FEDEX CORP

In 2016, the International Civil Aviation Organization (“ICAO”) passed a resolution adopting CORSIA, which is a global, market-based measure for purchasing credits to offset carbon dioxide emissions and intended to aid in meeting the ICAO’s goal of carbon-neutral growth starting in calendar 2020 by complementing industry efforts in technology, operations, infrastructure and sustainable aviation fuels. In June 2018, the ICAO adopted standards pertaining to country-by-country implementation including the collection and reporting of information on international aviation emissions beginning in calendar 2019. In furtherance of these efforts, in March 2019 the FAA issued notice of a CORSIA program permitting U.S. carriers to submit emissions data on a voluntary basis. Data reported during calendar 2019 and 2020 will be used to set the calendar 2020 emissions baseline, and beginning in calendar 2021 carriers subject to the requirements of CORSIA will be responsible for purchasing and retiring carbon credits to offset emissions in excess of the calendar 2020 baseline. In response to the creation of the CORSIA program, in December 2017, the EU adopted a proposal which indefinitely excludes from the ETS flights operating fully or partly outside the EU and gradually reduces the number of aviation allowances from calendar 2021. The EU has indicated that it will assess CORSIA implementation and determine the future status of the ETS as applied to international aviation to and from the EEA. We expect compliance with CORSIA to increase FedEx operating expenses beginning in calendar 2021. The amount of such increase will ultimately depend on a number of factors, including the number of our flights subject to CORSIA, 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 ICAO-eligible emission units or offsets required to be purchased by FedEx.

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 is permitted to transport for or deliver 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 of $300,000 (or twice the value of the transaction) per individual violation. FedEx is investing 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. See “Recent Developments” below for information regarding a lawsuit recently filed by FedEx against the U.S. Department of Commerce relating to the enforcement of prohibitions contained in the EARs.

Failure to successfully implement our business strategy and effectively respond to changes in market dynamics will cause our future financial results to suffer. We are making significant investments and other decisions in connection with our long-term business strategy which includes our ability to meet the demands of e-commerce, such as aircraft fleet modernization and hub modernization and expansion at FedEx Express and expansion of FedEx Ground residential delivery operations to seven days per week year-round for the majority of the U.S. population. We are also implementing various cost-containment actions, including limited hiring and discretionary spending and a U.S.-based voluntary employee buyout program. Such initiatives and enhancements may require us to make significant capital expenditures. Additionally, in developing our business strategy, we make certain assumptions including, but not limited to, those related to customer demand and the mix of services to be purchased by our customers, competition and the global economy; and actual market, economic and other conditions may be different from our assumptions. As technology, customer behavior and market conditions continue to evolve, it is important that we maintain the relevance of our brand and service offerings to our customers. If we are not able to successfully implement our business strategy and effectively respond to changes in market dynamics, our future financial results will suffer.

Increasing costs, the volatility of costs and funding requirements and other legal mandates for employee benefits, especially pension and healthcare benefits, could adversely impact our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity. We sponsor programs that provide retirement benefits to most of our employees. These programs include defined benefit pension plans, defined contribution plans and postretirement healthcare plans. The costs of providing pension and other retirement benefit plans are dependent on numerous assumptions, such as discount rates, expected long-term investment returns on plan assets, future salary increases, employee turnover, mortality, retirement ages, government regulations, and the frequency and amount of our required or voluntary contributions made to the plans. Changes in actuarial assumptions and differences between the assumptions and actual values, as well as significant declines in the value of investments that fund our pension and other postretirement plans, if not offset or mitigated by a decline in plan liabilities, could increase pension and other postretirement expense, and we could be required from time to time to fund the pension plans with significant amounts of cash. Such cash funding obligations could adversely affect our results of operations and liquidity. Additionally, the rules for pension and retirement benefit plan accounting are complex, involve numerous assumptions and can produce volatility in our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity. For example, our fourth quarter 2019 MTM retirement plans accounting adjustment resulted in a pre-tax noncash $3.9 billion loss ($3.0 billion, net of tax, or $11.22 per diluted share) and reduced the funded status of our tax qualified U.S. domestic pension plans. For additional information on our MTM retirement plans accounting adjustment, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations and Financial Condition—Results of Operations and Outlook—Retirement Plans MTM Adjustments” and Note 13 of the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

A higher than normal number of pilot retirements across the industry, increased flight hour requirements to achieve a commercial pilot’s license, reductions in the number of military pilots entering the commercial workforce and other factors have caused a shortage of pilots that could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Large numbers of pilots in the industry are approaching the FAA’s mandatory retirement age of 65. Commencing in 2013, the minimum flight hour requirement to achieve a commercial pilot’s license in the United States increased from 250 to 1,500 hours, thereby significantly increasing the time and cost commitment required to become licensed to fly commercial aircraft. Additionally, the number of military pilots being trained by the U.S. armed forces and available as commercial pilots upon their retirement from military service has been decreasing. These and other factors have contributed to a shortage of qualified, entry-level pilots, and the companies with which we contract to fly smaller regional “feeder” aircraft are having difficulty attracting and retaining pilots. If the companies with which we contract become unable to hire adequate numbers of pilots to meet their needs, we could experience a reduction of service offered to certain locations, service disruptions, increased costs of operations and other difficulties that could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Additionally, although we are not currently having difficulty staffing FedEx pilots to operate our primary FedEx Express fleet, such a difficulty may arise in the future, which could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.