SkyWest November Load Factor Rises, Block Hours Decline - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - SkyWest, Inc., (SKYW) on Wednesday reported combined November 2018 traffic for Skywest Airlines and ExpressJet Airlines.

SkyWest reported a 5.6 percent decline in the number of passengers in November 2018 to 3.85 million from 4.08 million in the prior-year period. However, load factor for November 2018 rose 0.9 points to 82.9 percent from 82.0 percent a year ago.

SkyWest had 78,800 departures in November 2018 compared to 84,200 in the year-ago period, a decrease of 6.3 percent.

SkyWest reported 140,000 block hours in November 2018, down 2.9 percent from 144,200 block hours in the year-ago period. The net decrease was consistent with SkyWest's fleet transition plan to improve the mix of aircraft in its fleet.

The year-over-year net change in block hours was primarily driven by approximately 9,300 additional block hours from its E175 aircraft, including the E175 aircraft and the E175 SC aircraft, and a decrease of approximately 13,500 block hours from its other aircraft types.

In November 2018, SkyWest's E175 aircraft represented about 29 percent of SkyWest's total block hour production for the month, compared to approximately 22 percent for the month of November 2017.

For year-to-date November 2018, SkyWest reported 1.61 million block hours, a decrease of 4.7 percent from 1.69 million block hours year-to-date November 2017.

This net change was primarily driven by approximately 79,000 additional block hours from its E175 aircraft and a decrease of approximately 157,000 block hours from its other aircraft types.