SkyWest Inc (SKYW) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and thank you for standing by. My name is Regina, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the SkyWest, Inc., fourth quarter and full year 2023 earnings results conference call. (Operator Instructions)

您好，感謝您的支持。我叫雷吉娜，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。此時，我歡迎大家參加 SkyWest, Inc. 2023 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。（操作員說明）

I would now like to turn the conference over to Rob Simmons, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

我現在想將會議交給財務長 Rob Simmons。請繼續。

Thank you, Regina, and thanks, everyone, for joining us on the call today. As the operator indicated, this is Rob Simmons, SkyWest's Chief Financial Officer. On the call with me today are Chip Childs, President and Chief Executive Officer; Wade Steel, Chief Commercial Officer; and Eric Woodward, Chief Accounting Officer.

謝謝你，雷吉娜，謝謝大家今天加入我們的電話會議。正如接線員所說，這是 Rob Simmons，SkyWest 的財務長。今天與我通話的是總裁兼執行長 Chip Childs；韋德鋼鐵，首席商務官；和首席會計官埃里克·伍德沃德。

I'd like to start today by asking Eric to read the Safe Harbor, then I will turn the time over to Chip for some comments. Following Chip, I will take us through the financial results, then Wade will discuss the fleet and related flying arrangements. Following Wade, we will have the customary Q&A session with our sell-side analysts. Eric?

我想從今天開始請艾瑞克閱讀安全港，然後我會把時間交給奇普徵求一些意見。奇普之後，我將向我們介紹財務業績，然後韋德將討論機隊和相關的飛行安排。在韋德之後，我們將與賣方分析師進行例行的問答環節。艾瑞克？

Today's discussion contains forward-looking statements that represent our current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions regarding future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Actual results will likely vary and may vary materially from those anticipated, estimated or projected for a number of reasons. Some of the factors that may cause such differences are included in our 2022 Form 10-K and other reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

今天的討論包含前瞻性陳述，代表我們目前對未來事件的信念、期望和假設，並受到風險和不確定性的影響。我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性聲明的義務，無論是由於新資訊、未來事件或其他原因。由於多種原因，實際結果可能會有所不同，並且可能與預期、估計或預期的結果有重大差異。我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的 2022 年 10-K 表格以及其他報告和文件中包含了一些可能導致此類差異的因素。

And now, I'll turn the call over to Chip.

現在，我將把電話轉給奇普。

Thank you, Rob and Eric, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us on the call again today. Today, I will recap our fourth quarter and full year 2023.

謝謝羅布和埃里克，大家下午好。感謝您今天再次加入我們的電話會議。今天，我將回顧我們的第四季和 2023 年全年。

Throughout the year, we executed on our business objectives to first and foremost take care of our people, to deliver on our partner commitments, and to maximize our risk as we optimize our capital deployment. Our unique model of collaborating with our people enables us to rapidly respond to both challenge and opportunity, as well as deliver the best product in the regional industry. We believe this unique collaborative approach not only benefits our people and our product; it's been a fundamental part of our success for over 52 years, and will continue to help the SkyWest's team lead the industry forward in 2024 and beyond.

在這一年中，我們執行的業務目標是首先照顧我們的員工，履行我們的合作夥伴承諾，並在優化資本部署時最大限度地降低風險。我們獨特的員工合作模式使我們能夠快速應對挑戰和機遇，並提供區域產業中最好的產品。我們相信這種獨特的協作方式不僅有利於我們的員工和我們的產品，而且有利於我們的產品。 52 年來，它一直是我們成功的基本組成部分，並將繼續幫助 SkyWest 團隊在 2024 年及以後引領業界前進。

I'm very proud to share that in 2023, SkyWest teams delivered a historic 300 days of 100% adjusted completion, besting our last annual completion record by over 100 days. Safely and reliably connecting people with global access via our four major partners is the business of our product, and we're proud to do it better than anyone else in our space. This extraordinary achievement takes significant planning, preparation, and teamwork. And I want to thank our nearly 14,000 people who worked together to provide an exceptional product to 38 million passengers last year alone.

我非常自豪地與大家分享，2023 年，SkyWest 團隊實現了歷史性的 300 天 100% 調整完成率，比我們上一個年度完成記錄多了 100 天以上。透過我們的四大合作夥伴安全可靠地將人們與全球聯繫起來是我們產品的業務，我們很自豪能夠比我們領域的其他任何人做得更好。這項非凡的成就需要大量的規劃、準備和團隊合作。我要感謝我們近 14,000 名員工，光是去年，他們就共同努力為 3,800 萬名乘客提供了卓越的產品。

Today, SkyWest reported net income of $18 million, or $0.42 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2023, and full year 2023 net income of $34 million, or $0.77 per diluted share. Overall, our partnerships are strong and demand for our product remains extremely high.

今天，SkyWest 公佈 2023 年第四季度淨利潤為 1800 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.42 美元，2023 年全年淨利潤為 3400 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.77 美元。總體而言，我們的合作夥伴關係非常牢固，對我們產品的需求仍然非常高。

While 2023 was a little bumpy, we're pleased with the performance and our expectations for production and profit are improved since our estimates last quarter. As shared last quarter, captain attrition has begun to improve, and the fourth quarter showed the lowest attrition we've experienced in two years. With industry-wide hiring also seeming to stabilize, we expect continued progress in 2024. As we all know, captain development takes extensive time, and it will still be years to fully restore our crew balance and production.

雖然 2023 年有點坎坷，但我們對業績感到滿意，並且自上季度的預測以來，我們對產量和利潤的預期有所改善。正如上個季度所分享的，隊長的流失已經開始改善，第四季的流失率是我們兩年來最低的。由於全行業的招聘似乎也趨於穩定，我們預計 2024 年將繼續取得進展。眾所周知，船長的培養需要很長的時間，完全恢復我們的船員平衡和生產還需要數年時間。

As I mentioned earlier, we are continually looking for ways to best take care of our people through ongoing investment in enhanced compensation packages over the past couple of years, as well as improved opportunities for those who are looking to transition to mainline. We recognize the pilots have more options than ever before and appreciate that they are recognizing the value proposition at SkyWest.

正如我之前提到的，我們一直在尋找最好的方法來照顧我們的員工，在過去的幾年裡，我們不斷投資於增強薪酬方案，並為那些希望過渡到主線的人提供更多的機會。我們認識到飛行員比以往任何時候都有更多的選擇，並感謝他們認識到 SkyWest 的價值主張。

In Q4, we announced a new pilot program with United exclusively for SkyWest's pilots. This program provides a clear path to United early in SkyWest's pilot career, with a conditional offer from United at 400 hours for those accepted. This innovative program benefits both our pilots who want to transition to United as well as those who want to build a successful career at SkyWest by ensuring that those in the program contribute flying through SkyWest's captain requirements.

在第四季度，我們與美聯航宣布了一項專門針對 SkyWest 飛行員的新試點計畫。該計劃為 SkyWest 飛行員職業生涯早期進入美聯航提供了一條明確的道路，對於被接受的人，美聯航會提供 400 個小時的有條件錄取通知書。這項創新計劃確保參與該計劃的飛行員能夠滿足 SkyWest 機長要求，從而使想要過渡到美聯航的飛行員以及那些想要在 SkyWest 建立成功職業生涯的飛行員受益。

Shifting gears, we recently completed the acquisition of a 25% stake of Contour airlines, a small operator in the Part 135 space, for $25 million. This minority interest stake strategically positions us to further monetize our existing CRJ assets through an asset provisioning agreement and to establish another pipeline for pilot supply. We will continue to evaluate opportunities to smartly and accretively deploy our capital.

