As far as the tsa contract goes, I have not read it and am not familiar with the specifics of the language. I apologize for spouting off assuming management would have more ethics than what they showed. I will take the time to read the actual contract before posting next time.

I have to disagree with you about with my knowledge of corporate finance and investment markets, I have taken the class's, and read many books, got the degree.

Yes management is required to give a share holder a return on their investment. Stock buybacks are not a required or even highly common in corporations. They are largely used when management deems the stock undervalued and would like to reduce the supply of shares on the market. This reduction of shares reduces the supply, increasing the price. This can be very lucrative if you own a substantial amount of options or shares of the stock. Hence management is doing their job, to give the share holder a roi. Close to 230,000,000.00 million dollars has been authorized this year alone for stock buybacks. Personally I find this a bit short sited, with skywest's high turnover >50%. With skywest still struggling to fill classes and rampant turnover, I believe that money could in part be better invested in the long term infrastructure of skywest.

I am not sure how you belive that me posting stock buybacks on an internet forum shows a simplistic view of corporate finance, please explain.