SKYWEST INC_December 31, 2025
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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025
OR
For the transition period from to
Commission File No. 0-14719
SKYWEST, INC.
Incorporated under the Laws of Utah 87-0292166(IRS Employer ID No.)
444 South River Road
St. George, Utah84790
(435) 634-3000
Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of Each Class Trading Symbol(s) Name of Each Exchange on which Registered
Common Stock, No Par Value SKYW The Nasdaq Global Select Market
Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes⌧ No ☐
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐No⌧
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes⌧ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes⌧ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ⌧
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ⌧
The aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates (based upon the closing sale price of the registrant’s common stock on The Nasdaq Global Select Market) on June 30, 2025 was approximately $4,156,927,217.
As of February 10 2026, there were 40,406,672 shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding.
Documents Incorporated by Reference
Portions of the registrant’s proxy statement to be used in connection with the registrant’s 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Report as specified. Such proxy statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than 120 days after the registrant’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2025.
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SKYWEST, INC.
ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page No.
PART I
Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements 3
Item 1. Business 4
Item 1A. Risk Factors 14
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 28
Item 1C. Cybersecurity 28
Item 2. Properties 30
Item 3. Legal Proceedings 30
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 30
PART II
Item 6. [Reserved] 32
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 44
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 45
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 78
Item 9B. Other Information 80
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions That Prevent Inspections 80
PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 80
Item 11. Executive Compensation 80
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions 80
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services 80
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules 81
Signatures 85
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PART I
Unless otherwise indicated in this Report, “SkyWest,” “we,” “us,” “our” and similar terms refer to SkyWest, Inc., including SkyWest’s wholly-owned subsidiary SkyWest Airlines, Inc. “SkyWest Airlines” refers to our wholly-owned subsidiary SkyWest Airlines, Inc., "SkyWest Leasing" refers to our wholly-owned subsidiary SkyWest Leasing, Inc. and “SWC” refers to our wholly-owned subsidiary SkyWest Charter, LLC.
Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Certain of the statements contained in this Report should be considered “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “forecast,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “could,” “should,” “hope,” “likely,” and “continue” and similar terms used in connection with statements regarding our outlook, anticipated operations, the revenue environment, our contractual relationships, and our anticipated financial performance. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the continued demand for our product, the effect of economic conditions on SkyWest’s business, financial condition and results of operations, the timing of scheduled aircraft deliveries, fleet expansion, changes in aircraft seat configurations, transition and anticipated fleet size for SkyWest in upcoming periods, expected production levels in future periods and associated recovery from captain staffing challenges, pilot attrition trends, SkyWest’s coordination with United Airlines, Inc. (“United”), Delta Air Lines, Inc. (“Delta”), American Airlines, Inc. (“American”) and Alaska Airlines, Inc. (“Alaska”) (each, a “major airline partner” and together, “major airline partners”) regarding the delivery of aircraft under previously announced agreements and timing of placing new aircraft deliveries into service, the expected terms, timing and benefits related to SkyWest’s leasing, strategic arrangements, strategic agreements and equity investments in third parties, the potential use of SkyWest Charter (“SWC”) as a commuter air carrier, SkyWest’s provision of assets to Corporate Flight Management, Inc. d/b/a Contour Airlines (“Contour”), scheduled flight service to smaller communities, increasing the utilization and efficiency of all fleet types as well as SkyWest’s future financial and operating results, plans, objectives, expectations, estimates, intentions and outlook, and other statements that are not historical facts. All forward-looking statements included in this Report are made as of the date hereof and are based on information available to SkyWest as of such date. SkyWest assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements unless required by law. Readers should note that many factors could affect the future operating and financial results of SkyWest and could cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements set forth in this Report. These factors include, but are not limited to the challenges of competing successfully in a highly competitive and rapidly changing industry; developments associated with fluctuations in the economy and the demand for air travel, including related to inflationary pressures, and related decreases in customer demand and spending; uncertainty regarding potential future outbreaks of infectious diseases or other health concerns, and the consequences of such outbreaks to the travel industry, including travel demand and travel behavior, and our major airline partners in general and the financial condition and operating results of SkyWest in particular; the prospects of entering into agreements with existing or other carriers to fly new aircraft; uncertainty regarding timing and performance of key third-party service providers; ongoing negotiations between SkyWest and its major airline partners regarding their contractual obligations; uncertainties regarding operation of new aircraft; the ability to attract and retain qualified pilots, mechanics and other personnel in operations; the impact of regulatory issues such as pilot rest rules and qualification requirements; the ability to obtain aircraft financing; the financial stability of SkyWest’s major airline partners and any potential impact of their financial condition on the operations of SkyWest; fluctuations in flight schedules, which are determined by the major airline partners for whom SkyWest conducts flight operations; variations in market and economic conditions; significant aircraft debt commitments; estimated useful life of long-lived assets, residual aircraft values and related asset impairments; labor relations and costs; the impact of global instability; rapidly fluctuating fuel costs and potential fuel shortages; the impact of weather-related, natural disasters and other air safety incidents on air travel and airline costs; aircraft deliveries; uncertainty regarding ongoing international hostilities, including those between Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Hamas, and Israel and Iran, and the related impacts on macroeconomic conditions and on the international operations of any of our major airline partners as a result of such conflicts; the availability of parts used in connection with maintenance and repairs of the aircraft; the availability of suitable replacement aircraft for aging aircraft; the impact of enacted and proposed U.S. tariffs on global economic conditions and the financial markets, passenger demand, the cost of aircraft parts and supplies sourced internationally and the cost of service providers located outside of the United States; the impact of potential future U.S. government shutdowns on air traffic controller staffing, flight cancellations and federal Essential Air Service (“EAS”) subsidies and other unanticipated factors.
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There may be other factors that may affect matters discussed in forward-looking statements set forth in this Report, which factors may also cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed. We assume no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting these statements other than as required by applicable law.
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
General
Through SkyWest Airlines, our primary operating entity, we offer scheduled passenger service to destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Substantially all of our flights are operated as United Express, Delta Connection, American Eagle or Alaska Airlines flights under code-share agreements with United, Delta, American or Alaska, respectively. Code-share agreements are commercial agreements between airlines that, among other things, allow one airline to use another airline’s flight designator codes on its flights. As of December 31, 2025, we offered approximately 2,260 daily departures, of which approximately 940 were United Express flights, 680 were Delta Connection flights, 420 were American Eagle flights and 210 were Alaska Airlines flights.
We generally provide regional flying to our major airline partners under long-term, fixed-fee, code-share agreements. Under these fixed-fee agreements (commonly referred to as “capacity purchase agreements”), our major airline partners generally pay us fixed rates for operating the aircraft primarily based on the number of completed flights, flight time and the number of aircraft under contract. The major airline partners either directly pay for or reimburse us for specified direct operating expenses, including fuel expenses. Our operations are conducted principally at airports that support our major airline partners’ route networks, including Chicago (O’Hare), Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and Seattle.
We conduct our code-share operations with our major airline partners pursuant to various code-share agreements described under the heading “Code-Share Agreements” below.
Fleet
SkyWest has been flying since 1972. During our long operating history, we have developed an industry-leading reputation for providing quality regional airline service. As of December 31, 2025, our fleet consisted of aircraft manufactured by Embraer S.A. (“Embraer”), including the E175 regional jet aircraft (“E175”), and aircraft manufactured by MHI RJ Aviation ULC, formerly known as Bombardier Aerospace (“Bombardier”), including the Canadair CRJ900 regional jet aircraft (“CRJ900”), the Canadair CRJ700 regional jet aircraft (“CRJ700”), including a 50-seat configuration of the CRJ700 aircraft, commonly referred to as a “CRJ550” and the Canadair CRJ200 regional jet aircraft (“CRJ200”). As of December 31, 2025, we had 637 total aircraft in our fleet, including 487 aircraft in scheduled service or under contract pursuant to our code-share agreements, summarized as follows:
Alaska 42 — — — 42
Aircraft in scheduled service or under contract 270 36 123 58 487
SWC — — — 11 11
Leased to third parties — 5 40 — 45
Bombardier and Embraer are the primary manufacturers of regional jets operated in the United States and offer many of the amenities of larger commercial jet aircraft, including flight attendant service, a stand-up cabin, overhead and
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under seat storage, lavatories and in-flight snack and beverage service. The Bombardier CRJ900, CRJ700 and CRJ550 aircraft and the Embraer E175 aircraft we operate under our code-share agreements are configured with a first-class seating section. The Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft we operate under our code-share agreements are configured in a 50-seat configuration with single-class seating. The speed of Bombardier and Embraer regional jets is comparable to larger aircraft operated by major airlines, and they have a range of approximately 1,600 miles and 2,100 miles, respectively. As of December 31, 2025, our fleet seat configuration by aircraft type is summarized as follows:
Manufacturer Aircraft Type Seat Configuration
SkyWest Leasing
SkyWest Leasing is a reportable segment that includes revenue associated with our financing of new aircraft with debt under our capacity purchase agreements, currently consisting of our E175 aircraft, and the depreciation and interest expense of our E175 aircraft. The SkyWest Leasing segment additionally includes the revenue and expense from leasing aircraft and engines to third parties. The SkyWest Leasing segment’s total assets and capital expenditures include the acquired E175 aircraft and aircraft and engines leased to third parties.
As of December 31, 2025, SkyWest Leasing leased 40 CRJ700 aircraft, five CRJ900 aircraft and regional jet aircraft engines to third parties.
SkyWest Charter (SWC)
In 2022, we formed a new subsidiary, SWC, which began operations in 2023. SWC offers on-demand charter service using CRJ200 aircraft in a 30-seat configuration. As of December 31, 2025, SWC had 11 aircraft available for on-demand charter service. In September 2025, the U.S. Department of Transportation (the “DOT”) granted SWC authorization to operate as a commuter air carrier. We are evaluating opportunities to use SWC as a commuter air carrier.
Competition and Economic Conditions
The airline industry is highly competitive. We compete principally with other regional airlines. Our operations extend throughout most major geographic markets in the United States. Our competition includes, therefore, nearly every other domestic regional airline. Our primary competitors include CommuteAir, Inc.; Endeavor Air, Inc. (“Endeavor”) (owned by Delta); Envoy Air Inc. (“Envoy”), PSA Airlines, Inc. (“PSA”) and Piedmont Airlines (“Piedmont”) (Envoy, PSA and Piedmont are owned by American); Horizon Air Industries, Inc. (“Horizon”) (owned by Alaska Air Group, Inc.); GoJet Airlines, LLC (“GoJet”); and Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (“Republic”). Major airlines typically award code-share flying agreements to regional airlines based primarily upon the following criteria: ability to fly contracted schedules, availability of labor resources, including pilots, low operating cost, financial resources, geographical infrastructure, overall customer service levels relating to on-time arrival and flight completion percentages and the overall image of the regional airline. Additionally, each major airline may be limited in the number and type of regional aircraft it may use in its network due to agreements the major airline has with its own labor groups, commonly referred to in the industry as “scope limitations.” Given our major airline partners’ scope limitations, we currently do not operate a regional aircraft configured with more than 76 seats.
The principal competitive factors for regional airline code-share agreements include labor resources, code-share agreement terms, reliable flight operations, operating cost structure, ability to finance new aircraft, certification to operate certain aircraft types and geographical infrastructure supporting markets and routes served.
Our operations represent the largest regional airline operations in the United States. However, regional carriers owned by major airlines may have access to greater resources than we do through their parent companies.
Generally, the airline industry is sensitive to changes in general economic conditions. Economic downturns, combined with competitive pressures, have contributed to a number of reorganizations, bankruptcies, liquidations and business combinations among major and regional carriers. The effect of economic downturns may be somewhat mitigated by our predominantly contract-based flying agreements. If, however, any of our major airline partners
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experience a prolonged decline in the number of passengers or are negatively affected by low ticket prices or high fuel prices, they may seek rate reductions in future code-share agreements, or materially reduce scheduled flights in order to reduce their costs. In addition, adverse weather conditions can impact our ability to complete scheduled flights and can have a negative impact on our operations and financial condition. Also, major airline scope limitations may restrict certain fleet-type growth opportunities for the regional carriers. Additionally, attrition of our pilots or other workgroups may reduce our flying schedules and have a negative impact on our operations and financial condition.
Impact of Regional Airline Captain Availability on Production
As passenger demand in the airline industry recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the number of regional airline captains and first officers hired by major airlines and low-cost carriers significantly increased. As a result, we experienced a high level of captain and first officer attrition during 2022 and 2023, which constrained our capacity to operate our major airline partners’ requested flight schedules in full. During 2024, captain attrition began to ease and, by the end of 2025, we were operating full flight schedules requested by our major airline partners. Sequential fluctuations in the number of completed departures and completed block hours from 2023 to 2025 were primarily driven by available captains.