我們最近以 2500 萬美元的價格完成了對 Contour 航空公司 25% 的股權的收購，Contour 航空公司是 Part 135 領域的小型營運商。這筆少數股權在策略上使我們能夠透過資產配置協議進一步將我們現有的 CRJ 資產貨幣化，並建立另一個試點供應管道。我們將繼續評估明智、增值地部署我們資本的機會。

SkyWest Charter, or SWC, has continued to successfully complete on-demand charter flying since it began operations last year. We continue to believe that SWC is the best possible answer for small community air service. And regardless of the status of our pending application for commuter authority at DOT, we're pleased with the strong demand for SkyWest's product and are very optimistic about its future.

SkyWest Charter（SWC）自去年開始營運以來，繼續成功完成按需包機飛行。我們仍然相信 SWC 是小型社區航空服務的最佳解決方案。無論我們在 DOT 的通勤授權申請的狀態如何，我們對 SkyWest 產品的強勁需求感到高興，並對其未來非常樂觀。

That said, it is and will remain a small part small portion of our overall business, with our primary focus remaining on our contract flying and major partner relationships. As always, we remain disciplined to ensure capital is deployed effectively and profitably.

也就是說，它現在和將來都只占我們整體業務的一小部分，我們的主要重點仍然是我們的合約飛行和主要合作夥伴關係。像往常一樣，我們仍然遵守紀律，以確保資本的有效部署和利潤。

Overall, demand for each of our products remains exceptionally strong, and we remain aggressive and disciplined to advance our position at the forefront of the regional industry for our people, our partners, and our shareholders. As we deliver on our business fundamentals, we remain laser focused on executing reliably for the long game. Looking forward, there are still headwinds, but we believe no regional entity is better positioned, and we're optimistic about the opportunities ahead.

整體而言，對我們每種產品的需求仍然異常強勁，我們仍然積極進取、自律，為我們的員工、合作夥伴和股東提升我們在區域產業前沿的地位。在我們實踐我們的業務基礎的同時，我們仍然專注於長期可靠的執行。展望未來，仍然存在阻力，但我們相信沒有哪個區域實體處於更好的位置，我們對未來的機會感到樂觀。

Rob will now take us through the financial data.

羅布現在將帶我們瀏覽財務數據。

Today, we reported a fourth quarter GAAP net profit of $18 million, or $0.42 earnings per share. Q4 pretax income was $24 million. Our weighted average share count for Q4 was 41.8 million and our effective tax rate was 28%.

今天，我們報告第四季度 GAAP 淨利潤為 1800 萬美元，即每股收益 0.42 美元。第四季稅前收入為 2,400 萬美元。第四季我們的加權平均股票數為 4,180 萬股，有效稅率為 28%。

First, let's talk about revenue. Total Q4 revenue of $752 million is down 2% sequentially from Q3 2023 and up 10% from Q4 2022. Q4 revenue breaks down with contract revenue down 2% from Q3 and up 8% from Q4 2022. Pro-rate and charter revenue was $111 million in Q4, flat from Q3, and up 37% from Q4 2022. Leasing and other revenue was flat sequentially and down by $3 million year over year, reflecting a reduction in airport customer service contracts.

首先，我們來談談收入。第四季總營收為 7.52 億美元，比 2023 年第三季下降 2%，比 2022 年第四季成長 10%。第四季營收出現下滑，合約營收較第三季下降 2%，較 2022 年第四季成長 8%。第四季按比例費率和包機收入為 1.11 億美元，與第三季持平，但比 2022 年第四季成長 37%。租賃和其他收入環比持平，年減 300 萬美元，反映出機場客戶服務合約的減少。

These GAAP results include the effect of $63 million of revenue deferred this quarter, compared to $56 million deferred in Q3 and $70 million that was deferred in Q4 2022. As of the end of Q4, we have $367 million of cumulative deferred revenue that will be recognized in future periods. As indicated last quarter, we expect to recognize previously deferred revenue of roughly $5 million to $10 million in Q1 and approximately $50 million to $70 million in 2024.

這些 GAAP 業績包括本季遞延的 6,​​300 萬美元收入的影響，而 2022 年第三季遞延的收入為 5,600 萬美元，第四季度遞延的收入為 7,000 萬美元。截至第四季末，我們累計遞延收入為 3.67 億美元，將在未來期間確認。如上季所示，我們預計將在第一季確認先前遞延的收入約 500 萬至 1,000 萬美元，並在 2024 年確認約 5,000 萬至 7,000 萬美元。

Additionally, for modeling purposes, about half of our non-operating below the line other income in the fourth quarter included a non-recurring cash gain associated with the resolution of a prior-year matter.

此外，出於建模目的，第四季度線下其他非經營收入中約有一半包括與解決上一年問題相關的非經常性現金收益。

Let me move to the balance sheet. We ended the quarter with cash of $835 million, up $15 million from $820 million last quarter. The $15 million increase in cash during the quarter included the accretive actions of, number one, repaying a $116 million in debt; number two, buying back 1 million shares of SkyWest's stock in Q4 for $45 million at an average price of $45.20 per share.

讓我談談資產負債表。本季結束時，我們的現金為 8.35 億美元，比上季的 8.2 億美元增加了 1,500 萬美元。本季現金增加 1,500 萬美元，其中包括以下增值行動：第一，償還 1.16 億美元的債務；第二，第四季以 4,500 萬美元回購 100 萬股 SkyWest 股票，平均價格為每股 45.20 美元。

During the full year 2023, we have repurchased 10.6 million shares or approximately 21% of the outstanding shares of the company for $289 million at an average price of $27.30 per share. And number three, acquiring two new E175 five aircraft that were debt financed.

2023 年全年，我們以 2.89 億美元的價格回購了 1,060 萬股股票，即約占公司已發行股票的 21%，平均價格為每股 27.30 美元。第三，購買兩架透過債務融資的新 E175 五架飛機。

Our CapEx during the fourth quarter was $86 million. We ended Q4 with debt of $3 billion, down from $3.4 billion as of year-end 2022. These cash-related numbers tell an important story about the quarter, that we continue to generate positive free cash flow from operations despite production constraints.

我們第四季的資本支出為 8,600 萬美元。截至第四季末，我們的債務為 30 億美元，低於 2022 年底的 34 億美元。這些與現金相關的數字講述了本季的一個重要故事，即儘管生產受到限制，我們仍繼續從營運中產生正的自由現金流。

Our strong free cash flow also benefits from a lower investment in CapEx than in prior years. Our balance sheet and solid liquidity continue to be powerful tools to create shareholder value, tools that have helped us repay over $400 million in debt and repurchase over 21% of our outstanding stock during 2023.

我們強勁的自由現金流也受惠於資本支出投資低於前幾年。我們的資產負債表和穩定的流動性仍然是創造股東價值的強大工具，這些工具幫助我們償還了超過 4 億美元的債務，並在 2023 年回購了超過 21% 的流通股。

Consistent with our policy and practice, we are not giving any specific EPS guidance at this time. But let me give you a little color on 2024. From last quarter's color, we now expect 2024 to be even more profitable from higher expected production. This improvement versus our expectations a quarter ago is driven by Q4's pilot attrition being at the lowest level in two years.

根據我們的政策和實踐，我們目前不提供任何具體的每股盈餘指引。但讓我為您介紹一下 2024 年的情況。從上個季度的情況來看，我們現在預計 2024 年將因更高的預期產量而獲得更多利潤。與我們一個季度前的預期相比，這一改善是由於第四季度的飛行員流失率達到兩年來的最低水平。

As Wade will discuss in a minute, we now anticipate our 2024 block hours to be up 3% to 5% over 2023, up from the expectation of flat year-over-year production a quarter ago. Our expectation for growth in block hours in 2024 is driven by improving pilot attrition, increasing utilization, and ongoing strong demand for our production from our partners.

正如韋德稍後將討論的那樣，我們現在預計 2024 年的區塊小時數將比 2023 年增長 3% 至 5%，高於一個季度前產量同比持平的預期。我們對 2024 年區塊小時數成長的預期是由飛行員流失率的改善、利用率的提高以及合作夥伴對我們生產的持續強勁需求所推動的。

We anticipate our 2024 income tax rate will range between 25% to 27%. As the 2023 GAAP noise from deferred revenue starts to reverse in 2024, and including the benefit from our share repurchase activity this year, we expect our 2024 GAAP EPS to, again, have a $6 handle where we were pre-COVID, reflecting our stronger production outlook.

