Utah-based SkyWest Inc., parent company of regional carriers SkyWest Airlines and ExpressJet Airlines, reported a Q2 net loss of $14.7 million, reversed from a $20.7 million net profit during Q2 2013.
SkyWest chairman and CEO Jerry Atkin said: “Although we recovered somewhat from the severe weather and related impact we suffered during the first quarter, we faced additional issues in [Q2 2014] and our financial and operating results simply did not meet our expectations during the quarter.”
Compounding expenses noted by the company for the second-quarter performance included increased flight crew costs related to implementation of FAR117 flight and duty rules; pilot attrition and turnover; and training/start-up costs associated with the company’s newly added Embraer E175 regional fleet.
SkyWest also cited “lower than anticipated performance incentive bonuses under our flying contracts, and unfavorable flying contract settlements in $9.8 million lower revenue year-on-year.”
SkyWest’s Q2 revenue declined 2.7% year-on-year to $816.6 million. Expenses were $803.3 million, up 1.9% year-on-year. The resulting operating profit for the quarter came to $13.2 million, down 73.8% from Q2 2013.
SkyWest’s second-quarter traffic declined 1.3% year-over-year to 8.17 billion RPMs on a 3.3% cut in capacity to 9.74 billion ASMs, resulting in a load factor of 83.9%, up 1.7 points. Yield dropped 2% to 9.8 cents.
SkyWest also stated that “in the second half of 2014, SkyWest expects 56 of its unprofitable 50-seat aircraft contracts will naturally expire and the aircraft will be returned to lessors. SkyWest also expects an additional 101 unprofitable 50-seat aircraft contracts will naturally expire and be removed from service by December 31st 2015.”
SkyWest reports Q2 losses
