel price and a 2.9% decrease in block hours.

Wages, salaries and other employees’ expenses. Salaries and benefits totaled $450.4 million in 2019, a 1.6% increase over salaries and benefits of $443.3 million in 2018, mainly driven by the full year effect of inflationary salary adjustments, offset by headcount efficiencies and currency effect.

Passenger servicing. Passenger servicing totaled $102.1 million in 2019 compared to $104.3 million in 2018. This represented a 2.1% decrease driven by a lower effective rate per passenger.

Airport facilities and handling charges. Airport facilities and handling charges totaled $182.0 million in 2019, a 2.4% decrease over $186.4 million in 2018. This decrease was driven mainly by a 0.5% decrease in departures and lower effective rates related to airport services in North America.

Sales and Distribution. Sales and distribution totaled $210.6 million in 2019, a 0.2% increase compared to $210.2 million in 2018, due to 1.0% higher passenger revenue, offset by lower commission rates.

Maintenance, materials and repairs. Maintenance, materials and repairs totaled $127.6 million in 2019, a 15.2% increase over maintenance, materials and repairs of $110.7 million in 2018. This increase was primarily a result of landing gear and APU maintenance events which are expensed as incurred.

Depreciation, amortization and impairment. Depreciation totaled $371.4 million in 2019, a 20.2% decrease over $465.2 million in 2018, mainly due to a non-recurring impairment charge related to the Embraer fleet in 2018.

Flight operations. Flight operations amounted to $102.8 million in 2019, a 5.2% decrease compared to $108.4 million in 2018, mainly due to 2.9% less block hours and lower overflight rates.

Other operating and administrative expenses. Other expenses totaled $118.1 million in 2019, a 4.6% decrease from $123.7 million in 2018, mainly due to less overhead expenses.

Total Non-operating Income (Expense)

Non-operating expense totaled $52.7 million in 2019, as compared to non-operating expense of $36.8 million in 2018 mainly due to a translational loss in foreign exchange rates and an increase in finance cost.

Finance cost. Finance cost totaled $57.4 million in 2019, an 13.0% increase over finance cost of $50.8 million in 2018, mainly as a result of a higher average debt balance with higher interest rates, and higher factoring flows.

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Finance income. Finance income totaled $24.4 million in 2019, a 3.3% increase over finance income of $23.6 million in 2018 mainly due to higher interest rates offset by a decrease in investments in 2019.

Other non-operating income (expense). Other non-operating expense totaled $4.3 million in 2019, compared to $0.2 million in 2018 mainly due to Embraer sales related expenses.

B. Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments at December 31, 2019 increased by $128.8 million, to $851.1 million. As part of our financing policy, we expect to continue to finance our liquidity needs with cash from operations. We forecast our cash requirements weekly. As of the date hereof, our current unrestricted cash exceeds our forecasted cash requirements to carry out operations, including payment of debt service for fiscal year 2019.

Our cash, cash equivalent and short-term investment position represented 31.4% of our revenues for the year ended December 31, 2019; 19.6% of our total assets and 44.0% of our total equity as of December 31, 2019, which we believe provides us with a strong liquidity position.

In recent years, we have been able to meet our working capital requirements through cash from our operations. Our capital expenditures, which consist primarily of aircraft purchases, are funded through a combination of our cash from operations and long-term financing. From time to time, we finance pre-delivery payments related to our aircraft with short or medium-term financing in the form of commercial bank loans and/or bonds privately placed with commercial banks. In our opinion, the Company’s working capital is sufficient for the Company’s present requirements.

Copa Holdings, S.A., through its subsidiaries, has short term unsecured credit facilities with financial institutions in the aggregate amount of $305.0 million. These lines of credit have been put in place to finance aircraft delivery pre-delivery payments and for working capital purposes. As of December 31, 2019, we had no outstanding borrowings under these credit lines, while as of December 31, 2018 we had outstanding borrowings of $140.0 million under these credit lines.

