FedEx Corporation: 10-K Risk Factor Changes

This section from the 2024 filing does not have a high-confidence textual match in the 2025 filing. It may have been removed, merged, or substantially reworded.

Noise: Pursuant to the Federal Aviation Act, the FAA, with the assistance of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), is authorized to establish standards governing aircraft noise. Federal Express’s aircraft fleet is in compliance with current FAA noise standards.…

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Noise: Pursuant to the Federal Aviation Act, the FAA, with the assistance of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), is authorized to establish standards governing aircraft noise. Federal Express’s aircraft fleet is in compliance with current FAA noise standards. Although the Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 established a National Noise Policy that enables certain airport operators to implement noise abatement programs, it created an opportunity for Federal Express to plan for noise reduction and better respond to local noise constraints. Additionally, certain U.S. airport operators have implemented local noise regulations, and certain foreign jurisdictions impose noise-based limitations on airline operations. Neither the National Noise Policy nor any domestic or foreign local noise regulations have a material effect in any of Federal Express’s significant markets.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Concern over climate change, including the effect of global warming, has led to significant U.S. and international legislative and regulatory efforts to limit greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions, including our aircraft and vehicle engine emissions. Increasingly, state and local governments are also considering GHG regulatory requirements. Compliance with such regulation and the associated potential cost is complicated by the fact that various countries and regions are following different approaches to the regulation of climate change. In 2016, the International Civil Aviation Organization (“ICAO”) formally adopted a global, market-based emissions offset program known as the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (“CORSIA”). This program established a goal for the aviation industry to achieve carbon neutral growth in international aviation beginning in calendar 2021. Any growth above a global industry emissions baseline would need to be addressed using either eligible carbon offset credits or qualifying sustainable aviation fuel purchases. The baseline was originally set as an average of calendar 2019 and calendar 2020 emissions. In 2023, due to the effects of COVID-19 on the airline industry, the ICAO adopted a new baseline of 85% of calendar 2019 emissions. The U.S. has not fully implemented CORSIA to date. In the interim, we continue to voluntarily report our emissions data to the FAA.

Other ICAO member states are moving forward with implementing CORSIA and have taken additional action to reduce aircraft GHG emissions. For example, both the EU and the United Kingdom have implemented regulations to include aviation in the Emissions Trading Scheme (“ETS”). For the EU, under these regulations any airline with flights originating or landing in the European Economic Area (“EEA”) is subject to the ETS. Beginning in calendar 2012, airlines including Federal Express were required to purchase emissions allowances or, alternatively, purchase qualifying sustainable aviation fuel if they exceeded the number of free allowances allocated under the ETS. While the current scope of ETS has been limited to apply only to flights within the EEA through calendar 2026, the EU adopted legislation in 2023 requiring that a study be conducted in July 2026 reassessing whether the European Commission should propose to expand the scope of ETS to include international flights from the EEA based on CORSIA implementation and performance.

We expect compliance with CORSIA and the ETS to increase FedEx operating expenses. The amount of such increase will ultimately depend on a number of factors, including the number of our flights subject to CORSIA and the ETS, the fuel efficiency of our fleet, the average growth of the aviation sector, our ability to utilize sustainable aviation fuels in the future and the price of such fuels, the availability of free allowances (which will be eliminated entirely by the end of calendar 2026), and the price of eligible emission units, offsets, or allowances required to be purchased by FedEx.

Additionally, in 2017, ICAO adopted new carbon dioxide emissions standards that would apply not only to new aircraft types as of calendar 2020, but also to new deliveries of currently in-production aircraft types from calendar 2023. ICAO established a production cutoff date of January 1, 2028 for aircraft that do not comply with these standards. The standards are considered to be especially stringent for larger aircraft weighing over 60 tons. In 2021, the EPA adopted its own aircraft and aircraft engine GHG emissions standards, which are aligned with the 2017 ICAO emissions standards, and the FAA finalized its own conforming rulemaking to implement the standards through its aircraft certification process which went into effect on April 16, 2024. In the past, the U.S. Congress has also considered bills that would regulate GHG emissions, and some form of federal climate change legislation is possible in the future. In 2021 the U.S. reentered the Paris climate accord, an agreement among 197 countries to reduce GHG emissions. The effect of the reentry on future U.S. policy regarding GHG emissions and on other GHG regulation is uncertain.

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Additionally, the extent to which other countries implement that agreement could have an adverse direct or indirect effect on our business.

See “Item 1A. Risk Factors — Environmental, Climate, and Weather Risks — We may be affected by global climate change or by legal, regulatory, or market responses to such change” for information on disclosure requirements regarding GHG emissions and other environmental matters.

Sustainable Aviation Fuels: On October 18, 2023, the EU adopted its Refuel EU regulation requiring fuel producers at certain EU airports to supply a minimum percentage of blended sustainable aviation fuel to aircraft operators beginning January 1, 2025. The mandate requires that, beginning in calendar 2025, two percent of the jet fuel supplied in certain EU airports must qualify as sustainable aviation fuel, and the percentage increases incrementally to 70% in calendar 2050. Fuel suppliers have incorporated a sustainable aviation fee into future uptake agreements for their compliance costs related to the Refuel EU regulation. A similar mandate is expected to go into effect in the United Kingdom on January 1, 2025.