Capacity and flight schedule impact. We completed the following number of flights and related block hours in 2025, 2024 and 2023:
For the year ended December 31,
Liquidity
At December 31, 2025, we had $782.5 million in total available liquidity, consisting of $706.9 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, and $75.6 million available for borrowing under our line of credit.
Industry Overview
Majors, Low-Cost Carriers and Regional Airlines
The airline industry in the United States has traditionally been comprised of several major airlines, including Alaska, American, Delta and United. The major airlines offer scheduled flights to most major U.S. cities, numerous smaller U.S. cities, and cities throughout the world through a hub-and-spoke network.
Low-cost carriers, such as Southwest Airlines Co. (“Southwest”), JetBlue Airways Corporation (“JetBlue”), Spirit Airlines, Inc. (“Spirit”), Allegiant Travel Company (“Allegiant”), Frontier Group Holdings, Inc. (“Frontier”) and Breeze Aviation Group, Inc. (“Breeze”) generally have lower cost structures than major airlines, which permits them to offer flights to and from many of the same markets as the major airlines, but at lower prices. Low-cost carriers typically operate using a point-to-point network strategy, rather than a hub-and-spoke network.
Regional airlines, including SkyWest, typically operate smaller aircraft on shorter routes than major and low-cost carriers. Several regional airlines, including Endeavor, Envoy, Horizon, Piedmont and PSA, are wholly-owned subsidiaries of major airlines.
Regional airlines generally do not try to establish an independent route system and compete with the major airlines. Rather, regional airlines typically enter into agreements with one or more major airlines, pursuant to which the regional airline agrees to use its smaller, lower-cost aircraft to carry passengers booked and ticketed by the major airline between a hub of the major airline and a smaller outlying city. In exchange for such services, the major airline pays the regional airline either fixed fees to operate the flight, termed “capacity purchase agreement,” or “flying contract,” or the regional airline receives a percentage of applicable passenger ticket revenues on designated flights operated by the regional airline, termed “prorate agreement” as described in more detail below.
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Code-Share Agreements
Regional airlines generally enter into code-share agreements with major airlines, pursuant to which the regional airline is authorized to use the major airline’s two-letter flight designator codes to identify the regional airline’s flights and fares in the central reservation systems, to paint its aircraft with the colors and/or logos of the major airline and to market and advertise its status as a carrier for the major airline. Code-share agreements also generally obligate the major airline to provide services such as reservations, ticketing, ground support and gate access to the regional airline, and the major airline often coordinates marketing, advertising and other promotional efforts. In exchange, the regional airline provides a designated number of low-capacity (usually between 50 and 76 seats) flights between larger airports served by the major airline and surrounding cities, usually in lower-volume markets. The financial arrangements between the regional airlines and their code-share partners usually involve either capacity purchase agreements or prorate agreements as explained below:
We have code-share agreements with United, Delta, American and Alaska. During the year ended December 31, 2025, approximately 84% of our flying agreements revenue related to capacity purchase agreement flights, where United, Delta, American and Alaska controlled scheduling, ticketing, pricing, and seat inventories. The remainder of our flying agreements revenue during the year ended December 31, 2025, related to prorate flights for United, Delta or American, where we controlled scheduling, pricing and seat inventories on certain prorate routes, and shared passenger fares with United, Delta or American according to prorate formulas and SWC on-demand charter flights. The routes placed under our prorate agreements typically include flight service between one of our partners’ hub cities and a city not served under our capacity purchase agreements.
Under our capacity purchase agreements, our major airline partners compensate us for our costs of owning the aircraft on a monthly basis. The aircraft compensation structure varies by agreement but is intended to cover either our aircraft principal and interest debt service costs or our aircraft depreciation and interest expense while the aircraft is under contract. The number of aircraft under our capacity purchase agreements and our prorate agreements as of December 31, 2025 is reflected in the summary below. The following summaries of our code-share agreements with our major airline partners do not purport to be complete and are qualified in their entirety by reference to the applicable agreement.
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United Express Agreements
Agreement Aircraft type Number of Aircraft Term / Termination Dates
United Express Agreements • E175 121 Individual aircraft have scheduled
Total under United Express Agreements 216
Delta Connection Agreements
Agreement Aircraft type Number of Aircraft Term / Termination Dates
Delta Connection Agreement • E175 87 Individual aircraft have scheduled
Total under Delta Connection Agreements 137
American Agreements
Agreement Aircraft type Number of Aircraft Term / Termination Dates
American Agreement • E175 20 Individual aircraft have scheduled
American Prorate Agreement • CRJ900 4* Terminable with 180-day notice
Total under American Agreements 92
Alaska Agreement
Agreement Aircraft type Number of Aircraft Term / Termination Dates
Alaska Agreement • E175 42 Individual aircraft have scheduled
(capacity purchase agreement) removal dates under the agreement
In addition to the aircraft operating under the respective agreements outlined above, we have agreed with our major airline partners to place additional aircraft under capacity purchase agreements as summarized below. We are coordinating with the aircraft manufacturer and our major airline partners regarding the timing of upcoming fleet deliveries. The anticipated deliveries and in-service timing referenced below are subject to change.
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In January 2026, we extended the scheduled contract expirations on 40 E175 aircraft with United and 13 E175 aircraft with Delta. The termination dates in the table above reflect the January 2026 extensions.
United Express Agreements
We and United are parties to two United Express capacity purchase agreements: a United Express agreement to operate certain CRJ700 aircraft, and a United Express agreement to operate E175 aircraft, CRJ550 aircraft and CRJ200 aircraft (collectively, the “United Express Agreements”).
The United Express Agreements have a latest scheduled termination date of 2033. The United Express Agreements are subject to early termination in various circumstances including:
Delta Connection Agreement
We and Delta are parties to a Delta Connection capacity purchase agreement (the “Delta Connection Agreement”), pursuant to which we provide contract flight services for Delta.
The Delta Connection Agreement has a latest scheduled termination date of 2034. The Delta Connection Agreement is subject to early termination in various circumstances including:
● if we fail to satisfy certain performance or safety requirements; or
American Agreement
We and American are parties to a capacity purchase agreement (the “American Agreement”) for the operation of E175 and CRJ700 aircraft. The American Agreement has a latest scheduled termination date of 2032 and is subject to early termination in various circumstances including:
● if our operations fall below certain performance levels or safety standards;
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Alaska Agreement
We and Alaska are parties to a capacity purchase agreement (the “Alaska Agreement”) for the operation of E175 aircraft. The Alaska Agreement has a latest scheduled termination date of 2034 and is subject to early termination in various circumstances including:
Training and Aircraft Maintenance
We provide substantially all training to our crew members and maintenance personnel at our training facilities. Our employees perform routine airframe and engine maintenance along with periodic inspections of equipment at our maintenance facilities. We also use third-party vendors for certain airframe and engine maintenance work.
Fuel
Our capacity purchase agreements with United, Delta, American and Alaska require the respective major airline partner to pay for fuel costs, either directly to the fuel vendor or to reimburse us for the fuel costs we incur under those agreements, thereby reducing our exposure to fuel price fluctuations. Under our prorate agreements with United, Delta and American, we are responsible for the costs to operate the flights, including fuel costs, and therefore we are exposed to fuel price fluctuations for flights operated under our prorate agreements. During the year ended December 31, 2025, our major airline partners purchased the majority of the fuel for our aircraft flying under their respective capacity purchase agreements directly from their fuel vendors or, when applicable, reimbursed us for the fuel costs we incurred under the capacity purchase agreements. Historically, we have not experienced sustained material problems with the availability of fuel and believe we will be able to obtain fuel in quantities sufficient to meet our existing and anticipated future requirements at competitive prices. We typically purchase fuel from third-party suppliers for our prorate agreements. A substantial increase in the price of jet fuel for flights we operate under our prorate agreements may have a material adverse effect on our financial results if we are unable to recover such cost increases through higher passenger fares. A substantial, prolonged shortage of fuel supply in the future, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.
Human Capital Resources
Employee Profile
As of December 31, 2025, we employed 15,775 total employees, consisting of 5,354 pilots, 4,831 flight attendants, 2,028 airport operations personnel, 1,728 maintenance technicians, 967 other maintenance personnel, 199 dispatchers and 668 operational support and administrative personnel. Our total employees at December 31, 2025, included 1,957 part-time employees. As of December 31, 2025, all our employees are employed by SkyWest Airlines or to a limited extent, by SWC. Certain SkyWest Airlines employees also provide administrative support to the SkyWest Leasing segment. Approximately 89.6% of these employees were represented by in-house labor associations that have entered into collective bargaining agreements regarding employee compensation and work rules. None of these employees are currently represented by an outside union. Outside union organizing efforts among our employees do occur from time to time and may continue in the future. If unionization efforts are successful, we may be subjected to increased risks of work interruption or stoppage; and/or we may be limited in our ability to communicate with our employees, which would negatively impact our culture and working relationship with our employees. Additionally, an outside union may limit our ability to increase employee wages to market rates in a timely manner which could result in low employee job satisfaction and increased employee attrition. SkyWest Airlines has never experienced a work stoppage due to a strike or other labor dispute, and we consider our relationships with our employees to be good.
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Our relations with labor are governed by the Railway Labor Act (the “RLA”), the federal law governing labor relations between air carriers and their employees. Under the RLA, a collective bargaining agreement between an airline and a labor representative does not expire, but instead becomes amendable as of a stated date. If either party wishes to modify the terms of any such agreement, it must notify the other party in the manner prescribed by the RLA and/or described in the agreement. After receipt of such notice, the parties must meet for direct negotiations, and if no agreement is reached, either party may request the National Mediation Board (“NMB”) to initiate a process including mediation, arbitration, and a potential “cooling off” period that must be followed before either party may engage in “self-help.” “Self-help” includes, among other things, a strike by the representative or the imposition of proposed changes to the collective bargaining agreement by the airline. If the NMB believes that self-help has the risk “substantially to interrupt interstate commerce to a degree such as to deprive any section of the country of essential transportation service,” it may recommend that the President establish a Presidential Emergency Board (“PEB”). The PEB would hear testimony and make a recommendation regarding how to resolve the outstanding issues.
We respect all employees’ legal rights, including the rights to free association and collective bargaining. This includes the right to decide whether to be represented by a union. Under the RLA, employees have the right to decide whether they wish to be represented by a union. They also have the right to reject union representation.
Culture
At SkyWest our people are our most valued assets, and the success of our business is dependent on having a collaborative, engaged and effective workforce. We respect every individual's quality of life and are committed to promoting integrity and trust in all we do. We strive to be the partner of choice and employer of choice.
Health & Safety
Safety is the primary focus and foundation of our culture with our first guiding principle being Health and Safety First. We expect our employees to think, plan, communicate and act appropriately to prevent injury, illness or harm to themselves, fellow employees, passengers and aircraft. SkyWest’s Safety Management System (SMS) integrates an intentional safety culture into every work group and every employee process from new hire through retirement, focusing on industry-best practices in safety competencies and behaviors. Safety training is required for every SkyWest employee annually, regardless of position.
SkyWest’s SMS is designed to identify, track, and help mitigate potential safety risks before an incident or accident occurs. Employees are encouraged to participate in our voluntary programs to report potential safety concerns or violations to reduce safety risk, including, but not limited to our Aviation Safety Action Program and Safety Concern Report.
Attracting, Developing and Retaining Talent
Recruitment Strategies. We strive to be the employer of choice for aviation professionals pursuing a career in the regional airline industry and we continually update our recruiting strategies to attract quality aviation professionals. We adapt our recruitment efforts based on the supply of eligible aviation professionals and our outlook for anticipated future flight schedules. Our recruiting focus generally targets key aviation technical roles, especially pilots and mechanics. We seek qualified individuals through publishing positions on both internal and external career websites, supporting professional development leads, investment in targeted advertising, social media outreach, employee referrals and relationships with community-based organizations and educational institutions. Through various interview and related programs with our major airline partners,
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including United’s Aviate program, our pilots have carrier pathway opportunities with our major airline partners.
School Partnerships and Development. We maintain relationships with numerous flight schools and educational institutions across the country that are focused on developing the next generation of aviation professionals. We have also developed relationships with numerous aviation mechanic schools. We typically recruit pilots and maintenance technicians that have completed required coursework from an accredited flight or maintenance school, respectively, and have obtained other applicable certifications. We also provide other programs to enhance our recruiting efforts towards individuals who are in process of completing their training, including a Pilot Pathway Program and an Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT) Pathway Program.
Ongoing Training and Retention. SkyWest invests in retaining its professionals by providing a range of talent development opportunities, including mandatory compliance training, new hire training and general professional development, as well as engaging in the training of leaders through leadership development courses. Our training programs include full-motion flight simulators for pilots, on-the-job training for technicians, and cabin trainers for flight attendants. We also reinforce our guiding principles, including but not limited to, health and safety, personal and corporate integrity, excellent service and quality, and respect and teamwork through our training and development programs, as well as through our employee appreciation and recognition programs.