Operating Activities

We rely primarily on cash flows from operations to provide working capital for current and future operations. Net cash flows provided by operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2019 were $784.9 million, an increase of $241.9 million over the $543.0 million in 2018. Our principal source of cash is receipts from ticket sales to customers, which for the year ended December 31, 2019 increased by $61.0 million over receipts in the year 2018.

Investing Activities

Net cash flow used in investing activities was $192.9 million in 2019 compared to a net cash flow used in investing activities of $149.6 million in 2018. During 2019, we made capital expenditures of $29.5 million, which consisted of expenditures related to the net of acquisition of property and equipment, reimbursements of advance payments on aircraft purchase contracts, and proceeds from sale of property equipment, compared to $33.7 million in 2018. In 2019, the Company used $121.4 million in acquisition and redemption from investments compared to $63.7 million in 2018. Also, in 2019 we had advance payments on aircraft purchase contracts of $75.4 million compared to $216.7 million in 2018, and $25.5 million in acquisition of intangible assets compared to $30.2 million in 2018.

Financing Activities

Net cash flow used in financing activities were $545.3 million in 2019 compared to net cash flows used in financing activities of $430.2 million in 2018. During 2019, $95.0 million of proceeds from borrowings were offset by the repayment of $426.8 million in debt, $110.4 million in dividends paid and $103.1 million in payment of lease liability. During 2018, $225.0 million of proceeds from financing were offset by the repayment of $401.3 million in debt, $147.6 million in dividends declared and $106.3 million in payment of lease liability.

Over the years, we have financed the acquisition of 40 Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft through syndicated loans provided by international financial institutions with the support of partial guarantees issued by the Export-Import Bank of the United States, or “Ex-Im”, with repayment profiles of 12 years. The Ex-Im guarantees support 80% of the net purchase price and are secured with a first priority mortgage on the aircraft in favor of a security trustee on behalf of Ex-Im. The documentation for each loan follows standard

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market forms for this type of financing, including standard events of default. Our Ex-Im supported financings amortize on a quarterly basis, are denominated in dollars and originally bear interest at a floating rate linked to LIBOR. Our Ex-Im guarantee facilities typically offer an option to fix the applicable interest rate. We have exercised this option with respect to $128.1 million as of December 31, 2019 at an average weighted interest rate of 3.02%, $98.5 million bears interest at a floating weighted average interest rate of 2.10% representing a spread of 20 bps over the 3 month LIBOR as of December 31, 2019. At December 31, 2019, the total amount outstanding under our Ex-Im-supported financings totaled $226.6 million.

Since 2014, we have financed our aircraft through a mix of Japanese Operating Leases with Call Options, or “JOLCO”, and sale-leasebacks.

JOLCO is a Japanese-sourced lease transaction that provides for 100% financing, and is typically used to finance new aircraft and has a minimum lease term of 10 years. In a JOLCO, the aircraft is purchased by a Japanese equity investor. The Japanese equity investor funds approximately 30% of the acquisition cost of the aircraft and becomes the owner of the aircraft via a Special Purpose Entity. An international bank with on-shore lending capabilities provides the balance of the aircraft purchase price via a senior secured mortgage loan. JOLCOs have a call option, which lessees often expect the lessor to exercise. Under IFRS, these transactions are accounted for as financings. We have financed 19 Boeing 737 Next Generation and 737 MAX aircraft since 2014 through JOLCO financing. As of December 31, 2019 JOLCO financed debt outstanding was $828.8 million.

We complied with all required covenants in 2018 and 2019.

Capital resources. We finance our aircraft through long-term debt and operating lease financings. Although we expect to finance future aircraft deliveries with a combination of similar debt arrangements and financing leases, we may not be able to secure such financing on attractive terms. To the extent we cannot secure financing, we may be required to modify our aircraft acquisition plans or incur higher than anticipated financing costs. We expect to meet our operating obligations as they become due through available cash and internally generated funds, supplemented as necessary by short-term or medium term credit lines.

