SkyWest Inc (SKYW) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. My name is John, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the SkyWest Inc. first quarter 2025 results call. (Operator Instructions)

女士們、先生們，感謝你們的支持。我叫約翰，今天我將擔任您的會議主持人。現在，我歡迎大家參加 SkyWest Inc. 2025 年第一季業績電話會議。（操作員指示）

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

現在我想將會議交給財務長 Rob Simmons。請繼續。

Thanks, John, 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.

謝謝約翰，也謝謝大家今天參加我們的電話會議。接線員表示，這是 SkyWest 的財務長 Rob Simmons。今天與我一起通話的有總裁兼首席執行官 Chip Childs；韋德·斯蒂爾 (Wade Steel)，首席商務官；以及首席會計官 Eric Woodward。

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?

今天，我想先請 Eric 閱讀《安全港》。然後我會把時間交給 Chip 徵求一些評論。跟隨 Chip，我將向我們介紹財務結果。隨後韋德將討論機隊和相關飛行安排。在韋德之後，我們將與賣方分析師進行慣例問答環節。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.

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，無論其是由於新資訊、未來事件或其他原因。

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 most recent Form 10-K and other reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

由於多種原因，實際結果可能會有所不同，甚至可能與預期、估計或預測的結果有重大差異。我們最新的 10-K 表格以及向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他報告和文件中列出了可能導致此類差異的一些因素。

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

現在我將把電話轉給 Chip。

Thank you, Rob and Eric. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us on the call today. Today, SkyWest reported net income of $101 million or $2.42 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2025. These results reflect a slight increase in production for the first quarter compared to Q4.

謝謝你，羅布和艾瑞克。大家下午好。感謝您今天參加我們的電話會議。今天，SkyWest 報告 2025 年第一季淨收入為 1.01 億美元，即每股 2.42 美元。這些結果反映出第一季的產量與第四季相比略有增加。

The winter quarters are typically the most challenging. However, together, our people completed over 30,000 more flights than the same quarter last year and delivered 99.9% adjusted completion. This quarter's year-over-year increase in number of departures continues to reflect the improved stability of our staffing.

冬季通常是最具挑戰性的。然而，我們的員工共同完成的航班比去年同期多了 30,000 多個，調整後完成率達到 99.9%。本季離職人數較去年同期成長持續反映出我們人員配置穩定性的提升。

We expect our solid operating leverage to continue to deliver well, with increased production translating into positive returns for our stakeholders. I want to thank our team of nearly 15,000 aviation professionals for their continued teamwork and dedication to excellence.

我們預計，我們穩固的經營槓桿將繼續發揮良好作用，產量的增加將為我們的利害關係人帶來正面的回報。我要感謝我們由近 15,000 名航空專業人員組成的團隊，感謝他們持續的團隊合作和對卓越的奉獻。

Though the current macroeconomic uncertainties have translated into some overall industry outlook softening, demand for our product is strong, and SkyWest continues to lead our segment of the industry. We remain disciplined and steady as we execute on our growth opportunities to: one, restore or bring new service to underserved communities; two, redeploy and fully utilize our existing fleet; and three, prepare to receive our upcoming deliveries of 16 new E175s over the next two years.

儘管當前宏觀經濟的不確定性導致整個產業前景疲軟，但我們產品的需求依然強勁，SkyWest 繼續引領產業發展。我們將嚴守紀律、穩健行事，把握成長機會：一、為服務不足的社區恢復或提供新的服務；二是重新部署並充分利用現有機隊；第三，準備在未來兩年內接收我們即將交付的 16 架新型 E175 飛機。

During the quarter, we were pleased to complete an agreement extending more dual-class CRJ aircraft under our Delta partnership, placing nearly all CRJ700 aircraft under long-term agreements. Additionally, as we receive another 16 E175s over the next couple of years, we will have 278 by the end of 2026. We continue to see strong demand for our dual-class line and look forward to continuing to deploy additional CRJ550s for our partners. Wade will speak more about that in a minute.