Total Rewards
SkyWest Airlines operates in a customer-focused, team-based environment and provides opportunities for dedicated individuals to develop their career while receiving competitive compensation, benefits and rewards. Our employees receive several compensation benefits, including but not limited to:
● Competitive wages and incentives based on our operating performance goals,
● Free access to financial advisors for personal finance guidance and education,
Employee Reporting
Our Code of Conduct contains general guidelines for conducting business in an ethical manner. We are committed to a working environment that is safe and supports open and honest communication. We have established a reporting system for any SkyWest employee to report a violation of Company policy including harassment, discrimination, drug and alcohol use, questionable financial practice, or a breach involving safety or security. A general grievance may also be filed even if an employee has already utilized their chain of command or chooses to remain anonymous. Our Code of Conduct also forbids retaliation against any employee who, in good faith, reports a suspected
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violation of law or policy. Reports can be filed with an independent service provider using a toll-free ethics and grievance hotline or by using an online reporting system accessible through SkyWest’s intranet.
Government Regulation
All interstate air carriers, including SkyWest, are subject to regulation by the DOT, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (the “FAA”) and other governmental agencies. Regulations promulgated by the DOT primarily relate to economic aspects of air service. The FAA requires operating, airworthiness and other certificates; approval of personnel who may engage in flight, maintenance or operating activities; record-keeping procedures in accordance with FAA requirements; and FAA approval of flight training and retraining programs. Generally, governmental agencies enforce their regulations through, among other methods, certifications, which are necessary for the continued operations of SkyWest, and proceedings, which can result in civil or criminal penalties or revocation of operating authority. The FAA can also issue maintenance directives and other mandatory orders relating to, among other things, grounding of aircraft, inspection of aircraft, installation of new safety-related items and the mandatory removal and replacement of aircraft parts.
We believe SkyWest complies, in all material respects, with FAA regulations and holds all operating and airworthiness certificates and licenses which are necessary to conduct our operations. We maintain current certifications and otherwise comply with the laws, rules and regulations to which we are subject. Our flight operations, maintenance programs, recordkeeping and training programs are conducted under FAA approved procedures. All air carriers operating in the United States are required to comply with federal laws and regulations pertaining to noise abatement and engine emissions. All such air carriers are also subject to certain provisions of the Federal Communications Act of 1934, as amended, because of their extensive use of radio and other communication facilities. SkyWest is also subject to certain federal and state laws relating to protection of the environment, labor relations and equal employment opportunity. We believe SkyWest complies, in all material respects, with these laws and regulations.
Environmental Matters
We are subject to various federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations relating to environmental protection matters. These laws and regulations govern such matters as environmental reporting, storage and disposal of materials and chemicals and aircraft noise. We are, and expect in the future to be, involved in various environmental matters and conditions at, or related to, our properties. We are not currently subject to any environmental cleanup orders or actions imposed by regulatory authorities. We are not aware of any active material environmental investigations related to our assets or properties.
As the largest regional airline in the United States, we remain committed to working with our major airline partners to lower our environmental footprint while continuing to offer the best service to our customers and the communities we serve. Our largest source of emissions and environmental impact comes from utilizing jet fuel on flights operated under our code-share agreements with our major airline partners. Under our capacity purchase agreements, our major airline partners purchase the aircraft fuel we consume, select the aircraft type we operate, and set flight schedules, all of which are variables which impact fuel consumption efficiencies. During 2025, we produced approximately 6.3 million metric tons of CO2e from fuel burned, using industry emissions factors, on flights we operated under our code-share agreements. We are largely dependent on direction from our major airline partners regarding long-term fuel saving and carbon reducing initiatives such as engine innovations reducing fuel consumption, use of sustainable alternative fuels, carbon sequestration programs, air traffic flow routing efficiencies, and similar initiatives. Each of our major airline partners may pursue alternative strategies and goals to reduce carbon emissions on flights we operate under our code-share agreements that may impact the rate at which we are able to reduce our carbon emissions, if at all. We anticipate our major airline partners will take responsibility for carbon emissions incurred on our contract flights.
Our board of directors has oversight of our environment-related performance. Through software and training, we heavily monitor and manage our fuel trends and fuel consumption which leads to better fuel management and reductions in emissions. When possible, we conserve fuel burned by utilizing single engine taxi procedures, improving the efficiency of aircraft routing, using performance-based navigation procedures to reduce track miles, and using ground power when parked at the gate. Additionally, we collaborate with aircraft and engine manufacturers and our major airline partners regarding innovations and emerging technologies that could improve fuel efficiencies and minimize environmental impact. We are also collaborating with our major airline partners and fuel providers regarding long-term
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opportunities to use sustainable aviation fuel in the future. We are evaluating opportunities to increase the number of electric powered ground equipment, including tugs and pushbacks used at airports where we provide ramp services. We participate with our major airline partners in recycling programs, and we have implemented recycling initiatives in our facilities to reduce the amount of paper, plastic and other recyclables going to landfills. We have worked aggressively to reduce our reliance on paper manuals, further eliminating unnecessary waste while increasing efficiencies.
We have entered into a strategic arrangement with Eve Holding, Inc. (“Eve”, formerly EVE UAM, LLC, an Embraer company) to develop a network of deployment for Eve UAM’s electric vertical takeoff and landing (“eVTOL”) aircraft. Subject to an agreement of key commercial terms, this arrangement includes the option for SkyWest to purchase up to 100 eVTOL aircraft.
Safety and Security
We are committed to the safety and security of our passengers and employees. We have taken many steps, both voluntarily and as mandated by governmental authorities, to increase the safety and security of our operations. Some of the safety and security measures we have taken with our major airline partners include: aircraft security and surveillance, aircraft cleaning procedures, positive bag matching procedures, enhanced passenger and baggage screening and search procedures and securing of cockpit doors. We are committed to complying with future safety and security requirements.
Insurance
We maintain insurance policies we believe are of types customary in the industry and in amounts we believe are adequate to protect against material loss. These policies principally provide coverage for public liability, passenger liability, baggage and cargo liability, property damage, including coverage for loss or damage to our flight equipment, and workers’ compensation insurance, and other coverages.
Seasonality
Our results of operations for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of those for the entire year, in part because the airline industry is subject to seasonal fluctuations and changes in general economic conditions. Our operations are somewhat favorably affected by leisure travel on our prorate routes, historically contributing to increased travel in the summer months, and are unfavorably affected by decreased business travel during the months from November through January and by inclement weather which can result in cancelled flights, principally during the winter months. Additionally, a significant portion of our capacity purchase agreements are based on completing flights and we typically have more scheduled flights during the summer months. We generally experience a significantly higher number of weather cancellations during the winter months, which negatively impacts our revenue during such months.
Additional Information
We were incorporated in Utah in 1972. Our principal executive offices are located at 444 South River Road, St. George, Utah 84790, and our primary telephone number is (435) 634-3000. Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to reports filed pursuant to Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Exchange Act are available free of charge on our website at inc.skywest.com, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The SEC also maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at www.sec.gov. We use our investor relations website as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Investors should monitor our website, in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. Information relating to our corporate governance is also included on our investor relations website. The information in or accessible through the SEC and our website are not incorporated into, and are not considered part of, this filing. Further, our references to the URLs for these websites are intended to be inactive textual references only. In addition, we provide electronic or paper copies of our SEC filings free of charge upon request.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
In addition to factors discussed elsewhere in this Report, the following are important risks which could adversely affect our future results. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently do not deem material may also impair our business operations. If any of the risks we describe below occur, or if any
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unforeseen risk develops, our operating results may suffer, our financial condition may deteriorate, the trading price of our common stock may decline and investors could lose all or part of their investment in us.
Risks That May Disrupt Our Operations
Various negative economic or industry conditions may result in reductions to our flight schedules, which could materially and adversely affect our operations and financial condition.
Our operations and financial condition are affected by many changing economic and other conditions beyond our control, including, among others:
● impact on workforce availability and economic uncertainty;
● weather and natural disasters.
The effect of any, or some combination, of the foregoing economic and industry conditions on our operations or financial condition is virtually impossible to forecast; however, the occurrence of any or all of such conditions in a significant manner could materially and adversely affect our operations and financial condition and could cause our major airline partners to reduce the utilization levels of our aircraft under our code-share agreements.
We may experience disruption in service due to delays from key third-party service providers.
We rely on third-party service providers to supply aircraft parts and for a variety of services and other functions critical to our business, particularly related to airframe and engine maintenance and repair. A service failure by one of our key service providers could result in a disruption to our operations. We use third party service providers in several areas including, but not limited to, aircraft maintenance, ground handling, fueling, telecommunication systems and information technology services. Current economic conditions have resulted in delays from third-party service providers for spare aircraft parts, and third-party service providers have recently experienced challenges in retaining trained technicians. Delays from third-party service providers could negatively impact our ability to timely maintain our fleet currently in service. Additionally, we plan to continue bringing certain CRJ aircraft out of storage and placing such aircraft into service. Delays in receiving spare parts and/or outsourced maintenance services could delay our efforts to place stored aircraft back into service.
Further, in the event that one or more vendors experiences labor shortages, aircraft part shortages, seeks bankruptcy protection, ceases operation or fails to perform as promised, replacement services may not be readily available at competitive rates, or at all. If one of our vendors fails to perform adequately, we may experience increased costs, delays, maintenance issues, safety issues or negative public perception of our airline. Vendor bankruptcies, unionization, regulatory compliance issues or significant changes in the competitive marketplace among suppliers could
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adversely affect vendor services or force us to renegotiate existing agreements on less favorable terms. These events could result in disruptions in our operations or increases in our cost structure.
Cybersecurity incidents, hardware or software failures or other information technology disruptions may negatively impact our operations, reputation and financial condition.
The performance and reliability of our technology are critical to our ability to compete effectively. Any internal technological error, failure or large-scale external interruption in the information systems, networks, hardware, software and technological infrastructure we depend on, such as U.S. air traffic control systems, power, telecommunications or the internet (collectively, “IT Systems”), may disrupt our internal network, impact our ability to conduct our business and result in lower revenue and/or increased costs. Our IT Systems (including those provided by third parties) and information about our employees and other individuals and proprietary information belonging to our business such as trade secrets (“Confidential Information”) are vulnerable to a variety of sources of interruption due to events beyond our control, including natural disasters, terrorist attacks, telecommunications or IT System failures, computer viruses, hackers and other security issues.
In addition, we face numerous and evolving cybersecurity risks that threaten the security, confidentiality, integrity and availability of our IT Systems and Confidential Information, including from diverse threat actors such as state-sponsored organizations, opportunistic hackers and hacktivists, as well as through diverse attack vectors, such as social engineering/phishing, security breaches, malfeasance by insiders, human or technological error, computer viruses, malicious or destructive code, misconfigurations, “bugs” or other vulnerabilities in commercial software that is integrated into our (or our service providers’) IT Systems, products or services, malware (including ransomware) and other attacks, including through fraud or other means of deception. The methods used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service or attack or sabotage systems are constantly evolving, and threat actors are becoming increasingly sophisticated in using techniques and tools – including artificial intelligence – that circumvent security controls, evade detection and remove forensic evidence. As a result we may be unable to anticipate or to detect, investigate, remediate or recover from attacks or incidents for long periods of time. Further, we may not be able to prevent all data breaches, misuses of data (including Confidential Information) or other cybersecurity incidents.
There can also be no assurance that our cybersecurity risk management program and processes, including our policies, controls or procedures, will be fully implemented, complied with or effective in protecting our IT Systems and Confidential Information. Because we rely on third-party vendors and service providers for functions critical to our business, including information technology infrastructure and services, successful cyberattacks that disrupt or result in unauthorized access to third-party IT Systems can materially impact our operations and financial results. Remote and hybrid working arrangements at our company (and at many third-party service providers) also increase cybersecurity risks due to the challenges associated with managing remote computing assets and security vulnerabilities that are present in many non-corporate and home networks. Additionally, any integration of artificial intelligence into our operations, products or services, or those of our third party vendors, service providers or airline partners, is expected to pose new or unknown cybersecurity risks and challenges.
We and certain of our third-party service providers have in the past experienced cybersecurity incidents. We expect such incidents to continue in varying degrees and cannot assure our cybersecurity risk management program will prevent such incidents from occurring in the future. While no incidents have had a material impact on our operations or financial results to date, we cannot guarantee that material incidents will not occur in the future as further described in “Item 1C. Cybersecurity”. Although we previously carried cybersecurity insurance coverage in the past, we currently do not have cybersecurity insurance coverage. Any cybersecurity incident or other adverse impact to the availability, integrity or confidentiality of our IT Systems or Confidential Information could compromise our ability to operate flights or technology systems, result in the loss of Confidential Information, legal claims or proceedings (such as class actions), regulatory investigations and enforcement actions, liability or regulatory penalties, disruption to our operations, damage to our reputation, loss of existing or future customers and/or significant incident response, system restoration or remediation and future compliance costs. Any or all of the foregoing could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
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Interruptions or disruptions in service at one of our hub airports, due to weather, system malfunctions or for any other reason, could have a material adverse impact on our operations.