As of December 31, 2019, the Company had one purchase contract with Boeing which entails 65 firm orders of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, agreed to be delivered between 2020 and 2025. The aircraft under this contract have an approximate value of $3.1 billion based on contractual obligations net of discounts and pre-delivery payments, including estimated amounts for contractual price escalation.

We meet our pre-delivery deposit requirements for our Boeing 737 aircraft by using cash from operations, or by using short or medium-term borrowing facilities and/or vendor financing for deposits required between three years and six months prior to delivery.

The Company maintained letters of credit with several banks with a value of $25.8 million as of December 31, 2019 ($25.9 million as of December 31, 2018). These letters of credit are pledged mainly for operating lessors, maintenance providers and airport operators.

The Company, has short term unsecured credit facilities with financial institutions in the aggregate amount of $305.0 million. These lines of credit have been put in place to pre-delivery payments and for working capital purposes. As of December 31, 2019, we had no outstanding borrowings under these credit lines (2018: $140.0 million).

C. Research and Development, Patents and Licenses, etc.

We believe that the Copa brand has strong value and indicates superior service and value in the Latin American travel industry. We have registered the trademarks “Copa”, “Copa Airlines”, “Wingo” and “Hub of the Americas” with the trademark offices in Panama, the United States, and the majority of the countries in which we operate. We license certain brands, logos and trade uniforms under the trademark license agreement with UAL related to our alliance. We will have the right to continue to use our current logos on our aircraft for up to five years after the end of the alliance agreement term. “Copa Colombia”, “Copa Airlines Colombia”, “Wingo” and “Hub of the Americas” are registered names and trademarks in Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Venezuela, Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Guatemala.

We operate many software products under licenses from our vendors, including our passenger services system, booking engine, revenue management software and our cargo management system. Under our agreements with Boeing, we also use a large amount of Boeing’s proprietary information to maintain our aircraft. The loss of these software systems or technical support information from our vendors could negatively affect our business.

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D. Trend Information

Since the second quarter of 2019, and continuing until the end of the year, we have been able to deliver continuous year over year yield improvement, resulting in a significant unit revenue expansion, mainly due to a more stable macro-economic environment in the region, especially in Brazil.

We intend to continue developing initiatives to improve our operational efficiency and performance, including a continued focus on maintaining our industry leading on-time performance and completion factor.

Wingo had a successful 2019 both operationally and financially. It achieved profitability in Colombia earlier than planned and was recognized as the Best Budget Carrier in Latin America according to Kayak users, for the second consecutive year. In 2020, Wingo will significantly increase its capacity by transitioning its fleet from four B737-700 to four B737-800 with 44 additional seats per aircraft. With this, Wingo expects to improve both its unit costs and profitability. Additionally, in the second half of 2020, Wingo will receive a fifth aircraft, also a B737-800, which will most likely be based in Panama.

E. Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We have no off-balance sheet arrangements.

F. Tabular Disclosure of Contractual Obligations

Our non-cancelable contractual obligations at December 31, 2019 included the following:

Most contract leases include renewal options. Non-aircraft related leases have renewable terms of one year, and their respective amounts included in the table above have been estimated through 2019, but we cannot estimate amounts with respect to those leases for later years. Our leases do not include residual value guarantees.

G. Safe harbor

 Not applicable.

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Item 6. Directors, senior management and employees

A. Directors and Senior Management

Currently, our Board of Directors is comprised of eleven members. The number of directors elected each year varies. Messrs. Stanley Motta, Jaime Arias, Jose Castañeda and Josh Connor were re-elected as directors for two-year terms at our annual shareholders’ meeting held in 2019. Messrs. Pedro Heilbron, Ricardo A. Arias, Alvaro Heilbron, Carlos A. Motta, John Gebo, Roberto Artavia and Andrew Levy were each re-elected for two-year terms at our annual shareholders’ meeting held in 2018. Mr. Roberto Artavia tendered his resignation as director of the Company in August 2019 and Mrs. Julianne Canavaggio was elected as director to fill the vacancy.