在本季度，我們很高興完成了一項協議，在與達美航空的合作下延長了更多雙艙位 CRJ 飛機的使用，幾乎所有 CRJ700 飛機都納入了長期協議。此外，隨著未來幾年我們再接收 16 架 E175，到 2026 年底我們將擁有 278 架 E175。我們繼續看到對我們的雙艙航線的強勁需求，並期待繼續為我們的合作夥伴部署更多的 CRJ550。韋德稍後將會就此進行更多討論。

As we continue to invest in our overall fleet, we expect our CRJ fleet to produce accretively well into the next decade. Our dual-class aircraft generated 87% of our block hour production during the first quarter, and the ongoing strong demand and delivery book continues to position us for increased regional market share.

隨著我們繼續對整體機隊進行投資，我們預計我們的 CRJ 機隊將在未來十年實現良好的增值。我們的雙級飛機在第一季產生了 87% 的飛行小時產量，持續強勁的需求和交付量繼續為我們增加區域市場份額奠定基礎。

As we discussed last quarter, we believe we are now in a place where our pilot staffing, hiring and production are well matched with a very robust pipeline. We are fully confident the measures we have put into place over the past few years will ensure staffing has stabilized over the long term, and we continue to expect block hour production to be up about 12% to 13% this year compared to 2024.

正如我們上個季度所討論的那樣，我們相信現在我們的飛行員人員配置、招募和生產與非常強大的管道相匹配。我們完全有信心，過去幾年採取的措施將確保人員配置長期穩定，並且我們預計今年的班次產量將比 2024 年增長約 12% 至 13%。

We were pleased during the first quarter to receive the Department of Transportation's tentative approval for SkyWest Charter, or SWC's Part 380 scheduled service authorization. While our plans are to maintain SWC as a small portion of our overall business, we look forward to the DOT's final approval and to serve communities that cannot support Part 121 operations, but are seeking a higher standard of safety and service.

我們很高興在第一季度收到交通部對 SkyWest Charter 或 SWC 的第 380 部分定期服務授權的初步批准。雖然我們的計劃是將 SWC 作為我們整體業務的一小部分，但我們期待 DOT 的最終批准，並為無法支援第 121 部分運營但尋求更高安全和服務標準的社區提供服務。

The competitive landscape continues to change, and SkyWest's disciplined strategic decisions are advancing our market share through continued fleet acquisitions and flying agreements without taking on unnecessary complicated risk. We remain focused on our long-term strategy with smart investments in our people and fleet as we redeploy and restore utilization and execute on our growth pathways. We have spent several years strengthening our balance sheet and fleet flexibility and reinvesting in our future growth.

競爭格局不斷變化，天西航空嚴謹的戰略決策正在透過持續的機隊收購和飛行協議來提升我們的市場份額，而無需承擔不必要的複雜風險。我們將繼續專注於我們的長期策略，在重新部署和恢復利用率並執行成長路徑的同時，對我們的員工和車隊進行明智的投資。我們花了數年時間加強我們的資產負債表和船隊靈活性，並對我們的未來成長進行再投資。

We remain very confident that the steps we've taken have us exceptionally positioned despite the macroeconomic uncertainty. Overall, our well-positioned fleet, operation and our strong partnerships and demand, we remain optimistic about the year ahead. We continue to play the long game and to invest in our fleet and future and to ensure we are in the best possible situation to respond to market demand.

儘管宏觀經濟存在不確定性，但我們仍然非常有信心，我們所採取的措施將使我們處於有利地位。總體而言，憑藉我們定位良好的船隊、營運以及強大的合作夥伴關係和需求，我們對未來一年仍然持樂觀態度。我們將繼續著眼長遠，投資於我們的船隊和未來，確保我們處於最佳狀態來滿足市場需求。

Rob will now take us through the financial data.

羅布現在將向我們介紹財務數據。

Thanks, Chip. Today, we reported a first quarter GAAP net income of $101 million or $2.42 earnings per share. Q1 pretax income was $121 million. Our weighted average share count for Q1 was 41.6 million, and our effective tax rate was 17%. Our Q1 EPS included $0.24 per share in discrete income tax deductions, which are not expected to recur the rest of the year.

