SkyWest Airlines has entered into aircraft purchase agreements and capacity purchase agreements to acquire and fly 15 new aircraft with Delta Air Lines and 10 new aircraft with Alaska Airlines. Expected delivery dates of the 25 aircraft run from March 2018 through the end of 2018.
Of the 25 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 10 Embraer E175s, which will be configured with 76 seats, similar to aircraft SkyWest has previously placed into service with Alaska.
SkyWest expects to invest approximately $90 million in cash to acquire the 25 new aircraft and to finance the balance of the purchase price with 12-year fixed-rate debt. These aircraft will be operated by SkyWest Airlines Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of SkyWest Inc. Sky West Inc. is the holding company for two scheduled passenger airline operations and an aircraft leasing company.