SkyWest(SKYW) - 2024 Q4 - Annual Results

Financial Performance - SkyWest reported Q4 2024 net income of $97 million, or$2.34 per diluted share, compared to $18 million, or$0.42 per diluted share, in Q4 2023, representing a 439% increase in net income year-over-year[2] - For the full year 2024, SkyWest achieved net income of $323 million, or$7.77 per diluted share, compared to $34 million, or$0.77 per diluted share, in 2023, marking a 853% increase in annual net income[2] - Q4 2024 revenue was $944 million, up$192 million, or 26%, from $752 million in Q4 2023, driven by a 20$800 million, an increase of $76 million, or 10$724 million in Q4 2023, primarily due to increased flight production[5] Cash and Debt Management - SkyWest had $802 million in cash and marketable securities as of December 31, 2024, down from$836 million at September 30, 2024[6] - Total debt remained flat at $2.7 billion as of December 31, 2024, down from$3.0 billion at the end of 2023[6] Fleet and Operations - SkyWest took delivery of four new E175 aircraft in Q4 2024 and has a multi-year contract extension with American Airlines for 74 CRJ700s[3] - By the end of 2026, SkyWest is scheduled to operate a total of 278 E175 aircraft, with 25 deliveries completed in 2024 and 8 anticipated in 2025[9] Shareholder Actions - The company repurchased 47,000 shares of common stock for $4.9 million during Q4 2024, with an average price per share of$104.51[7] Asset Management - As of December 31, 2024, SkyWest's total assets were $7.14 billion, an increase from$7.03 billion at the end of 2023[18] Operational Metrics - Total block hours increased by 20.5% to 350,318 for the three months ended December 31, 2024, compared to 290,754 in 2023[21] - Passengers carried rose by 13.2% to 11,231,510 in Q4 2024, up from 9,925,655 in Q4 2023[21] - Departures increased by 16.4% to 206,588 in Q4 2024, compared to 177,433 in Q4 2023[21] - E175 block hours grew by 19.4% to 211,519 in Q4 2024, from 177,104 in Q4 2023[21] - CRJ900 block hours surged by 37.9% to 23,711 in Q4 2024, compared to 17,198 in Q4 2023[21] - Average trip length decreased slightly by 0.4% to 443 miles in Q4 2024, from 445 miles in Q4 2023[21] - Passenger load factor declined by 1.2 percentage points to 82.2% in Q4 2024, down from 83.4% in Q4 2023[21] - Adjusted flight completion remained stable at 99.9% for both Q4 2024 and Q4 2023[21] - Raw flight completion decreased by 0.5 percentage points to 99.0% in Q4 2024, compared to 99.5% in Q4 2023[21] - For the year ended December 31, 2024, total block hours increased by 13.3% to 1,292,040 from 1,140,443 in 2023[21]