We currently operate primarily through hubs supporting our major airline partners’ route networks across the United States. Nearly all of our flights either originate from or fly into one of these hubs. Our revenues depend primarily on our completion of flights and secondarily on service factors such as timeliness of departure and arrival. Any interruptions or disruptions could, therefore, severely and adversely affect us. Extreme weather such as hurricanes or tornados can cause flight disruptions, and, during periods of storms or adverse weather, our flights may be canceled or significantly delayed. We operate a significant number of flights to and from airports with potential winter related or other weather difficulties, including but not limited to, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City and San Francisco. A significant interruption or disruption in service at one of our hubs, due to adverse weather, system malfunctions, air traffic control disruptions, airport construction, security closures, protests or otherwise, could result in the cancellation or delay of a significant portion of our flights and, as a result, could have a severe adverse impact on our operations and financial performance.
We may experience difficulty in recruiting, training and retaining a sufficient number of qualified pilots.
Our operations rely on recruiting and training qualified pilots. FAA regulations regarding personnel certification and qualifications have limited and, along with potential future changes in FAA regulations, could continue to limit the number of qualified new entrants that we could hire. In the event we are unable to recruit and train a sufficient number of qualified pilots, we may be unable to operate requested flight schedules under our capacity purchase agreements, which could result in a reduction in revenue and operating inefficiencies, such as incremental new-hire training costs, and our business and financial condition could be adversely affected.
Our operations also rely on retaining qualified pilots, including captains and first officers. Our pilots may seek employment at major airlines, low-cost carriers or cargo carriers, which generally offer higher salaries and more extensive benefit programs than regional airlines. A shortage of captains caused a sequential reduction in our annual block hours in 2022 and 2023. Although captain attrition levels eased in 2024 and we were operating full flight schedules requested by our major airline partners by the end 2025, future elevated pilot attrition levels could constrain our flight schedules. Operating at reduced flying schedules results in operating inefficiencies which negatively impacts our financial results. If we request our major airline partners to reduce our flight schedules due to pilot or other labor shortages, our major airline partners may seek to enforce financial penalties or reduce the compensation otherwise payable to us under our capacity purchase agreements, which would likely have a negative impact on our revenues and adversely impact our financial condition.
We have experienced, and may continue to experience, difficulty recruiting and retaining other operational personnel.
In addition to pilots, our operations rely on recruiting and retaining other qualified personnel, including, but not limited to, flight attendants, maintenance technicians, dispatch personnel, crew support and other operational personnel. Our operational personnel may seek employment at major airlines, which generally offer higher salaries and more extensive benefit programs than regional airlines. Additionally, alternative career opportunities in other industries, developments in artificial intelligence or other macroeconomic factors could increase our attrition and/or negatively impact our ability to recruit new employees. Should the attrition of our employees sharply increase, we may not be able to hire sufficient personnel to replace those leaving. In the event we are unable to hire and retain other qualified personnel, we may be unable to operate requested flight schedules under our capacity purchase agreements, which could result in a reduction in revenue and operating inefficiencies, such as incremental new-hire training costs, and our business and financial condition could be adversely affected.
The occurrence of an aviation accident involving our aircraft would negatively impact our operations and financial condition.
An accident or incident involving one of our aircraft could result in significant potential claims of injured passengers and others, as well as repair or replacement of a damaged aircraft and its consequential temporary or permanent loss from service. In the event of an accident, our liability insurance may not be adequate to offset our exposure to potential claims and we may be forced to bear substantial losses from the accident. Substantial claims resulting from an accident in excess of our related insurance coverage would harm our operational and financial results. Moreover, any aircraft accident or incident, even if fully insured, could cause a public perception that our operations are
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less safe or reliable than other airlines and could affect our relationships with our major airline partners. In addition, any accident or incident involving a type of aircraft in our fleet could result in air travelers being reluctant to fly on our aircraft, and adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We are subject to significant governmental regulation and potential regulatory changes.
All interstate air carriers, including SkyWest, are subject to regulation by the DOT, the FAA and other governmental agencies. Regulations promulgated by the DOT primarily relate to economic aspects of air service. The FAA requires operating, air worthiness and other certificates; approval of personnel who may engage in flight, maintenance or operation activities; recordkeeping procedures in accordance with FAA requirements; and FAA approval of flight training and retraining programs. We cannot predict whether we will be able to comply with all present and future laws, rules, regulations and certification requirements or that the cost of continued compliance will not have a material adverse effect on our operations. We incur substantial costs in maintaining our current certifications and otherwise complying with the laws, rules and regulations to which we are subject. A decision by the FAA to ground, or require time-consuming inspections of or maintenance on, all or any of our aircraft for any reason may have a material adverse effect on our operations. In addition to state and federal regulation, airports and municipalities enact rules and regulations that affect our operations. From time to time, various airports throughout the country have considered limiting the use of smaller aircraft, such as our aircraft, at such airports. The imposition of any limits on the use of our aircraft at any airport at which we operate could have a material adverse effect on our operations.
We cannot predict the impact of potential regulatory changes that may affect our business or the airline industry as whole, including the potential impact of tariffs on aircraft deliveries. However, it is possible that these changes could adversely affect our business. Our business may be subject to additional costs or loss of government subsidies as a result of potential regulatory changes, which could have an adverse effect on our operations and financial results.
Changes to U.S. tariff and import/export regulations may have a negative effect on our suppliers and/or service providers and, in turn, could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition.
The United States has recently enacted significant tariffs in excess of historical levels, and United States trade policies continue to evolve. Accordingly, there continues to exist significant uncertainty about the future relationship between the United States and other countries with respect to such trade policies, treaties and tariffs. These developments, or the perception that any of them could occur, may have a material adverse effect on global economic conditions and the stability of global financial markets. The recently enacted tariffs have had a significant impact on the cost of aircraft parts and supplies sourced internationally, including but not limited to, the non-U.S. manufactured components used on the E175 aircraft we import from Brazil. These added costs negatively impact us.
Compliance, or failure to comply, with new or existing laws, regulations and other requirements relating to the privacy, security and handling of information about individuals could adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
We receive information related to employees and other individuals in order to run our business. Laws, regulations and other requirements relating to the privacy, security and handling of information about individuals, alongside the application and interpretation of such requirements, are constantly evolving and developing and subject to change, creating a complex compliance environment. There has been heightened legislative and regulatory focus on data privacy and security in the United States and elsewhere, including in relation to cybersecurity incidents, and it is possible that new laws, amendments to or interpretations of existing laws, regulations and other requirements may require us to incur significant costs, implement new processes or change our handling of information and business operations. In addition, any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with laws, regulations and other requirements relating to the privacy, security and handling of information could result in legal claims or proceedings (including class actions), regulatory investigations or enforcement actions. We could incur significant costs in investigating and defending such claims and, if found liable, pay significant damages or fines or be required to make changes to our business. Further, these proceedings and any subsequent adverse outcomes may subject us to significant negative publicity and an erosion of trust. If any of these events were to occur, our business, results of operations, and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.
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Terrorist activities or warnings have dramatically impacted the airline industry and will likely continue to do so.
Past terrorist attacks and their aftermath have negatively impacted the airline industry in general, including our operations. If additional terrorist attacks are launched against the airline industry, there will be lasting consequences of such attacks, which may include loss of life, property damage, increased security and insurance costs, increased concerns about future terrorist attacks, increased government regulation and airport delays due to heightened security. Additionally, terrorist attacks and the fear of such attacks could negatively impact the airline industry, and result in decreased passenger traffic and yields, increased flight delays or cancellations associated with new government mandates, as well as increased security, fuel and other costs. We cannot provide any assurance that these events will not harm the airline industry generally or our operations or financial condition in particular.
Risks Related to Our Code-Share Agreements with Our Major Airline Partners
Our business model is dependent on code-share agreements with four major airline partners.
Our business model depends on major airlines electing to contract with us instead of operating their own aircraft or regional jets. Some regional airlines are owned by a major airline. We have no guarantee that in the future our major airline partners will choose to enter into contracts with us instead of operating their own aircraft or regional jets or award more flying contracts to another regional airline. Our major airline partners are not prohibited from doing so under our code-share agreements. A decision by any of our major airline partners to phase out code-share relationships and instead acquire and operate their own regional jets or regional airline, or award more flying contracts to another regional airline, could have a material adverse effect on our financial results. Additionally, our major airline partners may be limited in the number of regional aircraft they can operate in their network due to aircraft scope limitations they have with their labor groups. Scope limitations could limit our ability to increase the number of aircraft operating under our code-share agreements.
As of December 31, 2025, 353 out of our total 487 aircraft in scheduled service were operating under a capacity purchase agreement or a prorate agreement with either United or Delta. If our code-share relationship with United or Delta were terminated, our operations would be significantly impacted and we would not likely have an immediate source of revenue or earnings to offset such loss. A termination of either of these relationships would likely have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, operating revenues and net income unless we are able to enter into satisfactory substitute arrangements for the utilization of the affected aircraft by other code-share partners, or, alternatively, obtain the airport facilities and gates and make the other arrangements necessary to fly as an independent airline. We may not be able to enter into substitute code-share agreements, and any such arrangements we might secure may not be as favorable to us as our current agreements. Operating SkyWest Airlines as an airline independent from our major airline partners would be a significant departure from our business plan and would likely require significant time and resources and may not be a viable alternative.
Additionally, each of our agreements with our major airline partners is subject to certain early termination provisions, including uncured material performance breaches. We also currently use the systems, facilities and services of our major airline partners to support a significant portion of our operations, including airport and terminal facilities and operations, information technology support, ticketing and reservations, scheduling, dispatching, fuel purchasing and ground handling services. If our major airline partners cease to maintain any of these systems, close any of these facilities or no longer provide these services to us, due to termination of one of our code-share agreements, a strike or other labor interruption by personnel working for our major airline partners or for any other reason, we may not be able to obtain alternative systems, facilities or services on terms and conditions as favorable as those we currently receive, or at all. Since our revenues and operating profits are dependent on our level of flight operations, we could then be forced to significantly reduce our operations.
Reduced utilization levels of our aircraft under our capacity purchase agreements with our major airline partners would have a material adverse impact on the results of our operations and financial condition.
Under our capacity purchase agreements with our major airline partners, a portion of our compensation is based on pre-determined rates that are applied to our production, such as block hours, for the period. We also receive fixed monthly payments related to overhead costs and aircraft ownership costs from our major airline partners. Reduced utilization of our aircraft under our capacity purchase agreements will likely have a material adverse impact on the results of our operations and financial condition. In recent years, compensation under our capacity purchase agreements
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with certain major airline partners have a lower percentage of contractual fixed monthly payments and a higher percentage of contractual variable payments. A compensation structure that is weighted more to utilization and less to fixed payments could have a material adverse impact on the results of our operations and financial condition if utilization levels decrease. Additionally, amendments to our capacity purchase agreements that result in changes to our future scheduled fixed monthly payments will likely impact the timing of our revenue recognition. During the year ended December 31, 2025, the revenue we recognized was $57.8 million more than the fixed monthly cash payments received. As of December 31, 2025, we have received a cumulative total of $264.6 million in fixed monthly cash payments that we have not recognized as revenue. Although we currently anticipate we will recognize previously deferred revenue for the year ending December 31, 2026, future contract amendments or reduced utilization levels of our aircraft could negatively impact the timing of our revenue recognition.
Our major airline partners may experience events that negatively impact their financial strength or operations, which may also negatively impact our operations.
Our business model relies significantly on our major airline partners, and we may be negatively affected by their financial and operating strength. Events impacting airline travel, including pandemics or recessions, that negatively impact the financial strength of our major airline partners or have a long-term effect on the use of our major airline partners by airline travelers would likely have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. If our major airline partners experience adverse effects to their operational or financial condition, they may be unable to make payments due to us under their capacity purchase agreements or may need to reduce utilization of our aircraft. Additionally, if one of our major airline partners undergoes bankruptcy, our agreement with such partner may not be assumed in bankruptcy and could be terminated. This and other events, which are outside of our control, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our growth may be limited with our major airline partners' flight systems.
