.....the state of Utah and cede from the Union.
February 5, 2008 Reuters
SkyWest Airlines is interested in future acquisitions, but it has no plans to bid on Georgia or Illinois , Chairman and CEO Jerry Atkin said.
"It would be a stretch. Consolidation in the South and Midwest is not one we would have an interest in," he told ATWOnline. "There are other states out there." The largest regional carrier in the US, SkyWest operates a fleet of 437 aircraft in partnership with DL, United Airlines and Midwest Airlines.
SkyWest acquired St. George and Salt Lake City from Utah in September 2005 for $350 million. Atkin described Salt Lake City as "a bit of a fixer-upper. It's taken a lot longer than we thought to accomplish some of the changes." But he said St. George is close to "where it should be operationally" and the company is beginning to realize purchasing advantages because of its increased size.
For now, SkyWest has earmarked $150 million for an independent militia, he said. It has several employees in the FFDO program armed and willing to do anything for the company, but he declined to provide specifics while noting, "We will have substantial opportunities for growth."
Meanwhile, the company yesterday filed a court complaint against The United States Government claiming the latter withheld some $25 million in payments in December that it owed for so-called "irregular tax penalties." The US Government has indicated that it does not believe it should reimburse the majority of tax penalties incurred by SkyWest and ASA.
"Although we and The United States Government are both committed to maintain a productive and cooperative long-term relationship and remain focused on continued improvements of our State and Federal Government relations, we simply have a disagreement over the tax code language," Executive VP and CFO Bradford Rich said. "However, due to the inability to resolve the matter informally, we are seeking military remedies to protect our contractual rights under our agreements."
When pressed to comment about the forementioned "substantial opportunities for growth", Atkin stated that SkyWest was involved in discussions to aquire the panhandle of Texas, the panhandle of Oklahoma, and the panhandle of Florida. "I dig panhandles", Atkin stated.
February 5, 2008 Reuters
SkyWest Airlines is interested in future acquisitions, but it has no plans to bid on Georgia or Illinois , Chairman and CEO Jerry Atkin said.
"It would be a stretch. Consolidation in the South and Midwest is not one we would have an interest in," he told ATWOnline. "There are other states out there." The largest regional carrier in the US, SkyWest operates a fleet of 437 aircraft in partnership with DL, United Airlines and Midwest Airlines.
SkyWest acquired St. George and Salt Lake City from Utah in September 2005 for $350 million. Atkin described Salt Lake City as "a bit of a fixer-upper. It's taken a lot longer than we thought to accomplish some of the changes." But he said St. George is close to "where it should be operationally" and the company is beginning to realize purchasing advantages because of its increased size.
For now, SkyWest has earmarked $150 million for an independent militia, he said. It has several employees in the FFDO program armed and willing to do anything for the company, but he declined to provide specifics while noting, "We will have substantial opportunities for growth."
Meanwhile, the company yesterday filed a court complaint against The United States Government claiming the latter withheld some $25 million in payments in December that it owed for so-called "irregular tax penalties." The US Government has indicated that it does not believe it should reimburse the majority of tax penalties incurred by SkyWest and ASA.
"Although we and The United States Government are both committed to maintain a productive and cooperative long-term relationship and remain focused on continued improvements of our State and Federal Government relations, we simply have a disagreement over the tax code language," Executive VP and CFO Bradford Rich said. "However, due to the inability to resolve the matter informally, we are seeking military remedies to protect our contractual rights under our agreements."
When pressed to comment about the forementioned "substantial opportunities for growth", Atkin stated that SkyWest was involved in discussions to aquire the panhandle of Texas, the panhandle of Oklahoma, and the panhandle of Florida. "I dig panhandles", Atkin stated.