謝謝，Chip。今天，我們報告第一季 GAAP 淨收入為 1.01 億美元，即每股收益 2.42 美元。第一季稅前收入為 1.21 億美元。我們第一季的加權平均股數為 4,160 萬股，有效稅率為 17%。我們第一季的每股收益包括 0.24 美元的單獨所得稅扣除，預計今年剩餘時間內不會再次出現。

At a normalized tax rate of 25%, Q1's EPS would have been $2.18 per share. First, let's talk about revenue. Total Q1 revenue of $948 million is up slightly from $944 million in Q4 '24 and up 18% from $804 million in Q1 '24. Q1 revenue breaks down with contract revenue at $785 million, flat from Q4 '24 and up 16% from Q1 '24. Prorate and Charter revenue was $131 million in Q1, up 3% from Q4 2024 and up 29% from Q1 2024.

以 25% 的正常稅率計算，第一季的每股收益將為 2.18 美元。首先，我們來談談收入。第一季總營收為 9.48 億美元，較 2024 年第四季的 9.44 億美元略有成長，較 2024 年第一季的 8.04 億美元成長 18%。第一季營收細分為合約營收 7.85 億美元，與 2024 年第四季持平，比 2024 年第一季成長 16%。第一季按比例分配和包機收入為 1.31 億美元，比 2024 年第四季成長 3%，比 2024 年第一季成長 29%。

Leasing and other revenue was $32 million in Q1, up 3% from Q4 '24 and up 28% from Q1 '24. These Q1 GAAP results include the effect of recognizing $13 million of previously deferred revenue this quarter, down from the $20 million recognized in Q4 2024. As of the end of Q1, we have $309 million of cumulative deferred revenue that will be recognized in future periods. We anticipate recognizing approximately $10 million to $20 million of previously deferred revenue per quarter over the remainder of 2025, subject to production levels. Let me move to the balance sheet.

第一季租賃和其他收入為 3,200 萬美元，較 2024 年第四季成長 3%，較 2024 年第一季成長 28%。這些第一季 GAAP 結果包括本季確認的 1,300 萬美元先前遞延收入的影響，低於 2024 年第四季確認的 2,000 萬美元。截至第一季末，我們累計遞延收入為 3.09 億美元，將在未來期間確認。我們預計，在 2025 年剩餘時間內，每季將確認約 1,000 萬至 2,000 萬美元的遞延收入，具體取決於生產水準。讓我轉到資產負債表。

We ended the quarter with cash of $751 million, down from $802 million last quarter and $821 million at Q1 2024. The decrease in cash during the quarter included the accretive actions of: one, repaying $114 million in debt; two, buying back 141,000 shares of SkyWest stock in Q1 for $14 million. With the volatility in the equity markets in Q1, we opportunistically repurchased 3 times the shares that we bought in the fourth quarter. As of March 31, we had $34 million remaining under our current share repurchase authorization. And three, investing $73 million in CapEx, including the purchase of four CRJ550 aircraft spare engines and other fixed assets.

本季末，我們的現金為 7.51 億美元，低於上一季的 8.02 億美元和 2024 年第一季的 8.21 億美元。本季現金的減少包括以下增值行動：一、償還1.14億美元的債務；二、第一季以 1,400 萬美元回購 141,000 股 SkyWest 股票。隨著第一季股市的波動，我們抓住機會回購了第四季買入股票的三倍。截至 3 月 31 日，我們目前的股票回購授權剩餘金額為 3,400 萬美元。三是投資7,300萬美元資本支出，包括購買四台CRJ550飛機備用發動機和其他固定資產。

We ended Q1 with debt of $2.6 billion, down from $2.7 billion as of 31, December, 2024. Cash flow is an important component of our shareholder value creation calculus. We generated approximately $500 million in free cash flow in 2024 and deployed it primarily to delever and derisk the balance sheet to the benefit of our partners, our employees and our shareholders.