我們預計 2024 年所得稅稅率將在 25% 至 27% 之間。由於遞延收入帶來的2023 年GAAP 噪音在2024 年開始逆轉，並且包括我們今年股票回購活動的收益，我們預計2024 年GAAP 每股收益將再次達到新冠疫情前的6 美元，這反映出我們的實力更強生產前景。

Our solid balance sheet, reliable cash flow from operations, and strong demand for our product provide a catalyst for improving our return on invested capital, including the following. As a result of repurchasing 10.6 million shares during 2023, we had 40.2 million shares outstanding as of December 31, 2023. As of December 31, we had $91 million remaining under our current share repurchase authorization. We anticipate continuing to be opportunistic in repurchasing shares going forward, although likely at a significantly slower cadence than in 2023.

我們穩健的資產負債表、可靠的營運現金流量以及對我們產品的強勁需求為提高我們的投資資本回報率提供了催化劑，包括以下內容。由於 2023 年回購了 1,060 萬股，截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日，我們有 4,020 萬股已發行股票。截至 12 月 31 日，我們目前的股票回購授權仍有 9,100 萬美元。我們預期未來回購股票的步伐可能會比 2023 年慢得多，但仍將繼續採取機會主義方式。

Over 2023, we executed on our balanced capital deployment by also repaying over $400 million in debt. Our debt net of cash continues to be lower than our pre-pandemic levels of 2019. The underutilization of the fleet in place today can accommodate 14% ERJ future block hour growth and 35% CRJ future growth in block hours. Wade will give more color around this in a minute.

2023 年，我們也償還了超過 4 億美元的債務，實現了平衡的資本部署。我們的現金債務淨額繼續低於 2019 年大流行前的水平。目前機隊利用率不足，可容納 ERJ 未來區塊小時增長 14% 和 CRJ 未來區塊小時增長 35%。韋德稍後會對此進行更多闡述。

Our capital expenditures were $252 million in 2023, including an early lease buyout on 35 CRJs earlier in the year and the acquisition of two new E175 aircraft. We anticipate our 2024 CapEx will be approximately $275 million to $325 million, including the purchase of five new E175s in 2024.

2023 年我們的資本支出為 2.52 億美元，包括今年稍早對 35 架 CRJ 的早期租賃買斷以及購買兩架新的 E175 飛機。我們預計 2024 年的資本支出約為 2.75 億至 3.25 億美元，其中包括 2024 年購買 5 台新的 E175。

Our investment in Contour, mentioned earlier by Chip, will give us an important channel to deploy and monetize our excess CRJ200 aircraft and engines in underserved communities. We believe that our strong cash position and the actions we are taking now to prepare the way over the next couple of years for incremental utilization of our fleet to work through the pilot shortage affecting the industry and to preserve the optionality of monetizing strong demand opportunities over time will position us well to drive total shareholder returns. Wade?

Chip 先前提到的，我們對 Contour 的投資將為我們提供一個重要管道，以便在服務不足的社區部署多餘的 CRJ200 飛機和發動機並從中獲利。我們相信，我們強大的現金狀況以及我們現在正在採取的行動，是為未來幾年增加我們機隊的利用率做好準備，以解決影響行業的試點短缺問題，並保留將強勁需求機會貨幣化的選擇性。時間將使我們能夠很好地推動股東總回報。韋德？

Thank you, Rob. Last quarter, we announced a flying agreement for 19 new E175s to replace 19 CRJ700s under our United contract. We anticipate four of the E175s will be delivered in the fourth quarter of this year; seven in 2025 and eight in 2026. These 19 are in addition to the two remaining E175s currently on order.

謝謝你，羅布。上季度，我們宣布了一項飛行協議，根據我們的美聯航合同，使用 19 架新 E175 來取代 19 架 CRJ700。我們預計四架 E175 將在今年第四季交付； 2025 年 7 個，2026 年 8 個。除了目前訂購的剩餘兩架 E175 之外，還有這 19 架。

During the fourth quarter, we received two E175s under our Delta contract. We expect delivery of one more in 2024 and the last in 2025. At the end of 2026, our E175 fleet total will be 258, continuing to solidify SkyWest as the largest Embraer operator in the world. There are still over 165 -- there are still over 100 65- to 76-seat aircraft to be awarded, and we are optimistic about our chances to operate some of these scope aircraft.

第四季度，我們根據達美合約收到了兩架 E175。我們預計將於 2024 年再交付一艘，並於 2025 年交付最後一艘。到 2026 年底，我們的 E175 機隊總數將達到 258 架，繼續鞏固 SkyWest 作為全球最大的巴西航空工業公司營運商的地位。仍有超過 165 架——仍有超過 100 架 65 至 76 座飛機待授予，我們對運營其中一些範圍飛機的機會感到樂觀。

The debt remaining on the 19 CRJ700s will be repaid by the time they come out of contract with United. We are working to place these 700s under flying agreements and believe they will be extremely valuable to our partners as they move to replace single-class 50-seat product with dual-class aircraft. These aircraft are some of the newest next-gen CRJ700s in the world.

19 架 CRJ700 的剩餘債務將在與美聯航的合約到期時償還。我們正在努力將這些 700 飛機納入飛行協議，並相信它們對我們的合作夥伴來說非常有價值，因為他們正在用雙艙飛機取代單艙 50 座產品。這些飛機是世界上最新的下一代 CRJ700 飛機。

Let me review our production. The fourth quarter completed block hours were flat as compared to the third quarter of 2023. Based on the current schedules we have from our major partners for Q1, we anticipate that our first quarter block hours will be consistent with the fourth quarter.

讓我回顧一下我們的生產。與 2023 年第三季相比，第四季完成的區塊運行時間持平。根據我們從主要合作夥伴獲得的第一季的當前時間表，我們預計第一季的區塊時間將與第四季度保持一致。

With regard to staffing, we have seen an improving trend in our captain attrition and anticipate that our 2024 block hours will increase by 3% to 5% as compared to 2023. I would also remind you that we can add approximately 14% more block hours to our ERJ fleet before adding any aircraft. This same number is over 35% for our CRJ fleet and makes each additional block hour accretive to the model.

在人員配置方面，我們發現船長流失趨勢有所改善，預計 2024 年的出塊時間將比 2023 年增加 3% 至 5%。我還想提醒您，在添加任何飛機之前，我們可以將 ERJ 機隊的停機時間增加約 14%。對於我們的 CRJ 機隊來說，這個數字超過了 35%，並且每增加一個區塊小時就會使模型增加。

Our partners remain very engaged in supporting our efforts to restore production. During the quarter, we also came to an agreement with United on a pilot pathway program for SkyWest's pilots. This new agreement will allow our current pilots to interview and receive a job offer with United at as early as 400 hours of flying time with SkyWest. The pilot will then transition to United once they have flown as a SkyWest captain for a certain amount of time. This new program provides enhanced career clarity for all of the SkyWest pilot who join.

我們的合作夥伴仍然積極支持我們恢復生產的努力。在本季度，我們也與美聯航就 SkyWest 飛行員的試點通道計畫達成協議。這項新協議將允許我們現有的飛行員在 SkyWest 飛行 400 小時後就可以面試並獲得美聯航的工作機會。一旦飛行員以 SkyWest 機長身份飛行一定時間，他們就會轉任美聯航。這項新計劃為所有加入的 SkyWest 飛行員提供了更高的職業清晰度。

We also announced today we acquired 25% ownership stake in Contour Airlines, a Part 135 carrier, for $25 million. This arrangement also includes an asset provisioning agreement under which SkyWest will provide CRJ airframes and engines to Contour. This ownership stake is part of our strategy to accretively monetize our CRJ200 assets.

