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1972 |
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SkyWest Airlines is born when St. George,
Utah lawyer Ralph Atkin buys Dixie Airlines. |
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The first SkyWest flights are penny-a-pound airplane
rides along with parachutists and stunts. |
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June 19, the first
scheduled flight takes place from St. George Salt Lake
City with a stop along the way in Cedar City, Utah. |
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Fares are a staggering
$28 from St. George to Salt Lake City and $25 from Cedar
City to Salt Lake City. |
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A whopping 256 people
utilized SkyWest's services that year flying in a six
seat Piper Seneca. |
"We could say that we never cancelled a flight. We may
have gotten there four hours late, but we got people to
their destination." - SkyWest founder Ralph Atkin |
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| 1975 |
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Efforts fail to sell or even give away the struggling airline. |
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Losses reach $300,000. |
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Reorganization takes place cutting overhead costs, personnel, and aircraft. |
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Jerry Atkin, 26, becomes the youngest president of a scheduled airline in the country. |
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1979 |
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The first 19 passenger Fairchild Metro II is delivered.
Two more are delivered later this year. |
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A new $500,000 general office and maintenance facility
is built in St. George. |
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Maintenance gets 15,000 square feet and 9,000 square
feet for office and shop support space. |
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1984 |
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SkyWest acquires Palm Springs, California based Sun Aire.
That acquisition makes SkyWest the eleventh largest regional in the country. |
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There are 14 more Metros added to the fleet, which now totals
26. SkyWest now has the largest Metro fleet in the world. |
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A new maintenance facility in Palm Springs is opened as well. |
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250 employees make up the SkyWest team, which grew by 45%
this year. |
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| 1985 |
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The slogan of the year is, "The west isn't getting smaller, we're getting bigger. We really move our tails for you." |
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A common paint scheme and logo is adopted. |
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The executive offices are moved from the St. George airport to downtown. SkyWest announces it will become the Western Express
in SLC code-sharing with Western Airlines. |
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Western is the number one carrier in Salt Lake City, SkyWest is now number two. |
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652,698 passengers
are carried with revenues of $32.3 million. |
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| 1986 |
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SkyWest becomes the
twenty-fourth regional to offer it's stock publicly, trading
under the SKYW symbol on the NASDAQ exchange. The initial
purchase offer was 1 to 1.25 million shares at $10 a share. |
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This offering raised
enough money to pay off a sizable chunk of the long-term
debt accrued from the purchase of Sun Aire and the new
St. George hangar. |
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The money raised by the stock offering is also used for the acquisition of five new Brasilias; the first being delivered from
Brazil on December 24. |
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Delta Air Lines announces
the purchase of Western. Delta is now the largest carrier
in the U.S. This places SkyWest in a better position to
compete with other regional's, namely American Eagle and
UA Express. |
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The first flight attendants are hired. The first training class consists of 25. |
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| 1987 |
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Air Transport World magazine names SkyWest Commuter/Regional Airline of the Year. |
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The transition to Delta Connection begins to unfold and will consummate on April 1. Delta Air Lines buys the remaining
un-issued stock representing 20% or about one million shares. |
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Brasilia service begins on February 1, in Palm Springs. The fourth Brasilia is delivered in June. The fleet now consists of 41 aircraft. |
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The Palm Springs maintenance facility is christened on December 17. |
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Color Canyon Air Service is purchased and is renamed Cedar City Air Service. |
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This is the most profitable year ever. Net income is $3.1 million and revenues are $56 million. |
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38 cities in eight states and 800,000 passengers are served. |
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501 flights are operated, and there are nearly 1,000 employees. |
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| 1991 |
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Profits posted this year are $2,024,000. Half of last years profit, due to the inflated cost of fuel. |
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Four major airlines are in bankruptcy because of the cost of fuel. |
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SkyWest serves 42 cities in eight states with a fleet of 15 Brasilias,
35 Metros, and 1528 employees. |
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Founder Ralph Atkin retires as Chairman of the Board, but continues as board member. Jerry Atkin replaces him as chairman. |
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Ron Reber is promoted to Chief Operating Officer and Brad Rich, to Chief Financial Officer. |
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| 1994 |
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The Bombardier manufactured Canadair Regional Jet becomes part of the SkyWest fleet. A total of 10 are ordered with four
being delivered this year. SkyWest is the first U.S. airline to use this particular aircraft. |
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The fleet now consists
of 28 Metroliners, 23 Brasilias, and 4 CRJ's. |
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Scenic Airlines is acquired. |
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Enplanements increase from 48,000 to 340,000 passengers. |
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Revenues increased 114% from 1993. |
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$14.4 million in net income is earned. |
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Stock price continues to rise hitting a high of $38.75. |
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1,800 employees make up the SkyWest team. |
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| 1995 |
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SkyWest operates 115 daily flights from LAX becoming the airport's number one carrier. Code sharing agreement is reached
with Continental Airlines in LAX. |
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The fleet receives four more CRJ200s bringing the total to eight. |
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The system's routes now include 49 cities in 11 states. |
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| 1997 |
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SkyWest celebrates
its 25th anniversary (1972 - 1997). |
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Delta was moving capacity from Los Angeles and even though SkyWest was still operating more than 100 flights a day, they were losing money.
