SkyWest Airlines hasn’t found some magic elixir to help it escape the ravages of the global recession, but as long as it continues to perform to its partners’ contractual standards, the country’s largest regional carrier and the host for this year’s RAA convention can count on a steady revenue stream and a strong enough capital position to weather the economic storm. Speaking with AIN during the run-up to this year’s RAA convention, president and COO Chip Childs stressed that point as if to send a message that SkyWest won’t give its partners any reason to come looking for contract concessions in an environment where the major airlines seem all too willing to penalize the slightest misstep.
“That performance gives us credibility with our partners to make sure that we are in a good position when this economic situation turns back the other way,” said Childs. “There have been some regional carriers that have come under scrutiny…The primary driver with those quite simply was operating performance. So that’s a huge focus in our environment and I think it’s the reason we haven’t had any carriers come to us and say ‘Hey, you still have 10 years on this agreement; we want to shorten that to five.’”
