SkyWest Airlines, the regional airline headquartered in St. George, was started mostly as a public service in 1972 rather than a moneymaker, but the $100 million in annual revenue has eliminated that idea, according to Jerry C. Atkin, president and chief executive officer.
He told members of the MountainWest Venture Group in the Doubletree Hotel that Dixie Airlines, predecessor of SkyWest, was started to make it convenient for people in St. George and surrounding areas to get to Salt Lake City to make connections with major airlines or spend the day shopping and return.Now, with SkyWest serving as a major connector for Delta Air Line, the regional air service company has 1,200 employees, flies 1 million miles annually, had 1 million passengers in 1989 and serves 44 cities in eight states.
That's pretty dramatic growth for an airline that started with one four-passenger two-engine airplane that flew between St. George, Cedar City, Richfield and Salt Lake City, Atkin said.
Over the years, Atkin said, the airline has added new airplanes and today operates 37 Fairchild 19-passenger Metroliners and nine EMB-120 30-passenger airplanes and is continually upgrading its fleet with newer equipment.
On Sept. 30, 1984, SkyWest spent $7 million to acquire Sun Aire and in 1987 was recognized as the commuter/regional airline of the year. SkyWest is 20 percent owned by Delta and bills itself as "the Delta connection."
"We act like an extension of Delta," Atkin said.
SkyWest has had its financial struggles over the years, he said, because when he joined the company it was losing $150,000 annually. One person loaned the company $5,000 to purchase a spare engine so the airplanes could keep flying and another financial infusion came when the company went public.