今天我們也宣布以 2,500 萬美元收購 Contour Airlines（符合第 135 部分規定的航空公司） 25% 的所有權。該安排還包括一項資產供應協議，根據該協議，SkyWest 將向 Contour 提供 CRJ 機身和引擎。該股權是我們將 CRJ200 資產增值的策略的一部分。

We have very little book value for our CRJ200 assets and no debt. And we have approximately 5 million cycles remaining to monetize on our CRJ engines through a variety of different platforms.

我們的 CRJ200 資產的帳面價值非常低，而且沒有債務。我們還有大約 500 萬個循環可以透過各種不同的平台在 CRJ 引擎上獲利。

Both SkyWest Airlines, and the SWC, our new charter business, will also continue to utilize our CRJ200 assets. We continue seeing very good demand for selling and leasing these assets. For example, we sold over $15 million of CRJ assets during 2023.

SkyWest 航空公司和我們的新包機業務 SWC 也將繼續使用我們的 CRJ200 資產。我們繼續看到出售和租賃這些資產的需求非常旺盛。例如，我們在 2023 年出售了超過 1500 萬美元的 CRJ 資產。

Let me give a brief update about the status of SWC. SWC began operating on-demand revenue charter flights last April, and we have been investing in training and hiring of employees since that time. We are pleased with the SWC's progress. And the sport charter bookings for this winter have been significantly higher than we had originally anticipated. While SWC did not contribute to our Q4 earnings, we anticipate SWC will have a positive contribution to our earnings during Q1 of 2024.

讓我簡單介紹一下 SWC 的最新情況。SWC 去年 4 月開始營運按需收入包機，從那時起我們就一直在員工培訓和招聘方面進行投資。我們對 SWC 的進展感到高興。今年冬季的運動包機預訂量明顯高於我們最初的預期。雖然 SWC 沒有為我們第四季度的盈利做出貢獻，但我們預計 SWC 將為我們 2024 年第一季的盈利做出積極貢獻。

As far as our prorate business, the demand remains extremely strong. Just like the rest of the industry, we are seeing very strong yields and great community support. We will continue to work with the communities we serve on the best way to continue our service.

就我們的按比例分配業務而言，需求仍然非常強勁。就像行業中的其他公司一樣，我們看到了非常強勁的收益和強大的社區支持。我們將繼續與我們所服務的社區合作，以最佳方式繼續我們的服務。

We feel good about our ongoing efforts to reduce risk and enhance fleet and financing flexibility and remain committed to continuing our work with each of our major partners to provide creative solutions to the continued exceptional demand for our products.

我們對我們為降低風險、增強機隊和融資靈活性所做的持續努力感到滿意，並繼續致力於與我們的每個主要合作夥伴繼續合作，為我們產品的持續特殊需求提供創造性的解決方案。

Okay. Operator, we're ready for the Q&A with our sell-side.

好的。營運商，我們已準備好與賣方進行問答。

Savi Syth, Raymond James.

薩維·賽斯，雷蒙德·詹姆斯。

Hey, good afternoon. I was wondering if you could -- I know it's a smaller part of your business, but I was wondering if you could elaborate a little bit more on Southwest charter and then how that interplays with maybe some of your prorate? Because I know you mentioned $111 million. Does prorate and Southwest charter kind of balance each other out in the sense that it takes out the seasonality of that line item? And you grew the aircraft there to 16. Just wondering how you're thinking about Southwest chart as you get into 2024.

嘿，下午好。我想知道您是否可以 - 我知道這是您業務的一小部分，但我想知道您是否可以詳細說明西南包機，然後這與您的部分比例如何相互作用？因為我知道你提到了 1.11 億美元。按比例分配和西南包機是否在某種程度上相互平衡，因為它消除了該訂單項目的季節性？然後你把那裡的飛機增加到了 16 架。只是想知道進入 2024 年時您對西南航空圖表有何看法。

Savi, this is Chip. Thanks. Look, SkyWest's Charter is a great entity from our perspective that has a tremendous opportunity in the future. The number one thing that SWC is doing today is largely doing on-demand charter for sports teams, which is a very surprising market. I think we talked about last quarter, it's doing exceptionally well, strong demand. We're watching for the springtime to see what happens there.

薩維，這是奇普。謝謝。看，從我們的角度來看，SkyWest 的 Charter 是一個偉大的實體，未來擁有巨大的機會。SWC今天做的第一件事主要是為運動隊提供按需包機，這是一個非常令人驚訝的市場。我想我們談到上個季度，它的表現非常好，需求強勁。我們正在等待春天，看看那裡會發生什麼。

And again, so we are limited today to just do on-demand charter business. There's a lot of other things that are happening besides just sports teams. But as of today, that's the primary basis of that business model. We still need to receive commute authority before we can go back in some of the cities that we would like to -- the smaller communities we would like to serve. That's what our objective is all along. And there's tremendous demand from that standpoint, but we still are limited to the flying that we can do today.

再說一次，所以我們今天只能做按需包機業務。除了運動隊之外，還有很多其他事情正在發生。但截至今天，這是該商業模式的主要基礎。我們仍然需要獲得通勤權，然後才能回到一些我們想要去的城市——我們想要服務的較小社區。這就是我們一直以來的目標。從這個角度來看，需求龐大，但我們仍然僅限於今天可以進行的飛行。

Maybe just how does Contour fit into this? Is Contour -- it sounds like it's a way to put your CRJ assets to operate there. But is there opportunity to build pilot hours and build your captain roles as well? Or just any -- I'm just curious as to the full strategic relationship there.

也許 Contour 是如何融入其中的呢？是 Contour——聽起來這是一種讓你的 CRJ 資產在那裡運作的方法。但是是否有機會增加飛行員的時間並培養機長的角色呢？或者只是任何——我只是對那裡的完整戰略關係感到好奇。

Yeah. Let me maybe expand a little more than what we talked about in our opening comments. So I think I would probably say there's about four reasons why we were interested in the Contour transaction.

是的。也許讓我擴展一下我們在開場評論中討論的內容。所以我想我可能會說我們對 Contour 交易感興趣大約有四個原因。

First and foremost, it's a good financial investment that's anchored in small community demand. And we continue to say this a lot in the industry, as the United States deurbanized during the pandemic, there's a tremendous amount of demand in these small communities, and we are very pro small community. I mean, that's the foundation of what we started with 52 years ago, and that's only becoming more and more enhanced. So the good investment in a very strong space that we really, really like.

首先也是最重要的是，這是一項良好的財務投資，以小型社區需求為基礎。我們在業界經常這樣說，隨著美國在疫情期間去城市化，這些小社區有巨大的需求，我們非常支持小社區。我的意思是，這是我們 52 年前開始的基礎，而且只會變得越來越增強。因此，對我們非常非常喜歡的非常強大的空間進行了良好的投資。

Two, you're right; it's a way to deploy unused CRJ200 aircraft and assets, engines and the like. I think that that is a fantastic aircraft, particularly at the 30-seat level to really enhance the economics of small communities. And the demand for that product is extremely strong today. And as we deliver in that space, we think it's only going to get stronger just the same way that we've been doing at SWC. So this is good for us and them.

第二，你是對的；這是部署未使用的 CRJ200 飛機和資產、發動機等的一種方式。我認為這是一架非常棒的飛機，尤其是 30 座的飛機，能夠真正提高小社區的經濟效益。如今對該產品的需求非常強勁。當我們在這個領域提供服務時，我們認為它只會變得更強，就像我們在 SWC 所做的那樣。所以這對我們和他們都有好處。

Again, the other thing is that -- you touched on it. The expansion of supply, pilot supply path is very, very strong here. We can do some things. We didn't really mention in the opening comments, but the flight schools today are extremely full. So full that given our captain constraints, we may not be able to hire as much that's out there or certainly as much as we feel like we should hire. But to the extent that we can expand that, particularly with this relationship with Contour, that's fantastic.