SkyWest’s options; continue operation at a loss, leave the market, or find a new code-share partner who would want to maintain the California Market. |
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SkyWest begins code-sharing with United Airlines, the word’s second largest air carrier. Operations as United Express begin on
October 1. Subsequently, SkyWest ends code-sharing with Continental out of Los Angeles International (LAX). |
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Thus began the most exciting period of growth for SkyWest. The aviation industry was watching SkyWest adjust to managing two of the
worlds largest most powerful partners (both wanted and expected seamless service). SkyWest needed an unprecedented number of planes, employees,
training, etc. in a very short amount of time to pull it off. |
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120 flights operated out of LAX for United Express. |
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| 1998 |
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On January 19, SkyWest announces San Francisco expansion with United Express. |
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It adds 12 new California markets and 84 daily departures. The service will begin on June 1. |
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February 11, SkyWest announces new expansion in seven more California cities and 54 more daily departures in the Pacific Northwest. |
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In March, the first United Express painted aircraft goes online. |
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April 1, the first SkyWest flight to venture out of the U.S. goes
to Vancouver, Canada. |
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April 5, the Portland Maintenance Hangar is opened. |
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2002 |
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SkyWest is named 2002 Regional Airline of the Year by
Air Transport World magazine. |
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June 19, SkyWest celebrates its 30 year anniversary. |
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July 1, SkyWest opens new maintenance base in Tucson,
Arizona. |
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CharterFest, to celebrate the 30 year anniversary of the
airline brings together SkyWest Executives and employees in a four day, 12 city tour in a
specially painted CRJ200. |
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Chairman, President and CEO Jerry Atkin accepts the
Airline Business magazine award for Regional Airlines Leadership. |
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September 19, SkyWest takes delivery of their 50th CRJ.
The fleet now consists of 68 RJ's (13 taken from COMAIR). |
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Utah Business magazine features SkyWest on the cover
touting them as one of the "Best Companies to Work For." |
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December 8, partner United Airlines flies for Chapter
11 Bankruptcy protection. Their filing was the largest bankruptcy filing in aviation history. |
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SkyWest announces 2002 statistics:
• 8.39 million passengers flown
• 2.99 billion revenue passenger miles flown
• Operating revenue; $774,218,000
• Net Earnings; $86,874,000 |
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2003 |
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May 19, a new code-share agreement with
Continental Airlines is signed. SkyWest will provide regional feed for Continental
in IAH as a Continental Connection. It is anticipated that by year’s end, SkyWest
will serve nine communities out of IAH using the EMB-120 aircraft. Service begins
on July 1 to Killeen, Texas. |
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W. Steve Albrecht joins the SkyWest’s Board of Directors. |
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A new 11-year rate and growth agreement is
reached with United Airlines making SkyWest the largest United Express carrier.
The agreement calls for SkyWest to operate a fleet of 140 aircraft, including
55 turbo-prop aircraft currently serving the United Express fleet, 55, 50-seat
regional jet aircraft which will be in service by the end of 2003 and 30, 70-seat
regional jets that are scheduled to be serving United Express routes by summer 2005. |
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July 24, SkyWest launches their new and
improved external website, www.skywest.com. |
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SkyWest assumes the financial risk for
eight Delta Connection EMB markets out of the SLC Hub. |
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With the September delivery of another
50-passenger Bombardier manufactured Canadair Regional Jet 200 (CRJ200), SkyWest’s
fleet of regional jets hits the century mark. |
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SkyWest orders 30 of Bombardier’s
70-passenger Canadair Regional Jet 700’s (CRJ700) for operation in the
United Express system. |
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Asiana Airlines and US Airways add their
code to selected SkyWest operated United Express flights |
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The US Department of Transportation
names SkyWest the number one on-time airline in the United States for 2003.
This is the first year SkyWest has been added to the DOT’s report. The report
tracks 17 domestic air carriers’ performance on a monthly basis. SkyWest is one
of only five regional carriers included on the report. |
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Financial and operating results for the year:
• Revenue $888,026,000
• Net earnings $66,787,000
• 4.2 revenue passenger miles flown
• 10.7 million passengers flown |
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2004 |
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Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Jerry Atkin celebrates 30 years at SkyWest |
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Captain Earl Snow, SkyWest’s most senior employee,
retires after 32 years at the airline. |
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SkyWest adds a third aircraft type to their fleet
of regional aircraft, the 70-passenger Bombardier manufactured Canadair Regional Jet
700 (CRJ700), commemorated with service on February 15 between Salt Lake City, Utah;
Denver, Colorado and Wichita, Kansas. |
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An additional 12 regional jet aircraft are ordered
for the United Express operations for delivery during 2004. This new order with
Bombardier consists of 10 CRJ200s and two CRJ700s. |
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The ORD hub and crew domicile officially opens. |
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A maintenance base and crew domicile opens in COS.