The following table sets forth the name, age and position of each member of our Board of Directors as of February 29, 2020. A brief biographical description of each member of our Board of Directors follows the table:

Mr. Pedro Heilbron. See “—Executive Officers”.

Mr. Stanley Motta has been one of the directors of Copa Airlines since 1986 and a director of Copa Holdings since it was established in 1998. Since 1990, he has served as the President of Motta Internacional, S.A. an international importer and distributor of consumer goods. Mr. Motta is father of Mr. Carlos A. Motta. He serves on the boards of directors of Motta Internacional, S.A., BG Financial Group, S.A., ASSA Compañía de Seguros, S.A., Televisora Nacional, S.A., Inversiones Bahía, Ltd. and GBM Corporation. Mr. Motta is a graduate of Tulane University.

Mr. Alvaro Heilbron was elected as director of Copa Holdings in 2012. Mr. Heilbron is the brother of Mr. Pedro Heilbron, our chief executive officer. Mr. Heilbron is Co-Founder and Executive Director at Editora del Caribe, S.A. He serves on the board of Grupo PTM Panama, S.A., Gold Mills de Panama, S.A., Calox Panameña, S.A., Inversiones Haripasa and he is a member of Babson College’s Global Advisory Board. Mr. Heilbron holds a BS in Business Administration from George Washington University, and a Post-Graduate degree in Management from INCAE Business School. Mr. Heilbron also served as Vice-President of Commercial for Copa Airlines between the years of 1988 and 1999.

Mr. Jaime Arias has been one of the directors of Copa Airlines since 1983 and a director of Copa Holdings since it was established in 1998. He is a founding partner of Galindo, Arias & Lopez. Mr. Arias holds a BA from Yale University, a JD from Tulane University and completed legal studies at the University of Paris, Sorbonne. He serves on the boards of directors of Televisora Nacional, S.A., ASSA Compañía de Seguros, S.A., Empresa General de Inversiones, S.A., Petroleos Delta, S.A., BAC International Bank, Inc., Direct Vision, S.A. and Promed, S.A.

Mr. Ricardo Arias has been one of the directors of Copa Airlines since 1985 and a director of Copa Holdings since it was established in 1998. He is a founding partner of Galindo, Arias & Lopez. Mr. Arias is the former Panamanian ambassador to the United Nations. Mr. Arias holds a BA in international relations from Georgetown University, an LL.B. from the University of Puerto Rico and an LL.M. from Yale Law School. He serves on the boards of directors of Banco General, S.A. and Empresa General de Inversiones, S.A., which is the holding company that owns Banco General, S.A. Mr. Arias is also listed as a principal or alternate director of several subsidiary companies of Banco General, S.A. and Empresa General de Inversiones, S.A. Mr. Arias is a former Director and President of the Panamanian Stock Exchange.

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Mr. Carlos A. Motta was elected as a director of Copa Holdings in 2014. He has held several positions within Motta Internacional, S.A. and is currently a director and part of the executive committee. He is the son of Mr. Stanley Motta. Mr. Motta serves on the board of Inversiones Bahia, Copa Holdings, ASSA Compañía de Seguros, S.A, Banco General, Motco Inc., Fundación Alberto C. Motta, IFF Panama (Panama Film Festival), and Junior Achievement Worldwide among others. Mr Motta is a member of YPO (Young Presidents Organization); AGLN (The Aspen Global Leadership Network); CEAL (Consejo Empresarial de America Latina). Mr. Motta received a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Boston College and an MBA from Thunderbird (The American Graduate School of International Management).

Mr. John Gebo was elected as a director of Copa Holdings in 2015. He is Senior Vice President of Alliances for United Airlines. Prior to his current position, Mr. Gebo was United’s Senior Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis. Mr. Gebo joined United in 2000, and has held positions of increasing responsibility in finance, investor relations, and alliances. Prior to joining United, Mr. Gebo worked at General Motors Corporation in manufacturing engineering. Mr. Gebo received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas and his master’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan. Mr. Gebo is also a current member of the board of directors of Azul S.A. and served for eight years on the board of directors of Alliant Credit Union, one of the largest credit unions in the United States, last serving as Vice Chairman in 2018.