再說一次，另一件事是——你談到了它。擴大供應、試點供應路徑在這裡非常非常強大。我們可以做一些事情。我們在開場評論中並沒有真正提到，但今天的飛行學校非常滿。如此之多，考慮到我們船長的限制，我們可能無法僱用盡可能多的人，或者肯定無法僱用我們認為應該僱用的人。但就我們可以擴展這一點而言，尤其是與 Contour 的關係，那就太棒了。

And last, it does provide some opportunity and some flexibilities for us in 135 expansion down the road. We can do some various things down the road with Contour that I think could be representative of our commitment to serve small communities in the 135 space. So strategic, it's a great partnership. We've had this conversation with them for a while. And I think this is going to be something that works very well for both of us.

最後，它確實為我們未來的 135 擴張提供了一些機會和一些靈活性。我們可以透過 Contour 做一些不同的事情，我認為這可以代表我們為 135 空間中的小型社區服務的承諾。如此具有戰略意義，這是一個很好的合作關係。我們與他們進行這樣的對話已經有一段時間了。我認為這對我們雙方都非常有效。

That's super helpful. Just a clarification, do they have a charter authority -- sorry, commuter authority?

這非常有幫助。只是澄清一下，他們有特許權嗎？抱歉，通勤權？

Yeah, they do have commute authority. And ironically, as we've been constrained with captains and have had to come out of certain essential air service cities, they've been the ones that have gone back and replace this along the East Coast. So they can do some things that we can't as of today, but we are going to be very aggressive in continuing to pursue commute authority for SWC as well, even with the Contour investment.

是的，他們確實有通勤權。諷刺的是，由於我們的機長受到限制，並且不得不離開某些重要的航空服務城市，所以他們已經返回並取代了東海岸的機長。因此，他們可以做一些我們目前無法做的事情，但我們將非常積極地繼續爭取 SWC 的通勤權，即使有了 Contour 的投資。

Awesome. Thank you.

驚人的。謝謝。

Duane Pfennigwerth, Evercore ISI.

杜安‧芬尼格沃斯 (Duane Pfennigwerth)，Evercore ISI。

Hey, thanks. Good afternoon. Just on the 14% headroom on ERJ, can you just remind us what percent of your mix that is and how much higher could you take system growth -- system block-hour growth given that 14% headroom? And I guess relatedly, my follow up, like if pilot attrition continues to trend favorably, how much higher could this up three to five be in 2024?

嘿，謝謝。午安.就 ERJ 上的 14% 淨空而言，您能否提醒我們，您的組合佔了多少百分比，以及在 14% 淨空的情況下，您可以將系統增長提高多少——系統塊小時增長？我想，我的後續行動是，如果飛行員流失率持續呈現有利趨勢，那麼到 2024 年，飛行員流失率可能會增加 3 到 5 人，會高出多少？

Hey, Duane, this is Wade. Just on the 14%, the overall mix, the ERJ fleet is a bigger fleet right now than our CRJ. And those numbers are disclosed in the 10-Q. But the overall system, we said that it's 14% unused capacity. On the ERJ side, we said about 35%. So the mix to blend is over 20% that we could still increase without adding any additional aircraft in there. So there's still plenty of headroom with our current fleet that we have there that's under contract.

嘿，杜安，這是韋德。僅就整體組合的 14% 而言，ERJ 機隊目前比我們的 CRJ 機隊更大。這些數字在 10-Q 中揭露。但整個系統，我們說有 14% 的未使用容量。在 ERJ 方面，我們說大約 35%。因此，要混合的比例超過 20%，我們仍然可以在不添加任何額外飛機的情況下增加該比例。因此，我們目前的機隊仍然有足夠的空間，這是根據合約進行的。

And on pilot --? Yeah, sorry.

並在試點中——？是的，抱歉。

Yeah, yeah. On your second question on pilots, let me add some color to that and maybe some more color than we've gone to in the past. We are still -- when we were in pre-pandemic volumes, we've had about 5,300 to 5,400 pilots on property at SkyWest, Inc., mostly SkyWest Airlines, obviously. As of today, we're still about 1,000 pilots short of that number.

是啊是啊。關於你關於飛行員的第二個問題，讓我添加一些顏色，也許比我們過去更多的顏色。當我們處於大流行前的數量時，我們仍然在 SkyWest, Inc. 擁有大約 5,300 至 5,400 名飛行員，顯然大部分是 SkyWest Airlines。截至今天，我們還差約 1,000 名飛行員。

So to get back to pre-pandemic levels, we need about 1,000 more pilots. 500 of them captains, the other 500 first officers. Like I say, the schools are well supplied, and that's not a problem, but it's about the 500 captains. The demand that we see long term is that we probably could use another 1,000 pilots on top of that.

因此，為了恢復到疫情前的水平，我們還需要大約 1,000 名飛行員。其中500名船長，另外500名大副。就像我說的，學校供應充足，這不是問題，但這是關於 500 名隊長的問題。我們看到的長期需求是，我們可能可以在此基礎上再使用 1,000 名飛行員。

So when we talk about small community service, when we talk about demand, the conversations with our partners, to get back to the previous levels, we need another 1,000 pilots. And we think there's demand for another 1,000 pilots on top of that, of which we have taken several aircraft since 2019. So this is a long-term dig ourselves out of this hole. This is not going to take one year or two years. It's going to take a couple of years.

因此，當我們談論小型社區服務時，當我們談論需求、與合作夥伴的對話時，為了回到之前的水平，我們還需要 1,000 名試點。我們認為除此之外還需要 1,000 名飛行員，自 2019 年以來我們已經購買了幾架飛機。所以這是一個長期的把我們自己從這個坑挖出來的過程。這不會花費一年或兩年的時間。這需要幾年的時間。

When we say we're optimistic about the captain supply model, I can say that we're producing captains as of today, but not as many as we want. And throughout 2024, we're going to evaluate additional programs to make sure that we're vertically integrated with our partners to try to expand that captain production even further. So I don't know if that kind of helps put some framework around your question or not, Duane.

當我們說我們對船長供應模式持樂觀態度時，我可以說我們今天正在生產船長，但沒有我們想要的那麼多。在整個 2024 年，我們將評估其他計劃，以確保我們與合作夥伴進行垂直整合，以進一步擴大隊長的產量。所以我不知道這是否有助於為你的問題建立一些框架，杜安。

Yeah, no, it does. Very helpful. Thank you.

是的，不，確實如此。很有幫助。謝謝。

Mike Linenberg, Deutsche Bank.

麥克林伯格，德意志銀行。

Oh, hey, good afternoon. Wade, I want to go back to -- you talked about, I guess 100 65-, 76-seat type opportunities among, I guess, amongst your partners. And I guess I want some clarity -- clarification of that. Is that 165 available spots for 76 seaters, 70 seaters, 66 seaters? Is it just the three, or I should say actually four carriers that you do business with that include other major carriers that may be looking at bringing on a regional? Maybe you can just provide a little bit of color around that statement.

噢，嘿，下午好。韋德，我想回到您談到的，我猜想，您的合作夥伴之間有 100 個 65 座、76 座的機會。我想我想要一些澄清——澄清這一點。那 165 個座位是 76 座、70 座還是 66 座？是不是只有這三個，或者我應該說實際上是四個與您有業務往來的運營商，其中包括可能考慮引入區域性的其他主要運營商？也許你可以為該聲明提供一些色彩。

Yeah. No, that's a great question, Mike. So first of all, just to clarify what I said in my script, there was a lot of numbers that I was saying, but it was 100 65- to 76-seat aircraft. So it's 100 airplanes in that scope category, right? So there's 100 airplanes that are available to be awarded between 65 and 76 seats between all of our major partners.

是的。不，這是一個很好的問題，麥克。首先，為了澄清我在腳本中所說的內容，我說了很多數字，但都是 100 架 65 至 76 座的飛機。那麼該範圍類別中有 100 架飛機，對嗎？因此，我們所有主要合作夥伴都可以為 100 架飛機分配 65 至 76 個座位。

And so just to add a little color. We've obviously got our existing fleet that we have. We have some assets that are still not under contract that fall into that category. There's obviously new airplanes out there. And there's obviously other carriers that have 76-seat or 70-seat aircraft that are not flying, right?

