SkyWest Airlines, a subsidiary of SkyWest, Inc. (SKYW), commemorated the 35th anniversary of its first flight with employee celebrations throughout its system. The airline is now considered a bench mark in successful airline operations.
SkyWest's story began on June 19, 1972 with the departure of its first scheduled flight from St. George, Utah to the state's capital in Salt Lake City. Using the six-seat Piper Seneca aircraft, the airline carried a mere 256 passengers in its first year and only three years later was flirting with bankruptcy before it narrowly avoided it. Since then, the airline has experienced immense growth – from the original four employees to a team that now exceeds 10,000; the airline served more than 19 million passengers last year and flies more than 1,800 daily departures to 146 cities in 38 states and Canada.
"SkyWest has experienced tremendous growth over the last 35 years, and our success is a direct result of the exceptional professionals who have dedicated their work to our company," said Jerry Atkin, SkyWest, Inc. chairman and CEO, who recently told Regional Aviation News that despite the fact SkyWest is is the world's largest independently owned regional airline, he still thinks of it as a small company.
SkyWest provides service as United Express along the West Coast and out of United's (UAUA) Denver and Chicago hubs. At Salt Lake City, SkyWest operates as Delta Connection under a marketing agreement with Delta Air Lines (DAL). SkyWest flies as Midwest Connect out of Milwaukee and Kansas City in a partnership with Midwest Airlines (MEH). As part of SkyWest's 35th Anniversary celebration, the airline has launched a special commemorative section of their Web site.