SkyWest (SKYW) Stock Analysis & Winston Score

SkyWest, Inc. is a regional airline that flies passengers on shorter routes across the United States. It does not sell tickets directly to travelers under its own brand. Instead, it operates flights on behalf of major airlines — United, Delta, American, and Alaska — using those airlines' logos and branding on the planes. SkyWest makes money by charging its partner airlines a fee for each flight it operates, which means the big airlines handle ticket sales and bear most of the revenue risk. SkyWest flies almost entirely within the US, making it one of the largest regional carriers in the country by number of flights. Its main competitive advantage is its long-term contracts with major airline partners, which provide relatively stable revenue. The biggest risk the company faces is a shortage of qualified pilots, which has already forced it to reduce the number of flights it can operate and limits how quickly it can grow.