我們第一季的債務為 26 億美元，低於 2024 年 12 月 31 日的 27 億美元。現金流是我們股東價值創造計算的重要組成部分。我們在 2024 年產生了約 5 億美元的自由現金流，主要用於降低資產負債表的槓桿率和風險，從而使我們的合作夥伴、員工和股東受益。

We generated over $140 million in free cash flow in Q1 2025. Our strong balance sheet and well-grounded liquidity are powerful tools as we pursue a variety of growth opportunities, including acquiring and financing 16 additional E175s by the end of 2026, repaying an expected over $400 million in debt in 2025 and continuing to execute opportunistically on our share repurchase program.

我們在 2025 年第一季產生了超過 1.4 億美元的自由現金流。我們強大的資產負債表和充足的流動性是我們追求各種成長機會的有力工具，包括在 2026 年底前收購和融資另外 16 架 E175，在 2025 年償還預計超過 4 億美元的債務，並繼續抓住機會執行我們的股票回購計劃。

As we remain focused on improving our return on invested capital, we'd like to highlight the following. Both our debt net of cash and leverage ratios continue at favorable levels at their lowest point in over a decade. We continue to anticipate that our total 2025 capital expenditures, funding our growth initiatives will be approximately $575 million to $600 million, including the purchase of eight new E175s and aircraft engines supporting our CRJ550 opportunity.

由於我們仍然專注於提高投資資本回報率，因此我們想強調以下幾點。我們的淨現金債務和槓桿率都持續維持在十多年來的最低水準。我們繼續預計，2025 年用於支持我們成長計畫的總資本支出將達到約 5.75 億至 6 億美元，其中包括購買 8 架新的 E175 飛機和支援我們 CRJ550 機會的飛機引擎。

Total CapEx in 2024 was $311 million. Consistent with our policy and practice, we're not giving any specific EPS guidance at this time.

2024 年總資本支出為 3.11 億美元。根據我們的政策和慣例，我們目前不提供任何具體的每股盈餘指引。

But let me give you a little additional color on 2025. As Wade will discuss in a minute, we now anticipate our 2025 block hours to be up approximately 12% to 13% over 2024. The improved outlook in our 2025 block hours is driven primarily by improving fleet utilization and availability and ongoing strong demand for our production.

但讓我給你稍微補充一下 2025 年的情況。正如韋德稍後將要討論的那樣，我們現在預計 2025 年的區塊小時數將比 2024 年增加約 12% 至 13%。我們 2025 年飛行小時數前景的改善主要得益於機隊利用率和可用性的提高以及對我們生產的持續強勁需求。

We now expect our 2025 GAAP EPS could be in the low to mid $9 per share area, including the discrete income tax benefit in Q1 if we are successful in executing on the opportunities in front of us. We continue to expect to deliver solid operating leverage with 12% to 13% year-over-year production growth, translating into 18% to 19% increase in earnings per share in 2025.

我們現在預計，如果我們成功抓住眼前的機會，2025 年 GAAP EPS 可能處於每股 9 美元左右的低點至中位區間，其中包括第一季的離散所得稅收益。我們繼續預期實現穩固的經營槓桿，產量年增 12% 至 13%，到 2025 年每股收益將成長 18% 至 19%。

For modeling purposes, we still expect our 2025 depreciation expense will be slightly down from 2024. And our maintenance expense in 2025 and should still be a little over $200 million per quarter. We also anticipate our effective tax rate will be approximately 26% for the remaining three quarters of 2025.

出於建模目的，我們仍然預計 2025 年的折舊費用將比 2024 年略有下降。而我們 2025 年的維護費用每季仍應略高於 2 億美元。我們也預計，2025 年剩餘三個季度的有效稅率將約為 26%。

We are optimistic about our growth possibilities going into '25 and '26, including the three focus areas: one, growth in underserved communities, driven partially by the deployment of over 30 additional CRJ550 aircraft; second, improved aircraft utilization and availability on our ERJ and CRJ fleets; and third, placing 16 new E175s into service in 2025 and 2026.

我們對 2025 年和 2026 年的成長可能性持樂觀態度，包括三個重點領域：一是服務不足社區的成長，部分原因是部署了 30 多架額外的 CRJ550 飛機；第二，提高我們 ERJ 和 CRJ 機隊的飛機利用率和可用性；第三，2025年和2026年將16架新的可用性。

We believe that our strong balance sheet, operating leverage, free cash flow and liquidity and the actions we will be taking to deploy our capital against a variety of accretive opportunities will position us well to drive total shareholder returns.