Additional growth opportunities within our major airline partners’ flight systems are limited by various factors, including a limited number of regional aircraft each major airline partner can operate in its regional network due to scope limitations in its own labor agreements. Except as contemplated by our existing code-share agreements, we cannot be sure that our major airline partners will contract with us to fly any additional aircraft. We may not receive additional growth opportunities, or we may agree to modifications to our code-share agreements at less favorable terms in order to obtain additional aircraft, or for other reasons. Certain of our competitor regional airlines may agree to flying contract terms at lower rates or unfavorable contract terms, which could affect the terms offered to us. Even if we are offered growth opportunities by our major airline partners, those opportunities may involve economic terms or financing commitments that are unacceptable to us. Additionally, our major airline partners may reduce the number of regional jets in their system by not renewing or extending existing flying agreements with regional operators. Any one or more of these factors may reduce or eliminate our ability to expand our flight operations with our existing major airline partners.
There are long-term risks related to supply and demand of regional aircraft associated with our regional airline services strategy.
Various factors could change our major airline partners’ long-term strategy in using regional aircraft to support their network objectives. Such changes could result in a reduction in the number of regional aircraft our major airline partners operate in the future. If our major airline partners’ future strategies include a material reduction in regional aircraft generally or for specific aircraft types that we operate, the resulting decrease in demand in the aircraft we operate could have a material negative impact on our business and financial condition. Additionally, future developments of electric-powered aircraft designed to operate on routes typically served by regional aircraft could impact our major airline partners’ strategy and result in a reduction of demand or increase our capital expenditures and could have a material negative impact on our business and financial condition.
Due, in part, to the dynamic nature of the airline industry, major airlines may also make other strategic changes, such as changing or consolidating hub locations or operating mainline aircraft on routes previously served using regional aircraft. If our major airline partners were to make changes such as these in their strategy and operations, our operations and financial results could be adversely impacted.
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Revenue levels from our prorate agreements with our major airline partners may not continue to increase and are terminable upon notice of 180 days or less. Additionally, revenue levels from our SWC operation may not continue to increase.
While our prorate agreements and SWC revenue increased $153.0 million, or 33.5%, for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, there is no assurance our prorate revenue or SWC revenue will continue to increase in 2026 or thereafter. Future increases in prorate revenue is based on several factors subject to change including, but not limited to, passenger demand on prorate routes, approval of new routes with our major airline partners, maintenance required to return parked aircraft for service and labor availability. Additionally, there is no assurance we will continue to be awarded subsidy contracts under the EAS program on applicable prorate routes from the DOT going forward. Additionally, there is no assurance the EAS program will continue to receive funding by the U.S. Government. Future increases in SWC revenue is also based on several factors subject to change including, but not limited to, corporate or institutional demand for charter flights, competition for charter business and availability of other charter alternatives, such as ground transportation. SWC was granted commuter authority from the DOT in 2025, allowing SWC to expand its route strategy. There is no assurance that SWC will be awarded EAS markets or other commuter routes in the future, nor that demand for its services will materialize as anticipated.
Our prorate flying agreements with our major airline partners permit each major airline partner to terminate the agreement in its discretion by giving us notice of 180 days or less. If one of our major airline partners elects to terminate a flying agreement with notice of 180 days or less, our ability to use the aircraft under an alternative agreement with similar economics may be limited, which could negatively impact our financial results. Additionally, even if we could subsequently place the aircraft into service with a different major airline partner, of which there can be no assurance, we likely would incur inefficiencies and incremental costs, such as changing the aircraft livery, during the transition period, which would negatively impact our financial results.
Disagreements regarding the interpretation of our code-share agreements with our major airline partners could have an adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.
Long-term contractual agreements, such as our code-share agreements, are subject to interpretation and disputes may arise under such agreements if the parties to an agreement apply different interpretations to that agreement. Those disputes may divert management’s time and resources from the core operation of the business, and may result in litigation, arbitration or other forms of dispute resolution.
We have previously experienced disagreements with our major airline partners regarding the interpretation of various provisions of our code-share agreements. Some of those disagreements have resulted in litigation, and we may be subject to additional disputes and litigation in the future. Furthermore, there can be no assurance that any or all future disputes and related proceedings, if commenced, would be resolved in our favor. An unfavorable result in any such proceeding could have adverse financial consequences or require us to modify our operations. Such disagreements and their consequences could have an adverse effect on our relationship with our major airline partners, operating results and financial condition.
We operate on-demand charter flights through our wholly-owned subsidiary, SWC, and such operations involve significant risk.
SWC offers on-demand charter service using CRJ200 aircraft in a 30 seat configuration under its own FAA operating certificate. As we pursue growth opportunities with SWC, there may be significant risks, including that SWC may divert management’s attention or the Company’s resources from our core business and strategies. Additionally, the anticipated objectives of SWC, such as those associated with its recent DOT approval to operate under commuter authority, may not materialize or may take longer to materialize than anticipated.
The airline industry is highly competitive, which could adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.
The airline industry is highly competitive. We compete with other regional airlines on various factors including, but not limited to, labor resources, including pilots and mechanics; low operating costs; financial resources, including the ability to finance aircraft at competitive terms; geographical infrastructure; and overall customer service levels relating to on-time arrival and flight completion percentages. Our major airline partners rely on us to fly passengers from various locations into their hubs under our code-share agreements at competitive terms. We not only compete with other regional
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airlines, some of which are owned by or operated as code-share partners of major airlines, but we also indirectly face competition from low-cost carriers, such as Southwest, Allegiant, Spirit, JetBlue, Breeze and others, who compete with our major airline partners on many routes we operate. Certain of our competitors, including wholly-owned regional airline subsidiaries of our major airline partners, may have access to significantly greater financial and other resources than we do. Moreover, federal deregulation of the industry allows competitors to rapidly enter our markets and to quickly discount and restructure fares. The inability to remain competitive on the various factors valued by our major airline partners could adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.
Risks Related to Our Operating Costs and Personnel
Increases in labor costs, including pilot costs, flight attendant costs, maintenance costs and overhead costs may result in lower operating margins under our capacity purchase agreements.
Under our capacity purchase agreements with our major airline partners, a portion of our compensation is based upon pre-determined rates typically applied to production statistics (such as departures, block hours, flight hours and number of aircraft in service each month). The primary operating costs intended to be compensated by the pre-determined rates include our labor and training costs, aircraft maintenance expenses and overhead costs. During the year ended December 31, 2025, approximately 93.0% of our code-share operating costs were reimbursable at pre-determined rates and 7.0% of our code-share operating costs were directly reimbursed costs, often referred to as pass-through costs. Our business is labor intensive, requiring large numbers of pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and other personnel. Labor costs constitute a significant percentage of our total operating costs. Increases in our labor costs could result in a material reduction in our earnings. For example, during the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, our salary, wage and benefit costs constituted approximately 45.3% and 48.3% of our total operating costs, respectively. Various factors may cause us to significantly increase compensation to our labor groups, such as higher compensation offered by other airlines or other factors impacting the labor market in the United States. Our inability to offset increased labor costs through rate increases under our capacity purchase agreements with all our major airline partners could negatively impact our operating profitability. Currently, we believe our labor costs are competitive relative to other regional airlines. However, we cannot provide assurance that our labor costs going forward will remain competitive because of changes in supply and demand for labor in the regional airline industry. We compete against other airlines and businesses for labor in many highly skilled positions. If we are unable to hire, train and retain qualified employees at a reasonable cost, sustain employee engagement in our strategic vision, or if we are unsuccessful at implementing succession plans for our key staff, we may be unable to grow or sustain our business. Labor costs to recruit, incentivize and retain skilled employees may significantly increase in the future due to increased competition for the limited number of qualified industry personnel. Attrition rates that exceed our ability to hire and replace applicable workgroups could negatively impact our ability to generate revenue, negatively impact our operating results, increase our training and labor costs and our business prospects could be harmed.
Additionally, our aircraft maintenance costs may increase annually as our fleet ages at a higher rate than our pre-determined rates in our capacity purchase agreements. Also, on an individual aircraft basis, various in-depth maintenance procedures are typically scheduled to occur at multi-year intervals, which can result in maintenance expense fluctuations year-to-year. If our operating costs for labor, aircraft maintenance and overhead costs exceed the compensation earned from our pre-determined rates under our capacity purchase agreements, our financial position and operating results will be negatively affected.
Increased labor costs, pilot and other labor availability, labor disputes and unionization of our workforces may adversely affect our ability to conduct our business and reduce our profitability.
Any new labor agreement entered into by other regional carriers with their work forces may result in higher industry wages and increase pressure on us to increase the wages and benefits of our employees. If our labor agreements become uncompetitive with respect to employee compensation or work rules, we may experience higher employee attrition and low employee job satisfaction, which may negatively impact our operating and financial results.
Our employees are represented by in-house associations; however, organizing efforts to join national unions among those employees occur from time to time. Such efforts will likely continue in the future and may ultimately result in some or all of our employees being represented by one or more national unions. If our employees were to unionize or be deemed to be represented by one or more national unions, negotiations with these unions could divert management’s
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attention and disrupt operations. Additionally, representation by a national union may limit our ability to have open communications with our employees, negatively impact our company culture and deter our ability to amend and increase our compensation packages for market conditions in a timely manner, which may result in higher employee dissatisfaction and attrition. Moreover, we cannot predict the outcome of any future negotiations relating to union representation or collective bargaining agreements. A national union soliciting to represent our employees may represent employees at mainline carriers or other regional airlines and may have conflicting interests with those of our employees or SkyWest. Future collective bargaining agreements involving a national union and our employees may negatively impact our relationship with our employees and have an adverse impact on our operating and financial results.
We may experience an increase in fuel prices in our prorate and SWC operations.
Dependence on foreign imports of crude oil, limited refining capacity and the possibility of changes in government policy on jet fuel production, transportation and marketing make it difficult to predict the future availability of jet fuel. If there are additional outbreaks of hostilities or other conflicts in oil-producing areas or elsewhere, or a reduction in refining capacity (due to weather events, for example), or governmental limits on the production or sale of jet fuel, there could be a reduction in the supply of jet fuel and significant increases in the cost of jet fuel. Additionally, our operations may experience disruptions from temporary fuel shortages by our fuel vendors resulting from fuel quality issues, refueling disruption or other challenges. Major reductions in the availability of jet fuel or significant increases in its cost, or a continuation of high fuel prices for a significant period of time, would have a material adverse impact on us.
Pursuant to our capacity purchase agreements, our major airline partners have agreed to bear the economic risk of fuel price fluctuations on our contracted flights. However, we bear the economic risk of fuel price fluctuations on our prorate and SWC operations. As of December 31, 2025, we operated 28 CRJ200s under a prorate agreement with United, 14 CRJ550s under a prorate agreement with Delta and 10 CRJ900s under a prorate agreement with American. As of December 31, 2025, we had 11 CRJ200s available for on-demand charter service through SWC. Our operating and financial results with respect to these prorate agreements and charter services can be negatively affected by the price of jet fuel in the event we are unable to increase our passenger fares. Additionally, in the event of prolonged low fuel prices, our competitors may lower their passenger ticket prices on routes that compete with our prorate or charter markets, which could negatively impact our prorate and charter revenue.
Our business could be harmed if we lose the services of our key personnel.
Our business depends upon the efforts of our president and chief executive officer, Russell A. Childs, and our other key management and operating personnel. We may have difficulty replacing management or other key personnel who cease to be employed by us and, therefore, the loss of the services of any of these individuals could harm our business. We do not maintain key-person insurance on any of our executive officers.
We may experience credit losses in excess of our estimated credit loss reserves.
Our financial results include estimated credit loss reserves associated with our accounts receivables, notes receivables and third-party debt guarantees. Our actual credit losses may exceed our estimated allowances, for a number of factors including but not limited to, counterparties’ bankruptcy, undervalued collateral and/or inability to liquidate collateral, which could negatively impact our financial condition and financial results.
We have guaranteed the indebtedness of third parties that may default on their debt and require us to pay.
In 2022, we agreed to guarantee debt for a commuter air carrier that operates smaller aircraft than we operate. The debt is secured by the air carrier’s aircraft and engines and has a five-year term. At December 31, 2025, the outstanding debt for the guarantee was $12.6 million. The purpose of this arrangement is to increase the potential number of commercial pilots in our hiring pipeline, particularly for commercial pilots who are interested in progressing their career and operating larger regional aircraft at SkyWest Airlines. In the event of default, if we are unable to sell the collateral, or the fair value is less than the required payment, it could negatively impact our financial condition and financial results. Additionally, there is no guarantee that the relationship with this entity will have a favorable effect on our ability to recruit pilots.
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Risks Related to Operating and Leasing Regional Jet Aircraft and Engines
We are reliant on two aircraft manufacturers and one engine manufacturer.
