Air Transport

SkyWest, the parent company of US regional carriers Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) and SkyWest Airlines, is actively exploring offshore opportunities with operators in China, Brazil, Mexico and Europe.

By taking a minority interest, SkyWest will be able to help foreign carriers develop “more quickly than they might otherwise be able to do” and share with them the Utah-based company’s buying opportunities and technical expertise, said SkyWest CEO Jerry Atkin last week during the Raymond James growth airline conference in New York City.

Working relationships with operators in China, Brazil, Mexico and Europe have been “identified”, he says. “I wouldn’t expect them to be great value propositions in the near-term but in the long-term, they could be substantial and it’s a little bit of a broadening in where we’re going.”

SkyWest is also open to acquisition opportunities in the United States. The company, which acquired ASA from Delta Air Lines in 2005, looks “at the possibility of others like that”, says Atkin.

He adds that SkyWest has lately been conducting stock buybacks at a “lower level” until it determines growth opportunities that would require extra cash on hand at the company, whose financial strength “is in very good shape”.

A tie-up with US regional ExpressJet has been reportedly under consideration.