我們相信，我們強勁的資產負債表、經營槓桿、自由現金流和流動性以及我們將採取的針對各種增值機會配置資本的行動將使我們能夠很好地推動股東總回報。

Wade?

韋德？

Thank you, Rob. Last year, we announced a new multiyear flying agreement for a total of 40 CRJ550s with United, including 11 aircraft that we committed to purchase from United. As of March 31, we had purchased all 11 aircraft. In April, United exercised its option to add 10 additional CRJ550s to this agreement, bringing the total to 50. Of those 50 CRJ550s, 39 will be modified from our existing CRJ700 fleet.

謝謝你，羅布。去年，我們宣布與聯合航空達成新的多年期飛行協議，共購買 40 架 CRJ550 飛機，其中包括我們承諾從聯合航空購買的 11 架飛機。截至3月31日，我們已購買全部11架飛機。今年 4 月，美聯航選擇在該協議中再增加 10 架 CRJ550 飛機，使飛機總數達到 50 架。在這 50 架 CRJ550 飛機中，有 39 架將由我們現有的 CRJ700 機隊改裝而成。

We were operating 12 CRJ550s as of March 31 and expect to operate 30 by the end of this year, with the last 20 entering service during 2026. I want to point out that this agreement represents net growth aircraft, along with the additional new E175s arriving by the end of 2026. We are excited about our continued strong partnership with United.

截至 3 月 31 日，我們營運 12 架 CRJ550，預計今年底將營運 30 架，最後 20 架將於 2026 年投入使用。我想指出的是，該協議代表著飛機的淨增長，以及到 2026 年底將交付的更多新 E175。我們很高興能夠與 United 繼續保持緊密的合作關係。

Also last year, we reached an extension of a multiyear flying agreement with American that would allow for SkyWest to operate a total of 74 CRJ700s under revenue agreements. This new agreement will allow for these aircraft to fly for American through most of this decade.

此外，去年，我們與美國航空達成了一項多年期飛行協議的延期協議，該協議允許天西航空根據收益協議運營總共 74 架 CRJ700 飛機。這項新協議將允許這些飛機在未來十年的大部分時間為美國飛行。

You will recall that we successfully launched our first Delta CRJ550 last July, and we anticipate transitioning 15 CRJ550s to our Delta fleet by midyear. During Q1, we signed an extension with Delta on 16 CRJ700s and 900s. This new Delta extension and United CRJ550 agreements, along with our CRJ700 agreement with American, bringing the number of unassigned dual-class CRJ700s and 900s down to low single digits. We expect these few aircraft will be assigned to one of our major partners soon.

您可能還記得，我們​​在去年 7 月成功推出了第一架達美航空 CRJ550，並且我們預計到年中將有 15 架 CRJ550 轉入我們的達美航空機隊。第一季度，我們與達美航空簽署了 16 架 CRJ700 和 900 飛機的續約協議。達美航空與聯合航空簽署的這項新 CRJ550 延長協議，加上我們與美國航空簽署的 CRJ700 協議，使得未分配的雙艙 CRJ700 和 900 飛機數量降至個位數。我們預計這幾架飛機將很快分配給我們的一個主要合作夥伴。

We have 16 new E175s currently on order, 15 for United and one for Alaska. We anticipate delivery of eight this year and eight in 2026. We do expect to see delivery delays from Embraer this year, and we now anticipate that the majority of our 2025 deliveries will be in the second half of the year.

我們目前訂購了 16 架新的 E175 飛機，其中 15 架給聯合航空，1 架給阿拉斯加航空。我們預計今年將交付 8 艘，2026 年將交付 8 艘。我們確實預計今年巴西航空工業公司的交付將出現延遲，我們現在預計 2025 年的大部分交付將在下半年進行。

At the end of 2026, our E175 fleet total will be 278, continuing to enhance SkyWest's position as the largest Embraer operator in the world. Let me review our production. Q1 completed block hours were slightly up compared to Q4 2024.