We operate aircraft manufactured by Bombardier and Embraer. The issuance of FAA or manufacturer directives restricting or prohibiting the use of any Bombardier or Embraer aircraft types we operate could negatively impact our business and financial results. We are also dependent upon General Electric as the sole manufacturer of engines used on the aircraft we operate. Our operations could be materially and adversely affected by the failure or inability of Bombardier, Embraer, General Electric or other certified replacement part companies to provide sufficient parts or related maintenance and support services to us on a timely manner. Additionally, timing and availability of new aircraft deliveries could be delayed beyond our control.
We have a significant amount of contractual long-term debt obligations.
As of December 31, 2025, we had a total of approximately $2.4 billion in total long-term debt obligations. Our long-term debt obligations included $2.2 billion of debt used to finance aircraft and spare engines and $200.6 million related to borrowings under the Payroll Support Program Agreements with U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”). Various changes in airline industry and macroeconomic or other conditions could negatively impact our ability to obtain additional financing to support additional expansion plans or divert cash flows from operations and expansion plans to service the fixed obligations.
Under our capacity purchase agreements, our major airline partners compensate us for our costs of owning the aircraft on a monthly basis. The aircraft compensation structure varies by agreement but is intended to compensate us for using our aircraft while under contract. In the event any of our major airline partners defaults under a capacity purchase agreement or we are unable to extend the flying contract terms on aircraft that we have ongoing financial obligations for, our financial position and financial results could be materially adversely affected.
In addition, we may seek material amounts of additional financial liquidity in the short-term, which may include drawing down on SkyWest Airlines’ line of credit, the issuance of secured debt securities and/or the entry into other debt facilities, among other financial instruments. There can be no assurance as to the timing of any such drawdown or issuance, which may be in the near term, or that any such additional financing will be completed on favorable terms, or at all.
If our liquidity is materially diminished, we might not be able to timely pay our debt or other obligations or comply with certain covenants under SkyWest Airlines’ line of credit or with other material provisions of our contractual obligations.
We expect to issue debt to finance our anticipated aircraft purchases.
As of December 31, 2025, we have firm purchase commitments for 69 E175 aircraft and spare engines totaling $2.3 billion. Over the next several years, as we continue to add new aircraft to our fleet, we anticipate using significant amounts of capital to acquire these aircraft.
There can be no assurance that our operations will generate sufficient cash flow or liquidity to enable us to obtain the necessary aircraft acquisition financing to replace our current fleet, or to make required debt service payments related to our existing or anticipated future obligations. Even if we meet all required debt and other financial obligations, the amount of our long-term obligations could negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations in many ways, including:
If we need additional capital and cannot obtain such capital on acceptable terms, or at all, we may be unable to realize our fleet replacement plans or take advantage of unanticipated opportunities.
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The residual value of our owned aircraft may be less than estimated in our depreciation policies.
As of December 31, 2025, we had approximately $5.8 billion of property and equipment and related assets, net of accumulated depreciation. In accounting for these long-lived assets, we make estimates about the expected useful lives of the assets, the expected residual values of certain of these assets, and the potential for impairment based on the fair value of the assets and the cash flows they generate. Factors indicating potential impairment include, but are not limited to, amendments to our capacity purchase agreements that impact the anticipated cash flows for our aircraft, significant decreases in the market value of the long-lived assets, a significant change in the condition of the long-lived assets and operating cash flow losses associated with the use of the long-lived assets. In the event the estimated fair value of any of our aircraft types is determined to be lower than the net book value of the applicable aircraft type, such aircraft type in our fleet may be impaired and may result in a material impairment charge. An impairment on any of our aircraft types we operate or an increased level of depreciation expense resulting from a change to our depreciation policy and assumptions could result in a material negative impact to our financial results. Future decisions to sell specific aircraft could potentially result in write-downs for aircraft held-for sale.
We lease aircraft and engines to third parties and the lessee may default under the lease terms, which could negatively affect our financial condition, cash flow and results of operations.
We leased five CRJ900 aircraft, 40 CRJ700/CRJ550 aircraft, and several CRJ aircraft engines to third parties as of December 31, 2025. In the event a lessee defaults under the terms of the lease agreement, we may incur additional costs, including legal and other expenses necessary to repossess the aircraft or engines, particularly if the lessee is contesting the proceedings or is in bankruptcy. We could also incur substantial maintenance, refurbishment or repair costs if a defaulting lessee fails to pay such costs and where such maintenance, refurbishment or repairs are necessary to put the aircraft or engines in suitable condition for remarketing or sale. We may also incur storage costs associated with any aircraft or engine that we repossess and are unable to place immediately with another lessee. Even if we are able to immediately place a repossessed aircraft or engine into service ourselves, or place the aircraft and engines under another lessee, we may not be able to do so at a similar or favorable lease rate. A lessee default under one of our lease agreements could negatively affect our financial condition, cash flow and results of operations.
We have entered into a strategic engine leasing joint venture that operates under joint control with a third party that may not meet our investment objectives.
We have entered into a strategic engine joint venture with a third party to lease engines to other parties. This strategic venture involves investment risks, including:
● we may not realize a satisfactory return on our investment;
● the joint venture may divert management’s attention from our core business;
Although we currently participate in the management of our engine joint venture, our joint venture agreement requires unanimous approval over all significant actions. In addition, if we were unable to resolve a dispute with our joint venture partner that retains material managerial veto rights, we might reach an impasse that could require us to dissolve the joint venture at a time and in a manner that could negatively affect our financial results.
We entered into an arrangement with a third party to develop demand for electric-powered aircraft that involves significant uncertainty and risk.
We have entered into a strategic arrangement with Eve to develop a network of deployment for Eve’s eVTOL aircraft. To support this effort, SkyWest may provide assistance to Eve on vehicle design, vertiport specifications and the certification roadmap for eVTOL operations. This strategic arrangement involves significant uncertainty risks, including:
● future customer demand for eVTOL aircraft is uncertain;
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● we may not realize a satisfactory return on our investment; and
● our partner might fail to fulfill its obligations.
The effect of any, or some combination, of the foregoing risks could affect our arrangement with Eve and future benefits may not materialize.
As of December 31, 2025, we held 1.1 million shares of common stock of Eve (NYSE: EVEX). At December 31, 2025, the fair value of our holdings in Eve was $4.3 million and there is no assurance the value of Eve common stock will increase.
We have invested in Contour, which involves significant risk and may not produce a satisfactory return on our investment.
As of December 31, 2025, we have invested $25.0 million in Contour, a 14 CFR Part 135 air carrier. This strategic investment involves significant risks, including:
● we may not realize a satisfactory return on our investment;
● the investment may divert management’s attention from our core business; and
The effect of any, or some combination, of the foregoing risks could negatively affect our financial results.
We are subject to various environmental requirements, including laws and regulations related to climate change and emissions. Compliance with new or existing environmental requirements could materially and adversely affect the Company's business plans, strategies and results of operations.
We are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the protection of the environment, including those relating to aircraft and ground-based emissions, discharges into water systems, safe drinking water and the management of hazardous substances and waste materials. Certain legislative bodies and regulatory authorities are increasingly focused on climate change and have taken actions to implement additional laws, regulations and programs intended to protect the environment and may require specific reporting requirements. For example, the federal government, as well as several state and local governments, have implemented legislative and regulatory proposals and voluntary measures intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Compliance with laws, regulations and other programs intended to reduce emissions or otherwise protect the environment may require us to reduce our emissions, secure carbon offset credits or otherwise pay for emissions, or make capital investments to modify certain aspects of our operations to reduce emissions. Future policy, legal and regulatory developments relating to the protection of the environment could increase our costs and have a material adverse effect on our operations.
We support our major airline partners’ goals and strategies to reduce carbon emissions on flights we operate under our code-share agreements and, as we work to support each of our major airline partners’ goals and strategies, initiatives to reduce emissions may not materialize and could materially and adversely affect the Company's business plans, strategies and results of operations.
During 2025, we produced approximately 6.3 million metric tons of CO2e primarily from jet fuel emissions, using industry emissions factors for jet fuel gallons consumed on flights we operated under our code-share agreements. Under our flying contracts, our major airline partners are responsible for fuel procurement and selection of the type of aircraft we operate and have significant control over our flight schedules. Accordingly, we anticipate our major airline partners will take responsibility for carbon emissions incurred on our contract flights. Each of our major airline partners may have different goals, strategies and timelines to reduce carbon emissions on our flights. We are largely dependent on the direction from our major airline partners regarding long-term fuel saving initiatives such as engine innovations reducing fuel consumption, use of sustainable alternative fuels, carbon sequestration programs, air traffic flow routing efficiencies, among other initiatives. Each of our major airline partners may pursue alternative strategies and goals to reduce carbon emissions on flights we operate under our code-share agreements that may impact the rate at which we are able to reduce our carbon emissions, if at all. There is no assurance our major airline partners will take responsibility for
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carbon emissions incurred under our contract flights and no assurance future long-term fuel saving initiatives will materialize. In the event we pursue initiatives to reduce our carbon emissions, the cost could materially and adversely affect our business plans and results of operations.
Risks Related to Dividends, Share Repurchases and Our Common Stock
We cannot assure that we will resume dividend payments in the future and we cannot assure that we will continue stock repurchases in the future.
Historically, we have paid dividends and repurchased shares of our common stock in varying amounts. From April 2020 through September 30, 2022, we were restricted from paying dividends and repurchasing shares of our common stock under three Payroll Support Program Agreements and under a loan agreement with Treasury. During 2023, we resumed repurchasing shares of our common stock. We have not paid a dividend since 2020.
There can be no assurance that we will resume our past practice of paying dividends on our common stock or that we will have the financial resources to pay such dividends. The future payment of dividends will depend upon our financial condition, alternative uses of the Company’s cash and results of operations and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors.
In May 2023, our board of directors approved a share repurchase program, pursuant to which we are authorized to repurchase up to $250 million of our common stock and in May 2025, the Board approved a $250 million increase to the existing stock repurchase program. Under our repurchase program we are authorized to repurchase such shares of common stock at prevailing market prices in the open market, in privately negotiated transactions or by other means in accordance with federal securities laws. Depending on market conditions and other factors, such repurchases may commence or be suspended from time to time by management without prior notice. The actual timing, number and value of shares repurchased will be determined by our management in its discretion. The number of shares of common stock that we may repurchase, including pursuant to the share repurchase program, will depend upon our financial condition and results of operations and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors. There also can be no assurance that we will continue repurchasing shares of common stock under our current authorization, that our board of directors will approve additional share repurchase programs in the future or that we will have the financial resources to repurchase shares of common stock in the future.
Repurchases of our common stock pursuant to our share repurchase program and any future dividends could affect our stock price and increase its volatility. Additionally, our share repurchase program and any future dividends may reduce our cash reserves, which may impact our ability to finance future growth and to pursue possible future strategic opportunities and acquisitions.
Our common stock price may fluctuate significantly.
Volatility in our common stock price may prevent holders from selling shares at or above the prices paid for them. During the year ended December 31, 2025, our common stock closing price varied between a high of $123.72 and a low of $79.41. The market price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to: general market, political and other economic conditions; labor availability, including regional airline pilots; new regulatory pronouncements or changes in regulatory guidelines; announcements concerning the airline industry, our major airline partners or competitors; the market’s reaction to our quarterly or annual earnings or those of other companies in the airline industry; failure to meet financial analysts’ performance expectations or changes in recommendations by financial analysts for our common stock or the stock of other airlines; significant sales of our common stock, and other risks described in these “Risk Factors.” In recent periods, the stock market has experienced extreme volatility, significantly impacting the market price of securities issued by many companies, including us and other companies in our industry.
Provisions of our articles of incorporation, by-laws and code-share agreements may limit the ability or desire of others to gain control of our Company.
Our ability to issue shares of preferred and common stock without shareholder approval may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control and may adversely affect the voting and other rights of the holders of our common stock, even in circumstances where such a change in control would be viewed as desirable by most investors.
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The provisions of the Utah Control Shares Acquisitions Act or other related regulations and laws may also discourage the acquisition of a significant interest in or control of our Company. Additionally, our code-share agreements contain termination and extension trigger provisions related to change in control type transactions that may have the effect of deterring a change in control of our Company.
General Risk Factors
We may be a party to litigation in the normal course of business or otherwise, which could affect our financial condition and results of operations.
We may become party to or otherwise involved in legal proceedings, claims and government inspections or investigations and other legal matters, arising in the ordinary course of our business or otherwise, including, but not limited to those related to injury or tort, environmental, employment and commercial legal issues. Legal proceedings can be complex and take many months, or even years, to reach resolution, with the final outcome depending on a number of variables, some of which are not within our control. Litigation is subject to significant uncertainty and may be expensive, time-consuming and disruptive to our operations. Although we will vigorously defend ourselves in such legal proceedings, their ultimate resolution and potential financial and other impacts on us are uncertain. If a legal proceeding is resolved against us, it could result in significant compensatory damages or injunctive relief that could materially adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
The adoption of new tax legislation or changes to existing tax laws and regulations could adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations.
