Nature of Operations and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Nature of operations and significant accounting policies summary

Schedule of details of aircraft and agreements with other airlines

As of December 31, 2016, the Company had 652 aircraft in scheduled service out of a combined fleet of 685 aircraft consisting of the following:

	CRJ200	CRJ700	CRJ900	ERJ135	ERJ145	E175	EMB120	Total
United	75	35	—	5	140	58	—	313
Delta	109	62	64	—	—	13	—	248
American	29	33	—	—	14	—	—	76
Alaska	—	—	—	—	—	15	—	15
Aircraft in scheduled service	213	130	64	5	154	86	—	652
Subleased to an un-affiliated entity	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	2
Other*	—	9	—	4	4	—	14	31
Total Fleet	215	139	64	9	158	86	14	685

*Other aircraft consisted of leased aircraft removed from service that were in the process of being returned to the lessor and owned aircraft removed from service that are in the process of being sold.

Schedule of the Company's position in marketable securities

The Company’s position in marketable securities as of December 31, 2016 and 2015 was as follows (in thousands):

			Gross unrealized		Gross unrealized
At December 31, 2016	Amortized Cost		holding gains		holding losses		Fair market value
Total cash and cash equivalents	$	146,766	$	—	$	—	$	146,766
Available-for-sale securities:
Bond and bond funds	$	410,001	$	—	$	(116)	$	409,885
Asset backed securities		13		—		—		13
Total available-for-sale securities	$	410,014	$	—	$	(116)	$	409,898
Total cash and cash equivalents and available for sale securities	$	556,780	$	—	$	(116)	$	556,664

			Gross unrealized			Gross unrealized
At December 31, 2015	Amortized Cost		holding gains		holding losses		Fair market value
Total cash and cash equivalents	$	203,035	$	—	$	—	$	203,035
Available-for-sale securities:
Bond and bond funds	$	286,857	$	—	$	(220)	$	286,637
Asset backed securities		30		1		—		31
Total available-for-sale securities	$	286,887	$	1	$	(220)	$	286,668
Total cash and cash equivalents and available for sale securities	$	489,922	$	1	$	(220)	$	489,703

Schedule of maturities of marketable securities

Marketable securities had the following maturities as of December 31, 2016 (in thousands):

Maturities	Amount
Year 2017	$	293,928
Thereafter		115,970

Schedule of property and equipment

Assets	Depreciable Life	Residual Value
New Aircraft	18 years	30	%
Used Aircraft, rotable spares, and spare engines	up to 18 years	0 - 30	%
Ground equipment	up to 10 years	0	%
Office equipment	up to 7 years	0	%
Leasehold improvements	Shorter of 15 years or lease term	0	%
Buildings	20 – 39.5 years	0	%

Net income with per share data and comprehensive income

Schedule of net income (loss) per common share

	Year Ended December 31,
	2016		2015		2014
Numerator:
Net Income (Loss)	$	(161,586)	$	117,817	$	(24,154)
Denominator:
Denominator for basic earnings per-share weighted average shares		51,505		51,077		51,237
Dilution due to stock options and restricted stock units		—		748		—
Denominator for diluted earnings per-share weighted average shares		51,505		51,825		51,237
Basic earnings (loss) per-share	$	(3.14)	$	2.31	$	(0.47)
Diluted earnings (loss) per-share	$	(3.14)	$	2.27	$	(0.47)

Delta Connection Agreements

Nature of operations and significant accounting policies summary

Schedule of details of aircraft and agreements with other airlines

Agreement	Aircraft type	Number of Aircraft	Term / Termination Dates
SkyWest Airlines Delta Connection Agreement (fixed-fee arrangement)	CRJ 200  CRJ 700 CRJ 900 E175	50 27 36 13	Individual aircraft have scheduled removal dates under the agreement between 2017 and 2026 The average remaining term of the aircraft under contract is 3.7 years
ExpressJet Delta Connection Agreement (fixed-fee arrangement)	CRJ 200  CRJ 700 CRJ 900	38 35 28	Individual aircraft have scheduled removal dates under the agreement between 2017 and 2022 The average remaining term of the aircraft under contract is 2.8 years
SkyWest Airlines  Delta Connection Prorate Agreement (revenue-sharing arrangement)	CRJ 200	21	Terminable with 30-day notice

United Express Agreements

Nature of operations and significant accounting policies summary

Schedule of details of aircraft and agreements with other airlines

Agreement	Aircraft type	Number of Aircraft	Term / Termination Dates
SkyWest Airlines United Express Agreements (fixed-fee arrangement)	CRJ 200 CRJ 700 E175	53 35 58	Individual aircraft have scheduled removal dates under the agreement between 2017 and 2027 The average remaining term of the aircraft under contract is 5.7 years
ExpressJet United ERJ Agreement (fixed-fee arrangement)	ERJ 145 ERJ 135	140 5	Individual aircraft have scheduled removal dates under the agreement during 2017, subject to two one-year extensions The average remaining term of the aircraft under contract is 0.9 years
SkyWest Airlines United Express Prorate Agreement (revenue-sharing arrangement)	CRJ 200	22	Terminable with 120-day notice

American Agreements

Nature of operations and significant accounting policies summary

Schedule of details of aircraft and agreements with other airlines

Agreement	Aircraft type	Number of Aircraft	Term / Termination Dates
SkyWest Airlines American Agreement (fixed-fee arrangement)	 CRJ 200 CRJ 700	9 23	 CRJ200 aircraft are scheduled to expire in 2017 and the CRJ700 aircraft are scheduled to expire in 2019
SkyWest Airlines American Prorate Agreement (revenue-sharing arrangement)	 CRJ 200	6	 Terminable with 120-day notice
ExpressJet American Agreement  (fixed-fee arrangement)	 CRJ 200  CRJ 700  ERJ 145	11 10 14	 CRJ200 aircraft are scheduled to expire in 2017 and the CRJ700 aircraft are scheduled to expire in 2020
ExpressJet American Prorate Agreement (revenue-sharing arrangement)	 CRJ 200	3	 Terminable with 120-day notice

Alaska Capacity Purchase Agreement

Nature of operations and significant accounting policies summary

Schedule of details of aircraft and agreements with other airlines

Agreement	Aircraft type	Number of Aircraft	Term / Termination Dates
SkyWest Airlines Alaska Agreement (fixed-fee arrangement)	E175	15	Individual aircraft have scheduled removal dates under the agreement between 2027 and 2028