到 2026 年底，我們的 E175 機隊總數將達到 278 架，這將繼續增強天西航空作為全球最大巴西航空工業公司營運商的地位。讓我回顧一下我們的生產情況。與 2024 年第四季相比，第一季完成的區塊小時數略有增加。

Based on our current Q2 schedules from our major partners, we anticipate a 5% increase in Q2 as compared to Q1. For the full year, we anticipate a 12% to 13% increase in 2025 compared to 2024, approaching our 2019 levels. We expect block hour seasonality to return to the model as utilization improves during the strong summer months. We still have approximately 25 parked dual-class CRJ aircraft that will be returned to service. The majority of these aircraft are currently under flying agreements and will be operating in 2025 and 2026.

根據我們主要合作夥伴目前的第二季計劃，我們預計第二季將比第一季成長 5%。就全年而言，我們預計 2025 年將比 2024 年成長 12% 至 13%，接近 2019 年的水準。我們預計，隨著夏季旺季利用率的提高，時段季節性將重新回到模型中。我們仍有大約 25 架停放的雙艙 CRJ 飛機將恢復運作。其中大部分飛機目前已簽訂飛行協議，並將於 2025 年和 2026 年投入營運。

As we shared last quarter, we continue experiencing challenges in our third-party MRO network, including labor and parts challenges. We expect maintenance expense to average slightly over $200 million a quarter during 2025 as we bring aircraft out of long-term storage and service the current fleet as production continues to increase.

正如我們上個季度所分享的，我們的第三方 MRO 網路繼續面臨挑戰，包括勞動力和零件挑戰。隨著飛機產量不斷增加，我們將把長期存放的飛機恢復運行，並為現有機隊提供服務，預計 2025 年平均維護費用將略高於每季 2 億美元。

As you would expect, the maintenance expense will happen before the aircraft goes back into service. Our partners remain very engaged in supporting our efforts to restore production. We also reached an agreement with another regional carrier to purchase 29 used CRJ900 airframes for $28 million.

正如您所預料的，維護費用將在飛機重新投入使用之前產生。我們的合作夥伴仍然積極支持我們恢復生產的努力。我們也與另一家地區航空公司達成協議，以 2,800 萬美元購買 29 架二手 CRJ900 飛機。

We expect to utilize many of these airframe for parts to mitigate any supply chain challenges we may face over the next few years. We do anticipate operating six of these aircraft in the future. As of March 31, we had closed on three of these aircraft. As far as our prorate business, demand remains extremely strong. With great community support, we are seeing opportunities to return SkyWest service to several communities as we restore CRJ production.

我們希望利用這些機身零件來緩解未來幾年可能面臨的任何供應鏈挑戰。我們確實預計未來將營運六架這樣的飛機。截至 3 月 31 日，我們已完成三架此類飛機的採購。就我們的按比例分配業務而言，需求仍然非常強勁。在社區的大力支持下，隨著 CRJ 生產的恢復，我們看到了向多個社區恢復 SkyWest 服務的機會。

We will continue to work with the communities we serve on the best way to expand our service. As we increase our prorate business, we will see more seasonality reintroduced into our model. As typical with all airlines, Q2 and Q3 are stronger, our strong revenue quarters, and Q1 and Q4 are softer. We feel good about our ongoing efforts to reduce risk and enhance fleet and financing flexibility and remain committed to continue our work with each of our major partners to provide strong solutions to the continued demand for our products.

我們將繼續與我們服務的社區合作，以最佳方式擴展我們的服務。隨著我們按比例分攤業務的增加，我們將看到更多的季節性重新引入我們的模型中。與所有航空公司一樣，第二季度和第三季度表現強勁，是我們收入強勁的季度，而第一季和第四季表現較弱。我們對不斷努力降低風險、增強船隊和融資靈活性感到滿意，並將繼續致力於與每個主要合作夥伴繼續合作，為我們產品的持續需求提供強有力的解決方案。

Operator, we're now ready for Q&A.

接線員，我們現在可以進行問答了。

(Operator Instructions) Catherine O'Brien, Goldman Sachs.