Mr. Jose Castañeda Velez is one of the independent directors of Copa Holdings. He is currently a director on the boards of

MMG Bank Corporation and MMG Trust S.A. Previously, Mr. Castañeda Velez was the chief executive officer of Banco Latinoamericano de Exportaciones, S.A.—BLADEX and has held managerial and officer level positions at Banco Río de la Plata, Citibank, N.A., Banco de Credito del Peru and Crocker National Bank. He is a graduate of the University of Lima.

Mr. Andrew Levy is one of the independent directors of Copa Holdings. He is currently Chairman of Audit Committee and Independent Director Committees. CEO of Houston Air Holdings, Inc, owner of a small passenger charger airline in the US. Previously, he served as CFO of UAL. He also served as President, Chief Operating Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Allegiant Travel Company. He joined Allegiant in early 2001, and during his tenure, his executive responsibilities included strategy, planning, finance, commercial, people and operations. Mr. Levy became President in 2009, served as Chief Financial Officer from 2007 to 2010, and was its Treasurer from 2001 through 2010. Mr. Levy started his airline career in 1994 at ValuJet Airlines, Inc. and then joined Savoy Capital, an investment, banking and advisory firm specializing in the airline industry in 1996. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from Emory University School of Law and a BA degree in Economics from Washington University in St. Louis.

Mr. Josh Connor is one of the independent directors of Copa Holdings. He is the founding partner of the investment firm Connor Capital. He was a Managing Director and the Head of the Industrials Banking Group at Barclays until July 2015, and was a member of the firm’s Operating Committee. Prior to joining Barclays in 2011, he was with Morgan Stanley for 15 years and was the Co-Head of Morgan Stanley’s Transportation & Infrastructure Investment Banking Group, a member of the firm’s Investment Banking Management Committee, and was on the Board of Trustees for the Morgan Stanley Foundation. He has a BA degree in Economics from Williams College, is on the Board of Directors of Frontier Airlines, is a strategic adviser to Oaktree Capital Management’s Infrastructure Fund, and is a Trustee of Laguna Blanca School.

Mrs. Julianne Canavaggio was elected as an independent director of Copa Holdings in 2019. She is a Managing Director and Head of Central America and the Caribbean for Lazard, responsible for Lazard’s financial advisory division in this geography. Ms. Canavaggio joined Lazard in 2014, and has held positions of increasing responsibility. Prior to joining Lazard, Julianne established a successful legal career in mergers and acquisitions across a variety of industries. Ms. Canavaggio currently serves on the board of directors of a Sustainable Luxury^® real estate development company, as well as two private investment vehicles. She has previously served on the board of directors of a conglomerate of wholesale distribution operations for fragrances, cosmetics and skin care products, as well as a Panamanian chain of department stores in the mid-high range, and a general license bank authorized to operate in Panama in the banking and trust business (fiduciaries). Ms. Canavaggio holds a BA from Harvard University and a JD from Tulane University.

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The following table sets forth the name, age and position of each of our executive officers as of February 29, 2020. A brief biographical description of each of our executive officers follows the table.

Mr. Pedro Heilbron has been our Chief Executive Officer since 1988. He received an MBA from George Washington University and a BA from College of the Holy Cross. Mr. Heilbron is the brother of Mr. Alvaro Heilbron, a member of our Board of Directors.

Mr. Jose Montero has been our Chief Financial Officer since March 2013. He started his career with Copa Airlines in 1993 and has held various technical, supervisory, and management positions including Manager of Flight Operations, Director of System Operations Control Center (SOCC), and, between 2004 and 2013, Director of Strategic Planning. He has a BS in Aeronautical Studies from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and an MBA from Cornell University.