Hazardous Substances: Although a petition for review was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in June 2024, the EPA rule designating certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) as “hazardous substances” under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”) became effective July 8, 2024. Numerous U.S. states have adopted additional regulations governing these substances. PFAS are used in a wide variety of consumer and industrial products, including the firefighting foams approved for use by the FAA to extinguish fuel-based fires at airports and refineries. The EPA rule could subject airlines and refineries to potential liability for cleanup of historical PFAS contamination. We could incur remediation costs for currently and formerly operated facilities. While the impact of this rulemaking on our business and results of operations cannot currently be predicted, we remain committed to transitioning to PFAS-free materials for fire suppression in accordance with the framework outlined by the FAA in May 2023.

Vehicle Emissions Regulations: In October 2023, the California Air Resources Board’s (“CARB”) Advanced Clean Fleets (“ACF”) rule requiring subject companies to adopt an increasing percentage of medium and heavy duty zero emission trucks (“ZEVs”) became effective. While the rule is currently subject to litigation, FedEx selected the ZEV milestones option to meet its compliance obligation under the rule. This option requires that we continuously meet or exceed certain scheduled ZEV fleet milestone percentage requirements, as outlined in the regulation. The ZEV milestones option ultimately requires fleets to transition to 100% ZEVs by a target date according to vehicle type. While the ACF rule may permit companies to seek exemptions or relief in certain instances, there are no assurances that relief from the regulation will be obtained. At this point, there are virtually no ZEVs widely available that are suitable replacements for vehicles currently used, and there does not appear to be sufficient infrastructure in place to support an electric vehicle fleet operation throughout our current terminal network. Further, additional states have adopted rules similar to CARB’s ACF rule with more expected to follow. To address these regulatory requirements, FedEx has made investments in capital equipment, vehicles, and infrastructure.

We are also subject to other U.S. and international environmental laws and regulations relating to, among other things, the shipment of dangerous goods, the management of underground storage tanks, the discharge of effluents from our properties and equipment, and contingency planning for spills of petroleum products. Additionally, certain contractual and lease agreements governing regulated substances could trigger investigation and remediation obligations if sites become affected. Federal Express has an environmental management system based on International Standardization 14001 designed to maintain compliance with these regulations and minimize our operational environmental footprint and certified all U.S. airport locations in 2022.

Export Controls. In recent years, the U.S. government has increased the number of companies and persons subject to U.S. export control regulations. Such regulations can restrict the types of items that FedEx customers are permitted to ship to certain entities, and in some instances may prohibit FedEx from serving certain entities altogether. Violations of these regulations can result in significant monetary and other penalties. For example, the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (the “ECRA”) and its implementing regulations, the Export Administration Regulations (the “EARs”), hold carriers such as FedEx strictly liable for shipments that may violate the EARs without requiring evidence that the carriers had knowledge of any violations. Violations of the ECRA can result in criminal penalties of up to $1 million and civil penalties up to $365,000 (or twice the value of the transaction) per individual violation. FedEx continues to invest in improvements and updates to its export control compliance programs. However, the heightened focus on export controls by the U.S. government increases FedEx’s exposure to potential regulatory penalties and could result in higher compliance costs.

Customs Clearance, Customs Brokerage, and Freight Forwarding. Our customs clearance activities, including customs brokerage, are subject to regulation by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other partner government agencies (for example, the Food and Drug Administration) that regulate the importation and exportation of specific products. Our freight forwarding activities are regulated by the Transportation Security Administration within the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (ocean freight forwarding), and the Department of Transportation (air freight forwarding). Our offshore operations are subject to similar regulation by the regulatory authorities of foreign jurisdictions.

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Labor. All U.S. employees at Federal Express are covered by the Railway Labor Act of 1926, as amended (the “RLA”), while labor relations within the U.S. at our other companies are governed by the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, as amended (the “NLRA”). Under the RLA, groups that wish to unionize must do so across nationwide classes of employees. The RLA also requires mandatory government-led mediation of contract disputes supervised by the National Mediation Board (“NMB”) before a union can strike or an employer can replace employees or impose contract terms. This part of the RLA helps minimize the risk of strikes that would shut down large portions of the economy. Under the NLRA, employees can unionize in small localized groups, and government-led mediation is not a required step in the negotiation process.

The RLA was originally passed to govern railroad and express carrier labor negotiations. As transportation systems evolved, the law expanded to cover airlines, which are now the dominant national transportation systems. As an air express carrier with an integrated air/ground network, Federal Express and its employees have been covered by the RLA since the founding of the company. The purpose of the RLA is to offer employees a process by which to unionize (if they choose) and engage in collective bargaining while also protecting global commerce from damaging work stoppages and delays. Specifically, the RLA ensures that an entire transportation system, such as at Federal Express, cannot be shut down by the actions of a local segment of the network.

The U.S. Congress has, in the past, considered adopting changes in labor laws that would make it easier for unions to organize units of our employees. For example, there is always a possibility that Congress could remove most Federal Express employees from the jurisdiction of the RLA, thereby exposing the Federal Express network to sporadic labor disputes and the risk that small groups of employees could disrupt the entire air/ground express network. This jurisdiction could be challenged in connection with our one FedEx consolidation and Network 2.0. In addition, the NMB and the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) have and may continue to take actions that could make it easier for our employees, and employees of service providers contracting with Federal Express to conduct certain linehaul and pickup-and-delivery operations, to organize under the RLA or NLRA. For a description of these and other potential labor law changes, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors” of this Annual Report.

Data Protection. There has recently been heightened regulatory and enforcement focus relating to the collection, use, retention, transfer, and processing of personal data in the U.S. (at both the state and federal level) and internationally. For more information, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors” of this Annual Report.