SkyWest Airlines

SkyWest Airlines is an American regional airline based in St. George, Utah. It operates and maintains airplanes for four big airlines: Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines. These flights are sold under different names like Alaska SkyWest, American Eagle, Delta Connection, and United Express.

SkyWest is the largest regional airline in North America. It flies to 256 cities in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The airline helps connect smaller airports to the main hubs of its partner airlines.

In 2025, SkyWest carried 46 million passengers. On an average day, it operated 2,260 flights. These flights included many United Express, Delta Connection, American Eagle, and Alaska Airlines trips, helping people travel across many places.

History

A lawyer from St. George, Utah bought a small airline in 1972 to help businessmen travel to Salt Lake City. The airline, named SkyWest, grew slowly at first but later became one of the bigger regional airlines in the western U.S..

Over the years, SkyWest started working with bigger airlines like Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and American Airlines. They helped these airlines offer flights to smaller places using smaller planes. SkyWest also changed and updated its airplanes over time to keep up with demand. In recent years, SkyWest has made new partnerships to help other airlines and even bought a piece of another airline to help it grow.

Corporate affairs

SkyWest works with partner airlines in special agreements. In most of these agreements, partner airlines pay SkyWest a set fee for each flight, based on how long the flight lasts and other factors. In some agreements, SkyWest plans the flights, sets the prices, and keeps the money from some passengers.

SkyWest helps smaller cities stay connected with bigger airports through special government support. These flights often use small jet planes.

Network

As of December 2025, SkyWest flies to 256 places across North America. These include 45 states and Washington D.C., 5 Canadian provinces, and 12 cities in Mexico.

The airline has important airports, called hubs, in places like Chicago–O'Hare, Denver, Detroit, and Los Angeles, among others. Crew bases are located in cities such as Austin, Atlanta, and Boston. Maintenance bases are in locations including Boise, Chicago–O'Hare, and Detroit.

Fleet

Current fleet

SkyWest has the largest group of airplanes of any small airline in the United States. Since 2015, the airline has only used airplanes with jet engines. Most SkyWest airplanes have the colors of partner airlines, but SkyWest has a few airplanes with its own colors that can be used for any partner as needed.

SkyWest is a big user of the Bombardier CRJ family of small jet airplanes, was the first to use the CRJ200, is the biggest user of the CRJ200 and got the last CRJ ever made, a CRJ900. The airline is also the biggest user of the Embraer 175.

Like most small airlines in the United States, SkyWest must follow rules set by its bigger partner airlines and their airplane workers; these rules limit how big the airplanes can be that a small airline can use.

As of December 2025, SkyWest Airlines uses the following airplanes:

Note: the chart above only shows airplanes that are being used for regular flights. It does not include airplanes owned by SkyWest that are: rented to others, taken out of use, moving between partner agreements, kept as extra, parked, or being taken apart.

Historical fleet

SkyWest used to use Embraer EMB 120 airplanes with propellers until 2015. The airline also used Fairchild Metroliner airplanes with propellers. In 1984, SkyWest had the biggest group of Metro airplanes in the world with 26 airplanes, and by 1991 the Metro group had grown to 35 airplanes with 15 Brasilia airplanes with propellers also being used. By 1994, the first jet airplane, a Bombardier CRJ100, was added to the group and by 1996 all of the Metro airplanes with propellers were retired as they were slowly replaced with Brasilia airplanes. SkyWest was also the first to use the CRJ200 regional jet.

According to the airline’s website, when it started, SkyWest was using small airplanes with propellers in the early 1970s, including:

• Piper Cherokee 140 – two passenger seats
• Piper Cherokee Arrow – four passenger seats
• Piper Cherokee Six – six passenger seats
• Piper Navajo – eight passenger seats
• Piper Navajo Chieftain – nine passenger seats

Lawsuits

In October 2023, SkyWest faced a lawsuit from the Association of Flight Attendants. They claimed the company unfairly let go of two flight attendants for taking part in union activities.

Later, in July 2024, the US Department of Labor also took legal action against SkyWest. They said the company supported a group that represented its workers but did not act fairly, stopping two employees from trying to lead because they wanted an independent union.

Main article: Association of Flight Attendants
Main articles: union organizing, company union, Railway Labor Act, US Department of Labor