Mr. Daniel Gunn has been our Senior Vice-President of Operations since February 2009. Prior to this Mr. Gunn had served as Vice-President of Commercial and Planning and Vice-President of Planning and Alliances. Prior to joining Copa in 1999, he spent five years with American Airlines holding positions in Finance, Real Estate and Alliances. Mr. Gunn received a BA in Business & Economics from Wheaton College and an MBA from the University of Southern California.

Mr. Dennis Cary has been our Senior Vice-President of Commercial and Planning, since April 2015. Prior to joining Copa Airlines, Mr. Cary held Senior Vice-President position in various industries, including aviation. Mr. Cary served as Senior Vice-President, Chief Marketing and Customer Officer at United Airlines, and several other top management positions in United Airlines and American Airlines. Mr. Cary graduated from California State University, Northridge with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Sciences and holds an MBA from Duke University.

Mr. Peter Donkersloot joined Copa Airlines in August 2019 and has served as Vice President of Human Resources since January 2020. Mr. Donkersloot has over fifteen years working experience holding key positions in five different countries (Jamaica, Panama, Peru, El Salvador and Guatemala). His experience ranges in Commercial Operations, Logistics, Risk Assessment, Strategic Planning and General Management. He holds a Global MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management along with professional qualifications in Industrial Engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM).

Mr. Julio Toro has been our Vice-President of Technology since October 2015. He joined Copa in May 2011 as Director of the Project Management Office. Before joining Copa, he served as Operations Manager and Vice-President of Information Systems for Cable & Wireless Panama. He received a BS in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University, a Master in Renewable Energy from Universidad Tecnológica, and an MBA jointly issued by New York University Stern School of Business, London School of Economics and Political Science, and HEC Paris School of Management.

Captain Bolivar Dominguez G. has been our Vice President of Flight Operations since December 2017. He began his career with Copa Airlines in 2000 as a Copilot in the Boeing 737-200, and throughout his career within the Company, he has held roles of increased responsibility, such as Head of Training on the Embraer fleet, Director of System Operations Control Center (SOCC), and most recently Chief Pilot. Bolivar is also a member since 2019 of the IATA Safety, Flight and Ground Operations Advisory Council (SFGOAC), responsible to act as advisor to the Board of Governors and the Director General of IATA on all matters connected with the improvement of safety and efficiency of civil air transport, ground operations and baggage. Bolivar holds an Airline Transport Pilot License, with Type Ratings on the Boeing 727, Embraer 190, and Boeing 737, and received a BS in Industrial Engineering from Universidad Latina and a MBA from the University of Louisville.

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Mr. Timothy Manoles has been our Loyalty Vice-President since October 2016. Prior to joining Copa, he was a senior Partner, Vice President for The Lacek Group, a specialty loyalty marketing agency of Ogilvy and Mather. He has over 30 years of experience in loyalty marketing having led engagements and helped devise, negotiate and manage strategic alliances with a variety of recognized category leaders, including Northwest Airlines, Delta Airlines, US Bank, Polo Ralph Lauren, American Express Travel, Disney, Cox Communications, Swissôtel, American Family Insurance, Foundation Health Systems, American Family Insurance, and Ford Motor Company. He holds a degree in economics from Westmont College, California, and in management information systems from the University of Minnesota.

Mr. Christophe Didier has been our Vice-President of Sales since September 2016. Prior to joining Copa Airlines, Mr. Didier held several sales and marketing positions in the airline industry since 1990, including Air France, Delta Air Lines and Etihad Airways, based in Europe and the Americas. He served as Delta’s Vice-President for Latin America and the Caribbean during Delta’s significant expansion in the region, merger with Northwest Airlines and Transatlantic joint venture implementation with Air France / KLM and equity investment in Gol and Aeromexico. Mr. Didier, a French and Brazilian National, holds a Master in Management from ESCP Europe business school based in Paris and speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese and French.

