SkyWest Airlines 2009 Annual Report Download - page 8

There may be other factors that may affect matters discussed in forward-looking statements set
forth in this Report, which factors may also cause actual results to differ materially from those
discussed. We assume no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement to reflect actual
results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting these statements other than as
required by law.
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
General
Through SkyWest Airlines and ASA, our wholly-owned subsidiaries, we offer scheduled passenger
service with approximately 2,300 daily departures to 217 destinations in the United States, Canada,
Mexico and the Caribbean. Substantially all of our flights are operated as Delta Connection, United
Express or AirTran under code-share arrangements with Delta, United or AirTran, respectively, with
significant presence in Delta and United’s key domestic hubs and focus cities. SkyWest Airlines and
ASA generally provide regional flying to our partners under long-term, fixed-fee code-share
agreements. Among other features of our fixed-fee agreements, our partners generally reimburse us for
specified direct operating expenses (including fuel expense, which is passed through to our partners),
and pay us a fee for operating the aircraft.
SkyWest Airlines and ASA have developed industry-leading reputations for providing quality,
low-cost regional airline service during their long operating histories—SkyWest Airlines has been flying
since 1972 and ASA since 1979. As of December 31, 2009, our consolidated fleet consisted of a total of
449 aircraft, of which 258 were assigned to Delta, 186 were assigned to United, three were assigned to
Midwest, and two were assigned to AirTran. We currently operate one type of regional jet aircraft in
three different configurations, the 50-seat Bombardier Aerospace (‘‘Bombardier’’) CRJ200 Regional Jet
(the ‘‘CRJ200’’), the 70-seat Bombardier CRJ700 Regional Jet (the ‘‘CRJ700’’) and the 70-90-seat
Bombardier CRJ900 Regional Jet (the ‘‘CRJ900’’), and one type of turboprop aircraft, the 30-seat
Embraer Brasilia EMB-120 turboprop (the ‘‘Brasilia turboprop’’).
We were incorporated in Utah in 1972. Our principal executive offices are located at 444 South
River Road, St. George, Utah 84790, and our primary telephone number is [phone]. We
maintain an Internet web site at www.skywest.com. Our website provides a link to the web site of the
SEC, through which our annual, quarterly and current reports, as well as amendments to those reports,
are available. In addition, we provide electronic or paper copies of our filings free of charge upon
request.
Our Operating Platforms
SkyWest Airlines
SkyWest Airlines provides regional jet and turboprop service primarily located in the midwestern
and western United States. SkyWest Airlines offered approximately 1,500 daily scheduled departures as
of December 31, 2009, of which approximately 1,060 were United Express flights, 410 were Delta
Connection flights, 20 were Midwest Connect flights and ten were AirTran coded flights. SkyWest
Airlines’ operations are conducted from hubs located in Chicago (O’Hare), Denver, Los Angeles,
Milwaukee, San Francisco and Salt Lake City. SkyWest Airlines’ fleet as of December 31, 2009
consisted of 21 CRJ900s, all of which were flown for Delta, 79 CRJ700s, of which 66 were flown for
United and 13 for Delta; 138 CRJ200s, of which 81 were flown for United, 52 were flown for Delta,
three were flown for Midwest and two were flown for AirTran, and 51 Brasilia turboprops, of which 39
were flown for United and 12 were flown for Delta.
SkyWest Airlines currently conducts its Delta Connection operations pursuant to the terms of an
Amended and Restated Delta Connection Agreement which obligates Delta to compensate SkyWest
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