所以只是添加一點顏色。顯然我們已經擁有我們現有的機隊。我們有一些尚未簽訂合約的資產屬於該類別。顯然那裡有新飛機。顯然還有其他擁有 76 座或 70 座飛機的航空公司沒有飛行，對吧？

And so there's three very good buckets out there of potential opportunities to potentially get some of those 100 aircraft.

因此，有三個非常好的潛在機會來獲得這 100 架飛機中的某些飛機。

Okay, great. And then I want to go back to Contour. Is that, first off, I guess on Rob, is that going to be accounted for under the equity method at 25% stake?

好的，太好了。然後我想回到 Contour。首先，我想 Rob 會依照權益法以 25% 的股權進行會計處理嗎？

For now, yes.

目前來說，是的。

Will that be a contributor to your P&L in 2024 or a detractor or maybe just even?

這會成為您 2024 年損益表的貢獻者還是貶低者，甚至可能只是不利因素？

Yeah. What we said is that it was not a contributor in the fourth quarter of 2023, but that we would expect that -- sorry, I'm speaking of our SWC operation.

是的。我們所說的是，它不是 2023 年第四季度的貢獻者，但我們預計 - 抱歉，我說的是我們的 SWC 運營。

Yeah, I'm talking Contour.

是的，我說的是輪廓。

Sorry. Yeah, SWC will be a contributor. Contour, we've got a 25% ownership in that. We'll wait and see and give more color down the road.

對不起。是的，SWC 將成為貢獻者。Contour，我們擁有 25% 的所有權。我們將拭目以待，並在未來給予更多的色彩。

Okay. And then how many -- how big is Contour? How many pilots does Contour have today?

好的。那麼 Contour 有多少呢？Contour 目前有多少飛行員？

Yeah, Mike, this is Wade. They have about 30 aircraft in summer, around 200 pilot somewhere in that range.

是的，麥克，這是韋德。他們在夏季擁有大約 30 架飛機，大約有 200 名飛行員。

Okay. Okay, that's helpful. And then does Contour today, like other Part 135 carriers like Silver and Cape Air, do they have interline agreements with various carriers, or they don't have any affiliation with anyone?

好的。好的，這很有幫助。那麼，今天的 Contour 是否與 Silver 和 Cape Air 等其他第 135 部分承運商一樣，是否與各個承運商簽訂了聯運協議，或者與任何人都沒有任何隸屬關係？

Yeah, Mike, great question. So currently, as of the closing of the transaction, they have an interline agreement with American Airlines.

是的，麥克，好問題。目前，截至交易完成，他們與美國航空簽訂了聯運協議。

Okay, great. And then just one last one, if I can squeeze in on this topic, because it is an interesting one. As I recall, you did have an investment in Southern Airways Express, but I now know that that's been rolled into the Surf Air. I'm not even sure if you have a residual stake there. What does this get you that maybe that could get you -- or maybe the structure with Surf Air and Southern Airways Express wasn't a clean one and this is a lot easier to start with a de novo type investment. Any color on that? And thanks for answering my questions.

好的，太好了。然後是最後一個，如果我能擠進這個話題的話，因為這是一個有趣的話題。我記得，您確實投資了南方航空快捷，但我現在知道，這筆投資已被納入衝浪航空。我甚至不確定你是否還有剩餘股份。這會給你帶來什麼，也許這會給你帶來什麼——或者衝浪航空和南方航空快捷的結構可能不是一個乾淨的結構，而從頭開始類型的投資要容易得多。那上面有什麼顏色嗎？感謝您回答我的問題。

Yeah. So Mike, I'll take the first part of that, and then Chip will tackle the last part of it. So as far as our investment in Southern, as part of their transaction with Surf, we divested our ownership stake in that. So we no longer have ownership.

是的。麥克，我將處理第一部分，然後奇普將處理最後一部分。就我們對 Southern 的投資而言，作為他們與 Surf 交易的一部分，我們剝離了其中的所有權股份。所以我們不再擁有所有權。

Okay.

好的。

And Michael, on the second half of that, there's some big differences between Southern and Contour, obviously. To be candid, Contour is almost exactly like SWC and what we'd like to accomplish with SWC. I mean, it's the same type of aircraft, same type of flying. And Southern was just a smaller aircraft, single-engine, turboprop, that type of stuff.

邁克爾，在後半部分，顯然，南方和輪廓之間存在一些很大的差異。坦白說，Contour 幾乎與 SWC 以及我們希望透過 SWC 實現的目標一模一樣。我的意思是，這是同一類型的飛機，同一類型的飛行。南方航空只是一架較小的飛機，單引擎，渦輪螺旋槳飛機，諸如此類的東西。

So the fleet and asset connection is the number one difference. And there's a lot of alignment strategically with what both of the carriers could do. And from that perspective, it seemed to work very, very well.

因此，機隊和資產連接是第一個區別。兩家運營商可以做的事情在戰略上有很多一致性。從這個角度來看，它似乎運作得非常非常好。

Great. Great. Thanks. Thanks for taking my questions.

偉大的。偉大的。謝謝。感謝您回答我的問題。

Helane Becker, TD Cowen.

海蘭·貝克爾，TD·考恩。

Thanks very much, operator. Hi, team, and thank you for this time. Are you weighing debt repayment versus buybacks for capital allocation? How should we think about that, like priorities?

非常感謝，接線生。嗨，團隊，感謝你們這次。您是否正在權衡債務償還與資本配置回購？我們該如何思考這個問題，例如優先事項？

Yeah. Thanks, Helane. And I would say that I don't see them as being mutually exclusive. Obviously, we're very focused on deploying capital in an optimal way. And I think we've done a pretty good job in that, but we definitely want to leave plenty of dry powder for flying opportunities that may be out there. Like Wade and Chip have been talking about, the 100 scope airplanes that are out there, we would love to obviously continue to grow that way. But we'll continue.

是的。謝謝，海蘭。我想說的是，我不認為它們是互相排斥的。顯然，我們非常注重以最佳方式部署資本。我認為我們在這方面做得非常好，但我們絕對希望為可能的飛行機會留下大量的乾粉。就像韋德和奇普一直在談論的那樣，現有 100 架範圍飛機，我們顯然希望繼續以這種方式發展。但我們會繼續。

We have an open share repurchase program as well, but we'll probably slow the cadence of that at the levels we're at now. But I think that we'll take things a quarter at a time and look to potentially continue to do both.

我們也有一個公開的股票回購計劃，但我們可能會放慢目前水準的節奏。但我認為我們會一次一個季度地進行一些工作，並希望繼續兩者兼而有之。

Okay. That's very helpful. Thanks. And then my follow-up question, how are you thinking about the timeline back to pre-COVID margins? And I know how you're thinking about getting back to -- just size with the roughly 2,000 pilots that you would like to have? But how are you thinking about margins, or how should we think about margins?

好的。這非常有幫助。謝謝。然後我的後續問題是，您如何看待恢復到新冠疫情前利潤率的時間表？我知道您如何考慮恢復到您希望擁有的大約 2,000 名飛行員的規模？但是您如何考慮利潤率，或者我們應該如何考慮利潤率？

Yeah. Thanks, Helane. So look, I think we're not back to 2019 margins yet. And obviously, we're making good progress in that direction. But because of how we've deployed capital and the shares that we bought back, we are there from an EPS standpoint. So even though margins are not back to 2019 levels, potentially in 2024, EPS will be.

是的。謝謝，海蘭。所以看，我認為我們還沒有回到 2019 年的利潤率。顯然，我們正在朝這個方向取得良好進展。但由於我們如何部署資本和回購股票，從每股盈餘的角度來看，我們是這樣的。因此，即使利潤率沒有回到 2019 年的水平，每股收益也有可能在 2024 年恢復到 2019 年的水平。

Okay. That's helpful. And then if I could just squish in one more. I don't know, and I don't even know if you would see this. But I think Alaska Air, and you do some flying for them, has seen some book away since the middle of the month. And I'm just wondering if you would see any of that in the flying you do for them, or if it's kind of been business as usual?