Mr. Christopher Amenechi has been our Vice-President of Pricing and Revenue Management since May 2016. Prior to joining Copa, Mr. Amenechi was Vice-President of Revenue Management and Porter Escapes at Porter Airlines in Toronto, Canada. He also served as Vice President of E-Commerce and Merchandising at United Airlines where he held several top management positions over a 20-year career. Mr. Amenechi graduated from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach with a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering and a Masters in Aviation Management.

Mr. Eduardo Lombana joined the Company in May 2005 as Chief Operating Officer and was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Copa Colombia as of February 2012. He served three years at Avianca as Vice-President of Network, responsible for revenue management, network planning and revenue accounting during the company’s bankruptcy turn over. Prior to that, he served as VicePresident of Flight Operations for ACES before it merged with Avianca. Mr. Lombana holds a BS in Aviation Technology and an AS in Aviation Maintenance Technology from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.

The business address for all of our senior management is c/o Copa Airlines, Avenida Principal y Avenida de la Rotonda, Urbanización Costa del Este, Complejo Business Park, Torre Norte, Parque Lefevre Panama City, Panama.

B. Compensation

In 2019, we paid an aggregate of approximately $5.0 million in cash compensation to our executive officers. In addition, members of committees of the Board of Directors receive additional compensation per committee meeting. All of the members of our Board of Directors and their spouses receive benefits to travel on Copa flights as well.

Incentive Compensation Program

In 2005, the Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors eliminated the then-existing Long Term Retention Plan and approved a one-time non-vested stock bonus award program for certain executive officers or the “Stock Incentive Plan”. Non-vested stock delivered under the Stock Incentive Plan may be sourced from treasury stock or authorized un-issued shares. In accordance with this program, the Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors had granted restricted stock awards to our senior management and to certain named executive officers and key employees. Normally, these shares vest over three to five years in yearly installments equal to one-third of the awarded stock on each anniversary of the grant date, 100% of the awarded stock at the third anniversary of the grant date or in yearly installments equal to 15% of the awarded stock on each of the first three anniversaries of the grant date, 25% on the fourth anniversary and 30% on the fifth anniversary.

The following table shows shares granted

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The Compensation Committee plans to make additional equity-based awards under the plan from time to time, including additional non-vested stock and stock option awards. While the Compensation Committee will retain discretion to vary the exact terms of future awards, we anticipate that future employee non-vested stock and stock option awards granted pursuant to the plan will generally vest over a three-year period and the stock options will carry a ten-year term.

The total compensation cost recognized for non-vested stock and options awards amounts to $6.1 million, $7.1 million, and $7.4 million in 2019, 2018, and 2017, respectively, and was recorded as a component of “Wages, salaries, benefits and other employees’ expenses” within operating expenses.

During the first quarter of 2020, the Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors approved two awards. Awards under these plans will grant approximately 50,381 shares of non-vested stock, which will vest over a period of three years. The Company estimates the fair value of these awards to be approximately $5.4 million and the 2020 compensation cost for these plans will be $2.5 million.

Please also see “Item 6D. Employees” for a description of the bonus plan implemented by the Company.

C. Board Practices

Our Board of Directors currently meets quarterly. Additionally, informal meetings with UAL are held on an ongoing basis, and are supported by annual formal meetings of an “Alliance Steering Committee”, which directs and reports on the progress of the Copa and UAL Alliance. Our Board of Directors is focused on providing our overall strategic direction and as a result is responsible for establishing our general business policies and for appointing our executive officers and supervising their management.

Currently, our Board of Directors is comprised of eleven members. The number of directors elected each year varies. Messrs. Stanley Motta, Jose Castañeda, Jaime Arias and Josh Connor were re-elected as directors for two-year terms at our annual shareholders’ meeting held in 2019. Messrs. Pedro Heilbron, Ricardo A. Arias, Alvaro Heilbron, Carlos A. Motta, John Gebo, Roberto Artavia and Andrew Levy were each re-elected for two-year terms at our annual shareholders’ meeting held in 2018. Mr. Roberto Artavia tendered his resignation as director of the Company in August 2019 and Mrs. Julianne Canavaggio was elected as director to fill the vacancy.