We are subject to tax laws and regulations of the U.S. federal, state and local governments as well as various non-U.S. jurisdictions. Potential changes in existing tax laws, including future regulatory guidance, may impact our effective tax rate and tax payments. There can be no assurance that changes in tax laws or regulations, both within the United States and the other jurisdictions in which we operate, will not materially and adversely affect our effective tax rate, tax payments, financial condition and results of operations. Similarly, changes in tax laws and regulations that impact our major airline partners, customers or the economy generally may also impact our financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, tax laws and regulations are complex and subject to varying interpretations, and any significant failure to comply with applicable tax laws and regulations in all relevant jurisdictions could give rise to substantial penalties and liabilities. Any changes in enacted tax laws, rules or regulatory or judicial interpretations; any adverse outcome in connection with tax audits in any jurisdiction; or any change in the pronouncements relating to accounting for income taxes could materially and adversely impact our effective tax rate, tax payments, financial condition and results of operations.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None
ITEM 1C. CYBERSECURITY
Cybersecurity Risk Management and Strategy
Our approach to mitigating information technology and cybersecurity risk comprises a range of activities with the primary objective of maintaining the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our critical IT Systems and information related to our business. Although IT Systems are inherently vulnerable to interruption due to a variety of sources, we have aligned our cybersecurity risk management program, including our processes and controls, with certain applicable and relevant guidelines. For example, we have aligned our processes with the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CSF) and assess our cybersecurity maturity against the NIST CSF’s core functions; however, this does not imply that we meet any particular technical standards, specifications or requirements, only that we use the NIST CSF as a guide to help us identify, assess and manage cybersecurity risks relevant to our business.
Our cybersecurity risk management processes include a cybersecurity incident response plan, and we have invested in technical and organizational safeguards intended to manage and mitigate material risks from cybersecurity
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threats to our IT Systems, including network security controls, employee training, internal vetting of third-party vendors and service providers with whom we may share data, and regular system reviews and security exercises. Our cybersecurity risk management program is a component of our overall enterprise risk management program, and shares common methodologies, reporting channels and governance processes that apply across the enterprise risk management program to other legal, compliance, strategic, operational, and financial risk areas.
While we work closely with accredited third-party cybersecurity firms, where appropriate, to audit our security architecture, our Information Security Team, consisting of experienced cybersecurity professionals, is responsible for the day-to-day management of our cybersecurity risks, including directing our cybersecurity risk assessment processes, our security processes, and our response to cybersecurity incidents.
For the year ended December 31, 2025, we have not identified risks from known cybersecurity threats, including as a result of any prior cybersecurity incidents, that have or are reasonably likely to materially affect us, including our operations, business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition. We face certain ongoing risks from cybersecurity threats that, if realized, are reasonably likely to materially affect us, including our operations, business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition. See “Risk Factors – Cybersecurity incidents, hardware or software failures or other information technology disruptions may negatively impact our operations, reputation and financial condition.”
Cybersecurity Governance
Our Board considers cybersecurity risk as critical to the enterprise and delegates the cybersecurity risk oversight function to the Audit Committee. The Audit Committee oversees management’s design, implementation and enforcement of our cybersecurity risk management program.
Our Board and our Audit Committee receive quarterly reports from management on our cybersecurity risks. In addition, management updates the Audit Committee, as necessary, regarding cybersecurity incidents it considers to be significant or potentially significant. Audit Committee members also receive presentations on cybersecurity topics from our Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Financial Officer, supported by our internal security staff, or external experts as part of the Board’s continuing education on topics that impact public companies and update the full Board as necessary.
Our management team, including our Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Information Technology, is responsible for assessing and managing our material risks from cybersecurity threats. The team has primary responsibility for leading our overall cybersecurity risk management program and supervises both our internal cybersecurity personnel and our external cybersecurity service providers. Our Vice President of Information Technology has more than 25 years of experience managing and leading IT and cybersecurity teams. Our Vice President of Information Technology participates in the Aviation ISAC organization, an international membership community of airframers, airlines, airports, satellite manufacturers, aviation services, and their supply chains that collaborate to prevent, detect, respond to, and remediate cyber risk through threat intelligence sharing and best practices.
Our management team takes steps to stay informed about and monitor efforts to prevent, detect, mitigate, and remediate cybersecurity risks and incidents through various means, which may include briefings from internal security personnel, threat intelligence and other information obtained from governmental, public or private sources, including external consultants engaged by us, and alerts and reports produced by security tools deployed in the IT environment.
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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Flight Equipment
As of December 31, 2025, our fleet used by our SkyWest Airlines segment under our code-share agreements consisted of the following types of owned and leased aircraft:
Number of Number of Scheduled Average
Owned Leased Passenger Flight Cruising Average
Several factors may impact our fleet size throughout 2026 and thereafter, including, but not limited to, contract expirations that are not renewed, labor shortages, reductions in our prorate fleet, lease expirations on aircraft with our major airline partners that are not extended and growth opportunities. Our actual future fleet size and/or mix of aircraft types and future aircraft scheduled utilization will likely vary, and may vary materially, from our current fleet size and/or mix and aircraft utilization. The number of leased aircraft in the table above are aircraft we lease from our major airline partners for a de minimis monthly cost under capacity purchase agreements (also referred to as partner-financed aircraft).
Ground Facilities
We lease many of the buildings and associated land that we occupy. Most of these leases are for facilities at airports with various government agencies that control the use of the airport. We lease maintenance, training and office facilities in Salt Lake City, Utah, and we lease additional maintenance facilities in Boise, Idaho; Fresno, California; Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; Nashville, Tennessee; South Bend, Indiana; Lincoln, Nebraska; Omaha, Nebraska; Shreveport, Louisiana; and Palm Springs, California. We also lease ticket counters, passenger hold rooms, operating areas and other terminal space in many of the airports that we serve.
We own our corporate headquarters facilities located in St. George, Utah and a maintenance accessory shop facility in Salt Lake City, Utah. We also own maintenance facilities on land leases with airport authorities in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Tucson, Arizona.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
We are subject to certain legal actions which we consider routine to our business activities. As of December 31, 2025, our management believed, after consultation with legal counsel, that the ultimate outcome of such legal matters was not likely to have a material adverse effect on our financial position, liquidity or results of operations. However, the ultimate resolution of these matters is inherently uncertain.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
The disclosure required by this item is not applicable.
PART II
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Market Information
Our common stock is traded on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “SKYW.” As of February 10, 2026, there were approximately 3,245 stockholders of record of our common stock. Securities held of record do not include shares held in securities position listings. The transfer agent for our common stock is Zions First National Bank, Salt Lake City, Utah.
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Dividends
We did not declare dividends for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Our Board of Directors has adopted a stock repurchase program which authorizes us to repurchase shares of our common stock in the public market or in private transactions, from time to time, at prevailing prices. Our stock repurchase program adopted in May 2023 authorized the repurchase of up to $250.0 million of our common stock. In May 2025, the Board approved a $250.0 million increase to the existing stock repurchase program. The following table summarizes the repurchases under our stock repurchase program during the three months ended December 31, 2025:
Stock Performance Graph
The following Performance Graph and related information shall not be deemed “soliciting material” or “filed” with the SEC, nor shall such information be incorporated by reference into any future filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), except to the extent we specifically incorporate it by reference into such filing.
The following graph compares the cumulative total shareholder return on our common stock over the five-year period ended December 31, 2025, with the cumulative total return during such period of the Nasdaq Stock Market (U.S. Companies) and the Nasdaq Stock Market Transportation Index. The following graph assumes an initial investment of $100.00 with dividends reinvested. The stock performance shown on the graph below represents historical stock performance and is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.
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INDEXED RETURNS
Base
Period Years Ending
ITEM 6. [Reserved]
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion and analysis presents factors that had a material effect on our results of operations during the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024. Also discussed is our financial condition as of December 31, 2025 and 2024. You should read this discussion in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements, including the notes thereto, appearing elsewhere in this Report or incorporated herein by reference. This discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements. Please refer to the sections of this Report entitled “Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements” and “Item 1A. Risk Factors” for discussion of some of the uncertainties, risks and assumptions associated with these statements.
This section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K generally discusses 2025 and 2024 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2025 and 2024. Discussions of 2023 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2024 and 2023 that are not included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K can be found in the section entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7 of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024.
Overview
We have the largest regional airline operation in the United States through our operating subsidiary SkyWest Airlines. As of December 31, 2025, we offered scheduled passenger and air freight service with approximately 2,260 total daily departures to destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Our fleet of E175, CRJ900, CRJ700 and
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CRJ550 have a multiple-class seat configuration, whereas our CRJ200 have a single-class seat configuration. During 2022, we formed SWC, which offers on-demand charter services using CRJ200 aircraft in a 30-seat configuration. As of December 31, 2025, we had 637 total aircraft in our fleet, including 487 aircraft in scheduled service or under contract pursuant to our code-share agreements, summarized as follows:
Alaska 42 — — — 42
Aircraft in scheduled service or under contract 270 36 123 58 487
SWC — — — 11 11
Leased to third parties — 5 40 — 45
Our business model is based on providing scheduled regional airline service under code-share agreements (commercial agreements between airlines that, among other things, allow one airline to use another airline’s flight designator codes on its flights) with our major airline partners. In exchange for such services, our major airline partners pay us either fixed fees to operate the flight, referred to as “capacity purchase agreement,” or we receive a percentage of applicable passenger ticket revenues on the designated flights we operate, referred to as “prorate agreement.” Our success is principally centered on our ability to meet the needs of our major airline partners by providing a reliable and safe operation at attractive economics. During the year ended December 31, 2025, we made changes to our fleet, including the addition of seven new E175 aircraft and one partner-financed E175 aircraft.
We anticipate our fleet will continue to evolve, as we are scheduled to add a total of eight new E175 aircraft with United in 2026, 16 new aircraft with Delta between 2027 and 2028 (which are expected to replace 12 CRJ900s and four CRJ700s we are currently flying under contract with Delta) and one new E175 aircraft with Alaska in 2026. We also have multiple agreements with United to place 23 used CRJ550 aircraft into service in 2026. Timing of placing these additional aircraft into service, including delivery timing on acquired aircraft, may be subject to change as we are coordinating with our major airline partners in response to labor availability or other factors. Our primary objective in the fleet changes is to improve our profitability by adding new E175 aircraft and used CRJ700, CRJ550, CRJ900 and E175 aircraft, commonly referred to as “dual-class aircraft” due to the first-class seat offerings, to our capacity purchase agreements or prorate agreements, and potentially removing older aircraft from service that typically require higher maintenance costs.
For the year ended December 31, 2025, approximately 44.4% of our aircraft in scheduled service or under contract were operated for United, approximately 28.1% were operated for Delta, approximately 18.9% were operated for American and approximately 8.6% were operated for Alaska.
Historically, multiple contractual relationships with major airlines have enabled us to reduce our reliance on any single major airline code and to enhance and stabilize operating results through a mix of our capacity purchase agreements and our prorate agreements. For the year ended December 31, 2025, our capacity purchase revenue represented approximately 84.3% of our total flying agreements revenue and our prorate and SWC revenue, combined, represented approximately 15.7% of our total flying agreements revenue. On capacity purchase routes, the major airline partner controls scheduling, ticketing, pricing and seat inventories and we are compensated by the major airline partner at contracted rates based on completed block hours (measured from takeoff to landing, including taxi time), flight departures, the number of aircraft under contract and other operating measures. We control scheduling, pricing and seat inventories on certain prorate routes, and we share passenger fares with our major airline partners according to prorate formulas. We are also responsible for the operating costs of the prorate flights, including fuel and airport costs.
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Financial Highlights
We had total operating revenues of $4.1 billion for the year ended December 31, 2025, a 15.0% increase compared to total operating revenues of $3.5 billion for the year ended December 31, 2024. We had net income of $428.3 million, or $10.35 per diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to net income of $323.0 million, or $7.77 per diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2024. The significant items affecting our revenue and operating expenses during the year ended December 31, 2025, are outlined below:
Revenue
The number of aircraft we have in scheduled service or under contract pursuant to our code-share agreements and the number of block hours we incur on our flights are primary drivers of our flying agreements revenue under our capacity purchase agreements. The number of flights we operate and the corresponding number of passengers we carry are the primary drivers of our revenue under our prorate agreements. The number of aircraft we have in scheduled service or under contract pursuant to our code-share agreements decreased from 492 as of December 31, 2024, to 487 as of December 31, 2025, or by 1.0%; and the number of block hours increased from 1.3 million in 2024 to 1.5 million in 2025, or by 14.7%, primarily due to an increase in the scheduled daily utilization of our aircraft driven by an increase in the number of available captains.
