SkyWest Airlines to Fly 23 Regional Jets for American Airlines
Posted on | September 12, 2012 | No Comments
SkyWest, Inc., the holding company which operates SkyWest Airlines and ExpressJet Airlines, announced today that it has signed an agreement with American Airlines to operate 23 Bombardier CRJ200 regional jets under the American Eagle brand.
SkyWest currently plans to begin its flights for American on November 15, 2012. The remaining 23 aircraft will begin flying for American before the end of the first quarter of 2013. SkyWest intends to place the aircraft into service from its recently expanded fleet where they have previously been operated in behalf of another major airline.
SkyWest reported that 12 of the regional jets will be flown by its subsidiary SkyWest Airlines and 11 aircraft will be flown by sister subsidiary ExpressJet Airlines. SkyWest also anticipates that the American aircraft will be primarily operated out of Los Angeles International Airport and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
SkyWest also reported that its passenger traffic for August increased 6.5 percent compared to the same period last year. SkyWest reported a 3.7 percent increase in revenue passenger miles (the number of miles flown by paying passengers) for August, while available seat miles (the total number of seats available) increased 1.3 percent compared to August 2011. SkyWest’s load factor (the percentage of available seats filled with passengers) increased to 82.7 compared to 80.8 in August 2011.
SkyWest is presently hiring pilots to support its new aircraft purchases and expansion.
