SkyWest today reported that it has entered into aircraft purchase agreements and capacity purchase agreements to acquire and fly 15 additional new aircraft with Delta Air Lines and five additional new aircraft with Alaska Airlines.
Expected delivery dates for the 20 aircraft run from September 2017 through the end of 2018. These aircraft will be operated by SkyWest Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of SkyWest.
Of the 20 aircraft, 15 Embraer E175 SC aircraft will fly under an agreement with Delta in a 70-seat configuration. The E175 SC aircraft has an E175 airframe and can be retrofitted to 76 seats in the future. The agreement with Alaska includes five Embraer E175s, with a 76-seat configuration, similar to aircraft SkyWest has previously placed into service with Alaska.
Combined with last month’s announcement for 25 new aircraft, today’s announcement results in a cumulative order of 45 new aircraft.
Similar structurally to SkyWest’s acquisition of 104 E175s, SkyWest expects to invest approximately $161 million in cash to acquire these 45 aircraft, and to finance the balance of the purchase price with debt.
The expected delivery dates for the 45 aircraft run from September 2017 through the end of 2018, with the majority of the deliveries scheduled for mid-2018.