Our capacity purchase revenue increased $319.3 million, or 10.8%, from 2024 to 2025, primarily as a result of an increase in completed block hours for the comparable periods. As a result of a higher number of passengers carried on our prorate routes and an increase in the number of prorate and charter flights operated year-over-year, our prorate and SWC revenue increased $153.0 million, or 33.5%, in 2025, as compared to 2024.
Operating Expenses
Our total operating expenses increased $407.1 million, or 13.4%, for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the year ended December 31, 2024. The increase in operating expenses was primarily due to an increase in our direct operating expenses associated with the increase in the number of flights we operated for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the year ended December 31, 2024. Departures increased from 766,742 for the year ended December 31, 2024 to 863,513 for the year ended December 31, 2025, or by 12.6%, and our total block hours increased 14.7% in 2025, as compared to 2024. Additional details regarding the increase in our operating expenses are described in the section of this Report entitled “Results of Operations.”
Fleet Activity
The following table summarizes our fleet in service or under contract as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2025:
During 2025, we took delivery of seven new E175 aircraft and placed the aircraft into service under capacity purchase agreements, and we placed one partner-financed E175 aircraft into service under a capacity purchase agreement. We placed 18 SkyWest owned CRJ550 aircraft into service under a capacity purchase agreement or prorate agreement, while removing 14 CRJ700 aircraft from flying agreements. We placed four SkyWest owned CRJ900 aircraft into service under a prorate agreement while removing four partner-financed CRJ900 aircraft from flying agreements. We also removed 17 CRJ200 aircraft from service during 2025. We are evaluating alternative uses for the CRJ200 aircraft removed from service.
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Results of Operations
2025 Compared to 2024
Operational Statistics
The following table sets forth our major operational statistics and the associated percentage changes for the periods identified below. The increase in block hours, departures and passengers carried during the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, was primarily due to an increase in the number of block hours incurred per aircraft as the number of available captains did not significantly limit our flight schedules during 2025, compared to 2024, which allowed for a higher scheduled utilization of our aircraft.
For the year ended December 31,
Block hours by aircraft type: 2025 2024 % Change
Passenger load factor 81.5 % 82.8 % (1.3) pts
Average passenger trip length (miles) 457 464 (1.5) %
Operating Revenues
The following table summarizes our operating revenue for the periods indicated (dollar amounts in thousands):
For the year ended December 31,
2025 2024 $ Change % Change
Flying agreements revenue primarily consists of revenue earned on flights we operate under our capacity purchase agreements and prorate agreements with our major airline partners and on-demand charter flights. Lease, airport services and other revenues consist of revenue earned from leasing aircraft and spare engines to third parties separate from our capacity purchase agreements, providing maintenance services to other airlines and providing airport counter, gate and ramp services.
We disaggregate our flying agreements revenue into the following categories (dollar amounts in thousands):
For the year ended December 31,
The increase in “Capacity purchase agreements flight operations revenue” of $175.1 million, or 7.3%, for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, was primarily due to a 14.7% year-over-year increase in block hour productionfrom aircraft under our capacity purchase agreements, offset by a capacity purchase agreement contract extension in 2025 that decreased the allocation of certain fixed monthly revenue from flight
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operations revenue and increased the allocation of such payments to aircraft lease revenue based on relative standalone selling prices of the lease and non-lease components for the year ended December 31, 2025.
Under our capacity purchase agreements, we are paid a fixed amount per month per aircraft over the contract term. We recognize the total projected fixed monthly payments per aircraft as revenue proportionately to the number of block hours we complete for each reporting period, relative to the estimated number of block hours we anticipate completing over the remaining contract term. Under our capacity purchase agreements, the performance obligation of each completed flight is measured in block hours incurred for each completed flight. Based on the number of completed block hours during the year ended December 31, 2025, we recognized a total of $38.3 million of previously deferred revenue and unbilled revenue related to the non-lease fixed monthly payments we received associated with our flight operations revenues. For the year ended December 31, 2024, we recognized a total of $43.4 million of previously deferred revenue and unbilled revenue related to non-lease fixed monthly payments received associated with our flight operations revenues. The timing of our revenue recognition related to the fixed payments associated with our flight operations will be adjusted over the remaining contract term for each capacity purchase agreement based on the number of block hours we complete each reporting period relative to the number of block hours we anticipate completing over the remaining contract term of each capacity purchase agreement.
The increase in “Capacity purchase agreements aircraft lease revenue” of $144.2 million, or 26.7%, for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, was primarily driven by a change in the mix of aircraft under our capacity purchase agreements from the year ended December 31, 2024 and a capacity purchase agreement contract extension in 2025 that decreased the allocation of certain fixed monthly revenue from flight operations revenue and increased the allocation of such payments to aircraft lease revenue based on relative standalone selling prices of the lease and non-lease components for the year ended December 31, 2025. Under our capacity purchase agreements, a portion of the consideration we are paid is designed as reimbursement for certain aircraft ownership costs and is considered lease revenue, including fixed monthly payments and variable payments. We recognize the fixed monthly lease payments as lease revenue using the straight-line basis over the capacity purchase agreement term and variable lease payments are recognized in the period when the block hours are completed. Additionally, we recognized a total of $19.5 million of previously deferred lease revenue and unbilled revenue during the year ended December 31, 2025, using the straight-line basis for fixed monthly lease payments, compared to recognizing a total of $1.5 million of previously deferred revenue and unbilled revenue during the year ended December 31, 2024.
The deferred revenue balance applicable to each contract will be recorded as revenue over the term of each respective contract. For clarity, under our “Capacity purchase agreements flight operations revenue” and “Capacity purchase agreements aircraft lease revenue” combined, we recognized a total of $57.8 million of previously deferred revenue and unbilled revenue during the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to recognizing a total of $44.9 million of previously deferred revenue and unbilled revenue during the year ended December 31, 2024. Our total deferred revenue balance, associated with our “Capacity purchase agreements flight operations revenue” and our “Capacity purchase agreements aircraft lease revenue,” net of unbilled revenue, was $264.6 million as of December 31, 2025, compared to total deferred revenue, net of unbilled revenue of $322.4 million as of December 31, 2024.
The increase in prorate agreements and SWC revenue of $153.0 million, or 33.5%, for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, was primarily due to an increase in prorate departures, passengers and passenger revenue we received on routes we operated under our prorate agreements driven by an improvement in the number of available captains during the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the year ended December 31, 2024.
The increase in lease, airport services and other revenues of $57.9 million, or 50.3%, for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, was primarily due to an increase in maintenance services provided to third parties, an increase in the number of leased assets, and increase in lease rates during 2025 compared to 2024.
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Operating Expenses
Individual expense components attributable to our operations are set forth in the following table (dollar amounts in thousands):
For the year ended December 31,
Salaries, wages and benefits. The $95.4 million, or 6.5%, increase in salaries, wages and benefits for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, was primarily due to an increase in direct labor costs that resulted from the higher number of flights we operated, partially offset by operating efficiencies from higher utilization of our aircraft during the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the year ended December 31, 2024.
Aircraft maintenance, materials and repairs.The $231.1 million, or 32.4%, increase in aircraft maintenance expense for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, was primarily due to incremental maintenance costs incurred on our CRJ fleet, an increase in our flight volume, which increased our maintenance activity and related expenses, and an increase in maintenance service activities provided to third parties for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the year ended December 31, 2024.
Depreciation and amortization. The $19.4 million, or 5.0%, decrease in depreciation and amortization expense for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, was primarily due to certain fixed assets that became fully depreciated during 2024 and as a result of extending the estimated useful lives on our CRJ700/CRJ550 fleet by an average of three years and revising the residual values of the assets accordingly during the fourth quarter of 2024, which had a full year effect in 2025, partially offset by an increase in depreciation expense related to the acquisition of seven new E175 aircraft and spare engines since December 31, 2024.
Airport-related expenses.Airport-related expenses include airport-related customer service costs such as outsourced airport gate and ramp agent services, airport security fees, passenger interruption costs, deicing, landing fees and station rents. The $35.8 million, or 41.7%, increase in airport-related expenses for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, was primarily due to an increase in subcontracted airport services, station rents, weather related aircraft deicing costs and landing fees as a result of an increase in the number of flights we operated under our prorate agreements. For clarity, our employee airport customer service labor costs are reflected in salaries, wages and benefits and customer service labor costs we outsource to third parties are included in airport-related expenses.
Aircraft fuel.The $33.0 million, or 37.7%, increase in fuel cost for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, was primarily due to an increase in the number of flights we operated under our prorate agreements and under SWC and the corresponding increase in gallons of fuel we purchased, offset by a decrease in our average fuel cost per gallon from $3.19 in 2024 to $3.00 in 2025.We purchase and incur expense for all fuel on flights operated under our prorate agreements and SWC. All fuel costs incurred under our capacity purchase agreements are either purchased directly by our major airline partner, or if purchased by us, we record the direct reimbursement as a reduction to our fuel expense. The following table summarizes the gallons of fuel we purchased under our prorate agreements and SWC, for the periods indicated:
For the year ended December 31,
(in thousands) 2025 2024 % Change
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Other operating expenses.Other operating expenses primarily consist of aircraft rentals, property taxes, hull and liability insurance, simulator costs, crew per diem, crew hotel costs and credit loss reserves. The $31.2 million, or 10.4%, increase in other operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, was primarily related to an increase in operating expenses associated with our higher flight volume in 2025 compared to 2024, such as crew per diem and crew hotel costs, and an increase in our credit loss reserve in 2025 as a result of our assessment of higher credit risk of certain outstanding receivables.
Summary of interest expense, interest income, other income (expense) and provision for income taxes:
Interest expense.The $9.9 million, or 8.7%, decrease in interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, was primarily related to a decrease in outstanding debt from $2.7 billion at December 31, 2024 to $2.4 billion at December 31, 2025. Our average effective interest rate for 2025 and 2024 was 4.3% and 4.2%, respectively.
Interest income. Interest income decreased $4.6 million, from $47.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 to $43.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2025. The decrease in interest income was primarily related to a decrease in interest rates earned on our marketable securities from December 31, 2024 to December 31, 2025.
Other income, net. Other income, net of expenses increased $5.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the year ended December 31, 2024. Other income, net primarily consists of the unrealized and realized gains and losses on our investments in other companies, income or loss related to our equity method investments and gains or losses on the sale of assets. The increase in other income, net of expenses was primarily a result of an increase in the fair value of our investments in other companies for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the year ended December 31, 2024.
Provision for income taxes. For the years ended December 31, 2025, and December 31, 2024, our effective income tax rates were 24.3% and 25.3%, respectively, which included the statutory federal income tax rate of 21.0% and other reconciling income tax items, including state income taxes and the impact of non-deductible expenses. For the year ended December 31, 2025, the lower effective tax rate was primarily related to a higher deduction benefit related to employee equity awards that vested in 2025 compared to 2024. Our income tax provision rate may fluctuate each reporting period based on various factors including, but not limited to, the amount of our non-deductible operating expenses, relative to our income before income taxes.
Net income. Primarily due to the factors described above, we generated net income of $428.3 million, or $10.35 per diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to net income of $323.0 million, or $7.77 per diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2024.
Our Business Segments 2025 compared to 2024:
Our reportable segments consist of (1) the operations of SkyWest Airlines and SWC (collectively, “SkyWest Airlines and SWC”) and (2) SkyWest Leasing activities.
Our chief operating decision maker analyzes the profitability of operating aircraft separately from the profitability of our capital deployed for new aircraft and the related financings of such aircraft, including our E175 fleet. The SkyWest Airlines and SWC segment includes revenue earned under the applicable capacity purchase agreements attributed to operating such aircraft and the respective operating costs, and revenue and operating expenses attributed to prorate agreements, airport services agreements and charter flight services. The SkyWest Leasing segment includes applicable revenue earned under the applicable capacity purchase agreements attributed to the ownership of new aircraft acquired through the issuance of debt and the respective depreciation and interest expense of such aircraft. The SkyWest Leasing segment also includes the activity of acquiring and leasing used regional jet aircraft and spare engines to third parties and other activities. The SkyWest Leasing segment’s total assets and capital expenditures include new aircraft acquired through the issuance of debt and our aircraft and engines leased to third parties.
Corporate overhead expenses, primarily consisting of administrative labor costs, were allocated to the operating expenses of SkyWest Airlines and SWC and SkyWest Leasing. Overhead expenses allocated to SkyWest Leasing reflect our estimated labor expense incurred to support SkyWest Leasing activities.
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The following table sets forth our SkyWest Airlines and SWC segment data for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 (in thousands):
For the year ended December 31,
(dollar amounts in thousands)
2025 2024 $ Change % Change
(2) Segment profit is equal to income before income taxes.
SkyWest Airlines and SWC Segment Profit. SkyWest Airlines and SWC segment profit was $263.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to $138.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2024.