SKYWEST

:''This is an article about an airline in North America. For Skywest Airlines in Australia see Skywest Airlines.
'SkyWest Airlines' is one of two airlines owned by SkyWest, Inc. - the other being Atlantic Southeast Airlines. It is a North American regional airline headquartered in St. George, Utah. It primarily serves as a feeder airline to and from airports in small-, medium- and large-sized markets in the United States and Canada for three major carriers out of several major regional hubs:

★ United Airlines as United Express, out of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), San Francisco International Airport (SFO), Denver International Airport (DEN), and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD).

★ Delta Air Lines as Delta Connection, out of Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL).

★ Midwest Airlines as Midwest Connect, out of Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport (MKE) and Kansas City International Airport (MCI)

Contents

History

Destinations

Fleet

Accidents and incidents

External links

References

History

Frustrated by the limited extent of existing air service, Ralph Atkin, a St. George, Utah lawyer, purchased Dixie Airlines to shuttle businessmen to Salt Lake City in 1972. After early struggles, SkyWest began steady expansion across the Western US. It became the eleventh largest regional carrier in 1984 when it acquired Sun Aire of Palm Springs, California, and had its initial public offering in 1986.
In 1985 SkyWest began codesharing as Western Express, a feeder service for Western Airlines at their Salt Lake City hub, later acquired by Delta. In 1995 SkyWest began operating flights for Continental out of LAX. The relationship was discontinued two years later when SkyWest began flying for United Airlines. SkyWest's United Express flights out of LAX, SFO, and DEN became its largest operation by the late 1990s. A partnership with Continental Airlines was revived in 2003 out of IAH, and was discontinued June 2005. On Monday, August 15, 2005, Delta announced that it was selling Atlantic Southeast Airlines to the newly incorporated SkyWest, Inc. for $425 million in cash, and on Thursday, September 8, 2005, SkyWest, Inc. announced that the acquisition had been completed.
Through SkyWest Airlines and ASA, the company operates the largest regional airline in the United States.

Destinations

Main articles: SkyWest destinations

Fleet

As of May 2007 the SkyWest fleet includes ^[1] :

Type	Fleet	Seats	Aircraft Information
Embraer EMB 120ER Brasilia	54	30	550nm range turboprop operating under United Express and Delta Connection.
Embraer EMB 120RT Brasilia	14
Bombardier CRJ-100ER	11	50	980nm range regional Jet operating under United Express and Delta Connection.(Most -100 have undergone engine modifications to -200 standard.)
Bombardier CRJ-200ER	7	50	2005nm range regional Jet operating under United Express, Delta Connection and Midwest Connect.
Bombardier CRJ-200LR	122
Bombardier CRJ-700ER	77	6F/60Y or 70Y	2032nm range regional Jet operating under United Express and Delta Connection
Bombardier CRJ-900	17	9F/67Y (Coming Soon 12F/64Y)	2231nm range regional Jet operating under Delta Connection

All jet aircraft operate under the United Express, Delta Connection, or Midwest Connect logo.

Accidents and incidents

★ January 15, 1987: Skywest Airlines Flight 1834, a Fairchild Metro collided with a Mooney 20 transporting an instructor and a student, while on a flight between Pocatello to Salt Lake City in the vicinity of Kearns. All 10 people on Flight 1834 and the two occupants of the Mooney were killed. [1]

★ February 1, 1991: Skywest Airlines Flight 5569, a Fairchild Metro was flying a scheduled flight between Los Angeles and Palmdale when it collided with USAir Flight 1493 which was landing. All 12 people onboard were killed.

★ May 26, 2007: SkyWest Airlines flight 5741, an Embraer 120, was involved in a serious runway incursion when the plane nearly collided with Republic Airlines flight 4912, an Embraer 170, on intersecting runways at San Francisco. There were no reported injuries to passengers and no reported damage to either aircraft.^[2]

External links

★ SkyWest Airlines

★ SkyWest Airlines Fleet Schedule

References

1. Flight International, 3-9 October 2006
2. NTSB report