好的。這很有幫助。然後如果我能再擠進去一個就好了。我不知道，我什至不知道你是否會看到這個。但我認為阿拉斯加航空，以及你為他們做的一些飛行，自本月中旬以來已經看到了一些預訂。我只是想知道你是否會在為他們做的飛行中看到這些，或者是否一切如常？

Yeah. Helane, this is Chip. In all honesty, for us, it's business as usual on. In fact, certainly, given some of the things have been going on in the industry, we've been asked to fly more and that type of stuff. So it's not had a major impact relative to what our flying is.

是的。海蘭，這是奇普。老實說，對我們來說，一切照舊。事實上，當然，考慮到行業中正在發生的一些事情，我們被要求飛行更多此類東西。因此，相對於我們的飛行來說，它並沒有產生重大影響。

In fact, I think demand is strong. And I think when demand gets a little stronger, sometimes you don't even notice it, where we are today. So that's kind of the situation with that.

事實上，我認為需求很強勁。我認為，當需求變得更強時，有時你甚至沒有註意到我們今天所處的位置。這就是這種情況。

Got it. That's really helpful, you guys. Thank you.

知道了。這真的很有幫助，你們。謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Catherine O'Brien, Goldman Sachs.

凱瑟琳‧歐布萊恩，高盛。

Hey, good afternoon, everyone. Thanks so much for the time. Maybe one more on Contour and the CRJs in general. With these aircraft going to Contour, can you just remind us of how many of your CRJs are currently not on contract? I know there's some moving pieces. I just wanted to get a sense of what's non-contract now, what's about to come off, and what are the options for those to be [rehome value selling] of this new Contour avenue? Thanks.

嘿，大家下午好。非常感謝您抽出時間。也許再來一篇關於 Contour 和 CRJ 的整體內容。隨著這些飛機即將飛往 Contour，您能否提醒我們，您目前有多少架 CRJ 沒有簽約？我知道有一些活動。我只是想了解一下現在什麼是非合約的，什麼是即將取消的，以及那些在這條新輪廓大道上[重新安置價值銷售]的人有哪些選擇？謝謝。

Yeah, Catie, this is Wade. Great question. So on the CRJ200 side, we own about 150 CRJ200s. And between prorate and contract, there's probably about around 50 to 60 of those that are not under current contracts. But as we said, right now, there's no debt. There's very little book value, and we are monetizing those assets as we talked about through SkyWest Charter selling, leasing. And so that's the scope of it. Our 700 than our 900, the vast majority of those are all under contract and have very high demand for those.

是的，凱蒂，這是韋德。很好的問題。因此，在 CRJ200 方面，我們擁有約 150 架 CRJ200。在按比例分配和簽訂合約之間，可能有大約 50 到 60 家沒有簽訂當前合約。但正如我們所說，現在沒有債務。帳面價值很少，正如我們透過 SkyWest Charter 出售、租賃所討論的那樣，我們正在將這些資產貨幣化。這就是它的範圍。我們的700比我們的900，絕大多數都是契約制的，對這些的需求非常高。

Savi Syth, Raymond James.

薩維·賽斯，雷蒙德·詹姆斯。

Hey, thanks. I just wanted to follow-up on your response to Duane's question. That was super helpful color there. I was curious, how many captains are you able to create in any given year in your net captains, I suppose, in your main operation? And then just how much incremental is maybe SkyWest Charter helping you build as well?

嘿，謝謝。我只是想跟進您對杜安問題的回答。那是非常有用的顏色。我很好奇，我想，在您的主要業務中，您在任何一年中能夠在您的網路隊長中創建多少個隊長？那麼 SkyWest Charter 還能幫助您建造多少增量呢？

So that's a complicated question, and we probably have a little bit of conservatism in our answer to that. And basically, today, a lot of our projections, I will say, they get better all the time as we watch what's happening. We've seen that change. And I want to add some context.

所以這是一個複雜的問題，我們的回答可能有點保守。基本上，今天，我想說，當我們觀察正在發生的事情時，我們的許多預測都會變得更好。我們已經看到了這種變化。我想添加一些背景資訊。

As we build back captains and we're back building back the operation, we're building it in a way that we don't think that this problem goes away just at this moment over the next couple of years. So we fundamentally think that over the next decade or so, we need to build on model that's resilient relative to captains and first officers, both.

當我們重建船長並重建營運時，我們正在以一種我們認為這個問題在未來幾年內不會消失的方式進行建造。因此，我們從根本上認為，在未來十年左右的時間裡，我們需要建立一個對船長和副駕駛都具有彈性的模型。

So as we build that back, we're doing it the right way. Back to your number, how many do you think that you can produce? I'd back up and just say we have positive captain production today, but it's still going to take, at the rate we're going today, several years to get back to the 2019 level.

因此，當我們重建它時，我們正在以正確的方式去做。回到你的數字，你認為你能生產多少？我想說的是，我們今天的隊長產量是積極的，但按照我們今天的速度，仍然需要幾年時間才能恢復到 2019 年的水平。

Now, the most important part that we probably would tag on to that is we're working very diligently with partners in creative ways in which we can produce captains faster than what we are producing today. That's the Contour investment. That's the pilot program investment with United. Fundamentally and strategically, we are going to look to attract pilots that want to be either have a career position here at SkyWest or a career position at our four partners, but not career positions anywhere else.

現在，我們可能會強調的最重要的部分是，我們正在以創造性的方式與合作夥伴非常勤奮地合作，這樣我們就可以比今天更快地培養隊長。這就是輪廓投資。這是聯合航空的試點計畫投資。從根本上和策略上講，我們將尋求吸引那些想要在 SkyWest 或我們的四個合作夥伴中擔任職業職位的飛行員，而不是其他任何地方的職業職位。

So we're going to continue to be far more surgical in the future than what we have been in the past about identifying those that contribute to our culture and our partners' culture. So I think like I said, we're producing positive the last couple of months, which is the first time we've been doing it in the last 2.5 years.

因此，未來我們將繼續比過去更嚴格地識別那些對我們的文化和合作夥伴的文化做出貢獻的人。所以我認為就像我說的，我們在過去幾個月裡取得了積極的成果，這是過去 2.5 年來我們第一次這樣做。

And it depends on a lot of levels of attrition. It can be captain attrition; it could even be first officer attrition before they become captains, which honestly, Savi, we really don't have a great grip on what those are going to be. The models are a little bit all over the place. We can get super optimistic, and we can be super conservative. We're just not ready to get into that level of detail.

這取決於許多人員流失的程度。可能是隊長減員；甚至可能是副駕駛在成為機長之前就出現減員，說實話，薩維，我們真的不太清楚這些會發生什麼。模型有點到處都是。我們可以變得超級樂觀，也可以超保守。我們只是還沒準備好深入了解這個細節。

Now outside just summarize, we have positive production today. It's going to take a long time, but we're really focused on ways in which we can aggressively move this forward, not just for shareholders. But look, our people want this as well. We want high utilization for our employees, which obviously translates to the bottom line. But most importantly, it creates a lifestyle where captains are going to want to stay as well. So it's a cultural event as well that we're deeply focused on.

現在外面簡單總結一下，我們今天有積極的生產。這將需要很長時間，但我們真正關注的是如何積極推動這一進程，而不僅僅是為了股東。但是看，我們的人民也想要這個。我們希望員工的利用率很高，這顯然會轉化為利潤。但最重要的是，它創造了一種隊長們也想留下來的生活方式。因此，這也是我們非常關注的文化活動。

That's helpful. Thank you.

這很有幫助。謝謝。

Catherine O'Brien, Goldman Sachs.

凱瑟琳‧歐布萊恩，高盛。

Hi again. Sorry about that rookie mistake. Hit a headset off instead of unmute.