new hangar will be constructed for CRJ maintenance purposes. |
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Delta announces major network restructuring, closing
the DFW Hub and expanding in SLC. SkyWest repossesses DFW aircraft to SLC to handle the
additional flying. |
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SkyWest’s workforce reaches 6,000 and later 7,000
employees. |
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In a system-wide display of solidarity, SkyWest
Airlines employees across the nation rally in the fight against cancer by wearing
pink ribbons and denim to support Lee National Denim Day for Breast Cancer Research
and Awareness. |
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The 2004 Mini Indy Race proved to be the most
lucrative in its four year history, generating an impressive amount of charitable
donations totaling $80,000. From the race, banquet and silent auction, $55,000 was
raised for the United Way Dixie. The remaining $25,000 from the golf event was
appropriated for SkyWest’s Lyle Wilkinson Scholarship Fund, a fund for SkyWest
employees and their families. |
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SkyWest names Latricia Gleed Director of InFlight
Standards and Regulatory Compliance. |
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Eric Woodward appointed to Director of Financial
Planning and Analysis. |
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Von Means promoted to Director of Learning and
Development. |
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SkyWest opens 21 new stations throughout the year. |
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SkyWest is named the number one on-time airline in
the United States by the Department of Transportation for 2004. |
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Financial and operating results for the year:
• Revenue $1,156,044,000
• Net earnings $81,952,000
• Revenue passenger miles flown: 5.5 billion
• Passengers carried in 2004: 13.4 million |
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2005 |
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SkyWest employees donate $40,000 to tsunami relief with company match. |
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Performance Rewards launched. |
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SkyWest celebrates 35 years in Palm Springs (with two years carried over from Sun Aire). |
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Pam Snow named SLC regional director. |
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The U.S. Department of Transportation names SkyWest 2004 Number One Mainland On-Time Airline. |
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Mini Indy 2005 raises over $100,000 for United Way and SkyWest’s scholarship fund. |
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Bob Novak named LAX Chief Pilot. |
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Regional Airline World magazine names SkyWest Regional Airline of the Year 2004. |
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Jerry Atkin presents at the Goldman Sachs 2005 Annual transportation conference in New York City. |
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The FAA decorates SkyWest Airlines with the Gold Aviation Maintenance Technician Award. |
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SkyWest, Inc. acquires Atlantic Southeast Airlines from Delta Air Lines. |
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Ron Reber promoted to President of SkyWest Airlines. |
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United Express ground handling is assumed at six Colorado and Wyoming ski markets. |
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Fresno station marks its 20th anniversary. |
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Burbank and Imperial, California, Yuma, Arizona and Pocatello, Idaho celebrate 25 years of operation. |
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West Yellowstone, Montana, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Cody, Wyoming, Portland, Oregon and Tucson, Arizona commemorate 10 years of operation. |
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United selects SkyWest to operate 20 additional CRJ700s as United Express. |
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Maintenance base launched at Chicago O’Hare. |
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SkyWest Airlines is honored on behalf of SkyWest, Inc. as a Utah Top 15 Revenue Growth Company for 2005. |
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Employee count exceeds 9,100. |
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Employees donate more than $202,000 for ASA employee Hurricane Katrina relief with company match. |
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2006 |
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SkyWest takes delivery of Bombardier’s 250th 70-passenger CRJ. |
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On May 7, SkyWest says ‘Thanks for the memories’ to Cedar City, Utah as that station
goes off-line. |
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SkyWest raises $83,500 during Mini Indy for United Way Dixie. |
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SkyWest Airlines’ Vice President of People, Necia Clark-Mantle, is honored as one of Utah
Business Magazine’s “30 Women to Watch.” |
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SkyWest welcomes a fourth aircraft type into their modern fleet of regional aircraft: the
70-passenger, Bombardier manufactured CRJ900. |
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SkyWest receives the FAA’s Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT) Gold Award 2005 for
outstanding attendance in initial and recurrent maintenance training. |
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SkyWest Airlines is selected by Midwest Airlines to enter into an airline services
agreement. |
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Employees at SkyWest Corporate Headquarters in St. George raise more than $6,000 for KONY
Coins for Kids. |
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SkyWest Airlines announce the appointment of three new directors as a result of realignment within the People Department. Suzanne Stephensen as Director – People Programs and Recruitment. Ryan Quinlan as Director – Employee Relations, Compensation and Performance. Amber Hunter as Director – Corporate Communications, Development and Marketing. |
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SkyWest Inc. announces the appointment of Margaret “Peg” S. Billson to its Board of
Directors of SkyWest. |
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SkyWest’s net income is $145.8 million. |
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SkyWest carries 19.5 million passengers in 2006. |
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