Pursuant to contractual arrangements with us and CIASA, UAL is entitled to designate one of our directors. Currently, Mr. John Gebo is the UAL-appointed director.

None of our Directors has entered into any service contract with the Company or its subsidiaries.

Committees of the Board of Directors

Audit Committee. The primary function of the Audit Committee is to assist the Board of Directors in fulfilling its oversight

responsibilities by reviewing:

The Audit Committee is also responsible for implementing procedures for receiving, retaining and addressing complaints regarding accounting, internal control and auditing matters, including the submission of confidential, anonymous complaints from employees regarding questionable accounting or auditing matters.

Mrs. Julianne Canavaggio and Messrs. Jose Castañeda, Josh Connor, and Andrew Levy, all independent non-executive directors under the applicable rules of the New York Stock Exchange, are the current members of the committee. The Committee’s chairman is Mr. Andrew Levy. All members are financially literate. Messrs. Castañeda, Connor, and Levy have been determined to be financial experts by the Board of Directors.

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Compensation Committee. Our Compensation Committee is responsible for the selection process of the Chief Executive Officer and the evaluation of all executive officers (including the CEO), recommending the level of compensation and any associated bonus. The charter of our Compensation Committee requires that all its members shall be non-executive directors, of which at least one member will be an independent director under the applicable rules of the New York Stock Exchange. Messrs. Stanley Motta, Jaime Arias and Jose Castañeda are the members of our Compensation Committee, and Mr. Stanley Motta is the Chairman of the Compensation Committee.

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is responsible for developing and recommending criteria for selecting new directors, overseeing evaluations of the Board of Directors, its members and committees of the Board of Directors and handling other matters that are specifically delegated to the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee by the Board of Directors from time to time. Our charter documents require that there be at least one independent member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee until the first shareholders’ meeting to elect directors after such time as the Class A shares are entitled to full voting rights. Messrs. Carlos Alberto Motta, Alvaro Heilbron, and José Castañeda are the members of our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, and Mr. Carlos Alberto Motta is the Chairman of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

Independent Directors Committee. Our Independent Directors Committee is created by our Articles of Incorporation and consists of any directors that the Board of Directors determines from time to time meet the independence requirements of the NYSE rules applicable to audit committee members of foreign private issuers. Our Articles of Incorporation provide that there will be no fewer than three independent directors at all times, subject to certain exceptions. Under our Articles of Incorporation, the Independent Directors Committee must approve:

The Independent Directors Committee shall also have any other powers expressly delegated by the Board of Directors. Under the Articles of Incorporation, these powers can only be changed by the Board of Directors acting as a whole upon the written recommendation of the Independent Directors Committee. The Independent Directors Committee will only meet regularly until the first shareholders’ meeting at which the Class A shareholders will be entitled to vote for the election of directors and afterwards at any time that Class C shares are outstanding. All decisions of the Independent Directors Committee shall be made by a majority of the members of the committee. See “Item 10B. Memorandum and Articles of Association—Description of Capital Stock”.

Mrs. Julianne Canavaggio and Messrs. Jose Castañeda, Josh Connor, and Andrew Levy, are independent non-executive directors under the applicable rules of the New York Stock Exchange, are the current members of the committee.

D. Employees

We believe that our growth potential and the achievement of our results-oriented corporate goals are directly linked to our ability to attract, motivate and maintain the best professionals available in the airline business. In order to help retain our employees, we encourage open communication channels between our employees and management. Our CEO meets quarterly with all of our Copa employees in Panama in town hall-style meetings during which he explains the Company’s performance and encourages feedback from attendees. A similar presentation is made by our senior executives at each of our foreign stations. Our compensation strategy reinforces our determination to retain talented and highly motivated employees and is designed to align the interests of our employees with our shareholders through profit-sharing.

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Approximately 78.5% of the Company’s employees are located in Panama, while the remaining 21.5% are distributed among our foreign stations. Copa’s employees can be categorized as follows: