The second-to-last thread on APC (regional)

A SkyWest Airlines executive downplayed published reports Tuesday that the St. George-based regional flyer has talked with Delta Air Lines about buying one of the carrier's commuter subsidiaries.

...SkyWest is interested in Delta's Comair or Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA). The purchase of either regional airline would roughly double the size of St. George-based SkyWest.

Funny to read these stories and look back at the results.

Many will continue to bash SkyWest and our Mgmt. team but everything they’ve touch has turned profits and seen nothing but stability. It’s hard to argue with their record of success. Bottom line is SGU’s a great horse to attach your wagon too.

They've been second to none.

Might want to check your figures on that one. ExpressJet is still making rather large losses. Not that I want to bash Skywest, everyone I know over there seems very happy.

I can see how my posting can be taken the way you took it but when I posted I was speaking more over time. I understand ExpressJet’s situation, the L-ASA side is profitable but Inc. is a whole is being dragged down by L-XJT side. I fully expect the New-XJT to be profitable once their merger is complete, they get a new CBA, UAL has hatched their 50 seaters and they get new contracts for UAL 70+ seaters which I feel are inevitable.

I guarantee you SGU has buyer’s remorse over L-XJT but sooner or later they’ll get them to play ball. If they don’t I guarantee you SGU will cut the anchor loose.

ACA and Comair were money printers too. They (SKYW) have bought themselves some time buying up mass quantities of fake airline ACMI "marketshare" but the future is about to get way more challenging. The DL 2015 cost reset, their egotistical dellusional foray into an eventual IndyAir style Waterloo and the never ending low cost zero longevity ultra low barrier of entry regional churn machine (and they can't buy them all) will take its toll eventually.

Really man? Just couldn't help yourself. It's people like yourself that drag down the progress of good productivity. Thanks for what you do.

ACA and Comair were money printers during a boom rush for the regionals. ACA got too big for their britches and suffered. Comair made some fatal mistakes with Mother-D and was never going to be sold; Mother-D always had other plans for them. Today’s environment is much more complex and demanding than it was 6-15 years ago when regionals had huge profit margins.

SkyWest is not going the IndyAir route; our at-risk flying is in partnership with mainline and will always be a true codeshare. I agree the future is going to be difficult but Kool-Aid aside if anyone can navigate the waters it's SGU. I plan on leaving but I fully expect SkyWest is to be around in another 30 years. They will shrink and morph but they will survive. The same cannot be said about our competitors.

My friend I'm not going to get into a school girl fight with you or anyone else. And no it's those who can't see the writing on the wall and understand the heavily restricted and dynamic industry we're all forced to work in that drag down the industry and their airline. This industry plays by rules dictated by mainline contracts and scope clauses, you get to expensive you get replaced so in order to have stability you must work hand-n-hand with Mgmt. That may be my years of middle Mgmt. (different industry) talking but it is reality. No matter how much you deny no regional will ever be a career carrier because of the margins dictated by mainline.

Truth hurts.

SkyWest Mgmt. wants us to leave after 6-7 years. After that amount of time we as pilots start getting expensive (dictated by the industry which works under mainline restrictions), but if you choose to stay with SKW our Mgmt. team will do their best to maintain a solid airline. No one here will ever be the highest paid, we will be competitive which is far more important IMO. Stability is more important than a few extra bucks in my book and I trust my Mgmt. team to make the hard decision.

Bash me and call me a Kool-Aid drinker all you want but until you've spent time in SGU and understand how our airline is run you will never understand SkyWest. There's a different environment and culture in SGU that no other carrier possesses. Yes we aren't without issue and we do have some bad apples but as a whole SkyWest the fastest kid at the special Olympics (sorry if that offended someone, it's just an expression).

I just brought the post back because the article was so funny in light of what happened. "..Oh we don't have any plans to buy ASA, were just talking about it."

Didn't plan to turn this into a fight.