skywest

Tag Archives for skywest.

“Nobody Warned Us!”: Delta Passengers Applaud Pilot After Terrifying Near-Miss With Military B-52 Bomber

by Gary Leff on July 20, 2025

Jul 20 2025

Delta Air Lines flight 3788, an Embraer E-175 operated by SkyWest, nearly collided with another aircraft as it flew from Minneapolis–St. Paul to Minot, North Dakota In addition to operating as a civilian airport, Minot is home to an Air Force base where the 5th Bomb Wing’s 26 B-52 Stratofortress bombers are based. The Delta Connection flight began its descent toward Minot, and the plane suddenly performed an evasive maneuver to avoid another aircraft converging on their flight path. As relayed in video recorded by a passenger, the captain came on the PA to explain what happened. He apologized and detailed the abrupt turn to avoid a potential mid-air collision, “For those of you on the right-hand side, you probably saw the airplane kind of coming at us… nobody told us about it.” @azamora616 #plane#nearmiss#flight3788…

Alaska Airlines Passenger’s AirTag Traveled To 37 Cities While Its Owner Watched, No Miles Earned!

by Gary Leff on April 10, 2024

Apr 10 2024

An Alaska Airlines passenger put an AirTag on their luggage last summer before checking it in San Francisco. The bag was delivered to San Diego just fine. It was at baggage claim shortly after landing – without the AirTag on it. The tag had fallen off.

The plane was an Embraer E-175 regional jet operated for Alaska Airlines by SkyWest. And that SkyWest plane has been “bopping around the western US and Canada ever since” with the passenger’s AirTag in the cargo hold.

Revolution in the Skies: SkyWest’s 25% Stake In Contour Airlines Ignites Industry Turmoil

by Gary Leff on February 2, 2024

Feb 02 2024

SkyWest is navigating regulatory and industry pushback to launch SkyWest Charter, leveraging a 25% stake in Contour Airlines and aiming to reshape air service with a strategy that utilizes experienced pilots from major airlines and operates under Part 135 rules, amidst controversy and opposition from major carriers and pilot associations.

The One Airline Passenger I Would Never Want To Be, Everyone Would Be Looking At Me

by Gary Leff on September 21, 2023

Sep 21 2023

United Airlines flight 5505 from Aspen to Denver was delayed two hours on Wednesday because a passenger broke the latch on an overhead bin. Everyone on board – or almost everybody – was certainly connecting and most likely missed their connections.

FAA Proposes To Ban JSX Because They Offer Passengers A Popular, Quality Product

by Gary Leff on August 31, 2023

Aug 31 2023

There hasn’t been a single safety issue identified with Part 380 carriers complying with the rules applicable to Part 121 operations. In fact, the rulemaking even notes that “the FAA has adjusted its oversight of these increased operations” and has not expressed a concern about JSX or similar carriers.

The only reason the agency cites for potentially banning their operation is they’ve grown, but that is literally what the rules – and the Department of Transportation – are designed for.

Shameful: FAA Prioritizes Cronyism Over Safety Giving In To Pilot Union Demands

by Gary Leff on August 27, 2023

Aug 27 2023

The federal government is considering banning air carrier operations that diverge from the model of American Airlines, United, and Delta in order to operate niche service from small cities and private terminals. And the only reason they’re doing this is as a concession to lobbying by unions and an incumbent airline – groups that don’t want to compete with more pilots and innovative business models.

The FAA is considering requiring carriers currently operating as scheduled charters to instead operate as scheduled air carriers, effectively putting upstarts out of business. The loudest lobbying voice with the ear of the powerful wins?

Biden Administration Considers Rule Change That Could End JSX And Small City Air Service

by Gary Leff on August 24, 2023

Aug 24 2023

When SkyWest proposed to mimic JSX’s model, in order to provide Essential Air Service flights, the big pilot union went ballistic. They see an end-run around hard-fought limits on entry into the pilot profession. People were able to fly with fewer than 1,500 hours – in fact, they were getting paid to build up hours that would qualify them to fly for major airlines. These hours are even better and safer that what most commercial pilots fly to qualify – real operations, not just 1,000 in clear weather flying Cessna doing touch-and-go’s at the same three or four airports.

SAD: Airline Unions Band Together, Ask Government To Ban Better Air Travel

by Gary Leff on May 7, 2023

May 07 2023

Several air travel unions are going to the government, trying to get new air carriers banned, because they are… legal and competitive. They even cite offering a better, more compelling product to passengers as a problem. Regional carrier SkyWest created a subsidiary to run public charter flights under FAA Part 135 rules. This lets then fly planes with no more than 30 seats which have a captain that meets the 1500 hour rule but allows a co-pilot with fewer hours. The plan involved taking CRJ-200 50-seat regional jets and taking out seats. That’s actually great for passengers. And SkyWest planned to do this on poor-performing routes, where there weren’t that many passengers to begin with, like subsidized Essential Air Service routes. That keeps air service to small cities which are rapidly seeing flights dry up…

American Airlines Has New Regional Jets That Are Missing Rows Of Seats

by Gary Leff on November 6, 2021

Nov 06 2021

American Airlines customers may find themselves on a regional jet with rows of seats missing. Here’s the front of the cabin of an American Eagle Embraer ERJ-175, registration N502SY, operated by SkyWest. This is a new aircraft, just delivered in August 2021.

How Would You Feel Boarding This American Airlines Flight?

by Gary Leff on September 3, 2021

Sep 03 2021

A passenger passes along a photo from on board Thursday’s American Airlines flight AA3145. The SkyWest Bombardier CRJ-700 (registration N716EV) was headed from Phoenix to Santa Rosa.

This 18 year old CR7, ex-Atlantic Southeast and ExpressJet, moved over to Skywest in December 2018 and sat in storage until Feb 2021. And the interior looked like it should never have been taken out of storage.