SkyWest Airlines 2004 Annual Report Download - page 1

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To our Shareholders
When reviewing our accomplishments for 2004, it gives me great pleasure to report on
the additional milestones achieved and our successful financial performance for the year.
It has been yet another very challenging year for the airline industry; however, we have
continued to expand our operations by continuing to acquire regional jet aircraft. In
executing our plan, we have continued to provide value to both our major partners and
our shareholders. Following are some of the milestones and significant successes
achieved since the beginning of 2004:
xAchieved over $1 billion in operating revenues
xAcquired 24 new regional jet aircraft
xAcquired 4 nearly new CRJ200 regional jet aircraft
xAcquired first CRJ700 regional jet aircraft during January 2004
xMaintained an essentially flat cost per available seat mile in spite of increased fuel
costs
xCompleted a long-term engine services agreement for engines on our CRJ700
regional jet aircraft
xAnnounced an order for 20 additional CRJ700 regional jet aircraft, subsequent to
year end
As a testament to our quality, we were named the Number “1” mainland carrier for on-
time performance for calendar year 2004 by the U.S. Department of Transportation Air
Travel Consumer Report. We were also named the Number “1” carrier for calendar year
2003, the first year in which we were included in the reporting. Recently, Regional
Airline World magazine named SkyWest Airlines as the Regional Airline of the Year for
2004.
Subsequent to year end, we announced that we had been selected by United Airlines to
acquire 20 additional CRJ700 regional jet aircraft. We anticipate that we will begin
taking delivery of these aircraft in the third quarter of 2005 and will complete the
deliveries by the end of the first quarter of 2006. All of these aircraft are currently
scheduled for operation under our existing United Express agreement. We are currently
the largest United Express operator and the additional aircraft will allow us to expand our
operations even further. We believe we were selected by United as a result of the quality
of our service and our ability to offer a cost-competitive larger regional jet solution.
It was another busy year for aircraft deliveries during 2004. We acquired 24 new regional
jets, consisting of 12 CRJ200 aircraft and 12 CRJ700 aircraft. We also acquired four
nearly new CRJ200 regional jet aircraft that were one year old or less. As a result of
acquiring the new regional jets, our total operating revenues increased to $1.2 billion, an
increase of approximately 30% from 2003. We also produced net income of $82 million
or $1.40 per diluted share, for 2004. The earnings per share amount represented a 22%
increase over 2003.

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