SkyWest Airlines 2011 Annual Report Download - page 7

PART I
Unless otherwise indicated in this Report, ‘‘SkyWest,’’ ‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’ ‘‘our’’ and similar terms refer to
SkyWest, Inc. and ‘‘SkyWest Airlines’’ refers to our wholly-owned subsidiary, SkyWest Airlines, Inc.
Effective December 31, 2011, our subsidiary, ExpressJet Airlines, Inc. was merged into our subsidiary,
Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Inc., with the surviving corporation named ExpressJet Airlines, Inc. (the
‘‘ExpressJet Combination’’). In this Report, ‘‘Atlantic Southeast’’ refers to Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Inc.
for periods prior to the ExpressJet Combination, ‘‘ExpressJet Delaware’’ refers to ExpressJet Airlines, Inc., a
Delaware corporation, for periods prior to the ExpressJet Combination, and ‘‘ExpressJet’’ refers to ExpressJet
Airlines, Inc., the Utah corporation resulting from the combination of Atlantic Southeast and ExpressJet
Delaware, for periods subsequent to the consummation of the ExpressJet Combination.
Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Certain of the statements contained in this Report should be considered ‘‘forward-looking
statements’’ within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-
looking statements may be identified by words such as ‘‘may,’’ ‘‘will,’’ ‘‘expect,’’ ‘‘intend,’’ ‘‘anticipate,’’
‘‘believe,’’ ‘‘estimate,’’ ‘‘plan,’’ ‘‘project,’’ ‘‘could,’’ ‘‘should,’’ ‘‘hope,’’ ‘‘likely,’’ and ‘‘continue’’ and
similar terms used in connection with statements regarding our outlook, the revenue environment, our
contractual relationships, and our anticipated financial performance. These statements include, but are
not limited to, statements about our future growth and development plans, including our future
financial and operating results, our plans for SkyWest Airlines and ExpressJet, the anticipated benefits
of our acquisition of ExpressJet Delaware and the ExpressJet Combination, our objectives, expectations
and intentions and other statements that are not historical facts. Readers should keep in mind that all
forward-looking statements are based on our existing beliefs about present and future events outside of
our control and on assumptions that may prove to be incorrect. If one or more risks identified in this
Report materializes, or any other underlying assumption proves incorrect, our actual results will vary,
and may vary materially from those anticipated, estimated, projected, or intended. These risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those described below in Item 1A., Risk Factors, and the
following:
• our ability to achieve potential benefits from the ExpressJet Combination;
• relations with our employees, including organized labor groups at ExpressJet and the impact of
labor negotiations and agreements with our unionized and non-unionized employees;
• our labor and maintenance cost increasing at a faster rate than increases in our contractual
rates;
• changes in our code-share relationships;
• competitive practices in the airline industry, including significant fare-restructuring activities,
consolidation of major carriers (which reduces the number of potential code-share partners),
capacity reductions and other restructurings by major and regional carriers;
• global and national economic conditions;
• the impact of increasing fuel prices on the airline industry;
• ongoing litigation with Delta Air Lines, Inc. (‘‘Delta’’);
• our ability to attract and retain code-share partners;
• the cyclical nature of the airline industry;
• security-related and insurance costs;
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