你好，我們又見面了。對於這個菜鳥錯誤，我深表歉意。關閉耳機而不是取消靜音。

So thanks for getting me back on. I had a follow-up for you, Wade. When you were talking about -- just like sparked my interest. On Contour, are you going to be leasing the aircraft or selling them outright?

所以謝謝你讓我重新開始。我有一個後續行動要告訴你，韋德。當你談論——就像激發了我的興趣。在 Contour 上，您打算租賃飛機還是直接出售它們？

No, it's a great question. So the model that we currently have right now, we are selling the airframes to them and we are leasing them the engines. And so that's how we've currently structured that with them.

不，這是一個很好的問題。因此，我們目前擁有的型號，我們向他們出售機身，並向他們租賃引擎。這就是我們目前與他們的合作方式。

Okay, got it. And then can you just remind us what the trigger is for you to flip from deferring incremental revenues starting to recognize that deferred revenue balance? I know you've given us the guidance for next year. I think in the past you've noted tied to getting back block hours closer to 2019.

好，知道了。然後您能提醒我們是什麼觸發您從遞延增量收入開始認識到遞延收入餘額嗎？我知道您已經為我們提供了明年的指導。我想您過去已經注意到與 2019 年臨近時恢復區塊時間有關。

Not sure if the contract changes earlier this year changed anything about where we think about hitting that threshold. It just sits in the context of like if that block our target for 2024 moves around potentially higher, how could that impact the recognition? Thanks.

不確定今年早些時候的合約變化是否改變了我們對達到這一門檻的想法。它只是處於這樣的背景：如果我們 2024 年的目標可能會更高，這會如何影響認可？謝謝。

Yeah, Catie, it's Rob here. So the deferred revenue model does depend on our projection or forecast for future production and future block hours. But it's hard to imagine a scenario right now that we sort of flip back the other direction. I think that starting in 2024, as we've indicated, that we'll start to recognize small amounts quarterly, and we would expect that to continue for many years.

是的，凱蒂，我是羅布。因此，遞延收入模型確實取決於我們對未來產量和未來區塊時間的預測或預測。但現在很難想像我們會倒向另一個方向的情況。我認為，正如我們所指出的，從 2024 年開始，我們將開始每季確認少量金額，並且我們預計這種情況將持續多年。

Got it. Yeah. I was just more wondering if maybe there was further upside to that recognition if the block hours moved higher, if pilot attrition was better.

知道了。是的。我只是想知道，如果封鎖時間增加，如果飛行員的流失情況更好，這種認知是否還有進一步的好處。

We'll keep you posted on that.

我們會及時通知您。

Okay. And then maybe just like squeeze one last one and for you also, Rob. You mentioned you expect the pace of share repurchases to slow going forward. Is that a function of just CapEx stepping up over the next couple of years or something else? And rephrasing of Halene's earlier question, if your free cash flow projections came in better than expected, would you maybe change your tune on the pace of those repurchases flowing? Thanks so much for the time.

好的。然後也許就像擠最後一粒一樣，對你來說也是，羅布。您提到您預計未來股票回購的步伐將會放緩。這是未來幾年資本支出增加的結果還是其他原因？重新表達哈琳先前的問題，如果您的自由現金流預測好於預期，您是否會改變對這些回購流動速度的看法？非常感謝您抽出時間。

Sure, Catie. Thanks. Yeah. I mean, in terms of how we think about deploying capital, it starts, as you indicated, with generating free cash flow. And then we look at the best ways to deploy that, whether it be debt repayment, whether it be other operational initiatives, whether it's new flying. I mean, there's a number of ways that we can accretively deploy capital.

當然，凱蒂。謝謝。是的。我的意思是，就我們如何考慮部署資本而言，正如您所指出的，它始於產生自由現金流。然後我們會研究部署的最佳方式，無論是償還債務，無論是其他營運舉措，還是新的飛行。我的意思是，我們可以透過多種方式來增加資本的配置。

Obviously, share repurchase has been a very good one in 2023. But as we go forward and continue to generate that free cash flow, we'll look at the spectrum of capital opportunities we have and pick the best NPVs and go from there.

顯然，2023年的股票回購是一件非常好的事情。但隨著我們前進並繼續產生自由現金流，我們將審視我們擁有的各種資本機會，並選擇最佳的淨現值並從那裡開始。

Got it. And I know I said that was my last one, but maybe if you'll allow it. Just on Southwest Charter. Can you just help us think about what's the delta to earnings should be between 4Q? I think you said it didn't contribute in 4Q and it's going to in 1Q. So how much of a drag was in 4Q and how much you think will contribute in 1Q, if you have that? Thanks again for the time.

知道了。我知道我說過那是我的最後一次，但也許如果你允許的話。就在西南憲章上。您能否幫助我們考慮一下第四季之間的獲利增量應該是多少？我想你說過它在第四季沒有貢獻，但會在第一季做出貢獻。那麼，第四季度的拖累有多大，您認為第一季的貢獻有多大（如果有的話）？再次感謝您抽出時間。

Yeah, Catie, this is Wade. The specific profitability, we're not going to get into that now, but I can kind of directionally give you some revenue numbers that may be helpful for you. So like in the fourth quarter, it was around $5 million or $6 million, and then the first quarter we anticipate it being over $10 million, $10 million to $12 million in revenue in the first quarter. And so there is a pretty big swing.

是的，凱蒂，這是韋德。具體的獲利能力，我們現在不打算討論，但我可以定向給你一些可能對你有幫助的收入數字。就像第四季一樣，大約是 500 萬美元或 600 萬美元，然後第一季我們預計第一季的營收將超過 1000 萬美元、1000 萬美元到 1200 萬美元。所以有一個相當大的波動。

We're still growing that entity right now. We're still learning a lot about the charter business. We're still learning about the efficiencies and all of that. So we're still -- we're growing, we're learning, we're getting better at it every day. And so I think with all of those things, we're going to get more cost efficient. And then we're also going to -- we're finding more and more revenue opportunities as well.

我們現在仍在發展該實體。我們仍在了解很多有關包機業務的知識。我們仍在了解效率等所有方面。所以我們仍然－我們在成長，我們在學習，我們每天都在進步。因此，我認為透過所有這些事情，我們將獲得更高的成本效益。然後我們還將——我們也會發現越來越多的收入機會。

Thanks so much for that. Appreciate the time.

非常感謝。珍惜時間。

I'll now turn the call over to Chip Childs for closing remarks.

現在我將把電話轉給奇普·蔡爾茲 (Chip Childs)，讓他發表結束語。

Great. Thank you, Regina. We're really pleased with what we've done in 2023. I mean, there's a lot of challenges and a lot of headwinds. And thanks to our amazing professionals that SkyWest for everything that was done this last year.

偉大的。謝謝你，雷吉娜。我們對 2023 年所做的事情感到非常滿意。我的意思是，存在著很多挑戰和很多阻力。感謝我們出色的專業人士，SkyWest 去年所做的一切。

We really look forward to what's going to happen in 2024. We don't doubt that there will be any less headwinds and probably surprises along the way. But I think that we're in the process of making sure we're controlling the line of scrimmage, if you will, so that we have options and flexibility to work with our people and our partners to move forward in a very, very positive way.

我們非常期待 2024 年會發生什麼事。我們毫不懷疑，在過程中，阻力將會減少，而且可能還會出現意外。但我認為，如果你願意的話，我們正在確保我們正在控制混戰線，以便我們有選擇和靈活性，與我們的員工和合作夥伴合作，以非常非常積極的方式向前發展。方式。

We appreciate the analysts that are following us as well and the interest that you've given to our company, and we look forward to talking to you next quarter. Thank you.

我們感謝關注我們的分析師以及您對我們公司的興趣，我們期待下個季度與您交談。謝謝。

That does conclude today's conference. We thank you all for joining, and you may now disconnect.

今天的會議到此結束。我們感謝大家的加入，現在您可以斷開連線。