（操作員指示）高盛的凱瑟琳·奧布萊恩。

So I believe it's next year that the first of your E175s come to the end of their initial contract and the associated debt is paid off. When will you start having conversations about extending those contracts? Are there any early indications that bolster your confidence those aircraft will stay in place with their respective airline partners?

所以我相信明年你們的第一架 E175 飛機的初始合約將到期，相關債務也將還清。你們什麼時候開始討論延長這些合約的問題？是否有任何早期跡象可以增強您對這些飛機將繼續留在各自的航空合作夥伴處的信心？

Yes, Catie, this is Wade. Yes, we constantly have communications with all of our major partners about fleet renewal, continuing to fly the aircraft. The aircraft are -- our great airplanes have been very well maintained. We believe they're doing a very nice job with our major partners. And so we are optimistic that we'll continue to fly those for the major partners that they're flying for today.

是的，凱蒂，這是韋德。是的，我們不斷與所有主要合作夥伴就機隊更新、繼續飛行飛機等事宜進行溝通。我們的飛機保養得非常好。我們相信他們與我們的主要合作夥伴合作得非常好。因此，我們樂觀地認為，我們將繼續為主要合作夥伴提供這些航班服務。

Got it. Maybe one for Rob. You stepped up share purchases from fourth quarter, as you noted, opportunistically just given stock price movement. Can you walk us through what the guardrails are to pacing future purchases? On my math, you could complete your remaining authorization this year and then some and still see leverage down from 2024. What are the metrics you're looking to?

知道了。也許給 Rob 一個。正如您所說，您從第四季度開始加大了股票購買力度，這是考慮到股價波動而採取的投機行為。您能否向我們介紹一下未來購買的步調？根據我的計算，您可以在今年完成剩餘的授權，然後再完成一些，並且從 2024 年開始仍然會看到槓桿率下降。您所關注的指標是什麼？

Yes, Catie, great question. I think that the way that we look at it is in a broader context of overall capital deployment. And I think that, obviously, our favorite use of capital is to grow our -- continuing to grow our business accretively. But we've got many different ways that we can grow this business and do that. But when our stock represents a favorable investment, we're pleased that we have the free cash flow and the liquidity to be able to take advantage of those moments as we have buying back about 22% of our company since the beginning of 2023.

是的，凱蒂，這個問題問得好。我認為我們應該從更廣泛的整體資本配置角度來看待這個問題。我認為，顯然我們最喜歡的資本用途是發展我們的業務——繼續增值性地發展我們的業務。但我們有很多不同的方法來發展這項業務並實現這一目標。但是，當我們的股票代表著有利的投資時，我們很高興我們擁有自由現金流和流動性，能夠利用這些時機，因為自 2023 年初以來我們已經回購了公司約 22% 的股份。

So as you noted, we're sort of getting to the end of an authorization, but we have a conversation about how we want to deploy capital with our Board every quarter, and those will continue to be good discussions.

因此，正如您所說，我們的授權即將結束，但我們每個季度都會與董事會討論如何部署資本，這些討論將繼續保持良好的狀態。

Got it. Maybe if I could just sneak one more in. Can you just give us an update on the CRJ200 fleet? I think last quarter, you had just over 140 of those aircraft not on contract that you're looking to either fly under new CPAs or the Charter business or maybe even to sell. What's been the progress on that front? Other than like the small handful of dual-class CRJs, are those the only idle aircraft across your fleet?

知道了。也許我可以再偷偷溜進去一次。能向我們介紹一下 CRJ200 機隊的最新情況嗎？我認為上個季度，你們有超過 140 架未簽訂合約的飛機，你們希望透過新的 CPA 或包機業務來飛行，甚至可能出售。這方面取得了哪些進展？除了少數雙艙位 CRJ 飛機外，這些飛機是你們機隊中唯一閒置的飛機嗎？

Yes, that's a great question. This is Wade. So last quarter, we did talk about having 140 of those that we do own that have no debt and very little book value associated with those. We do have a lot of those still under contract with a major partner. We do fly those in prorate at SkyWest as well. So there is a big chunk of those, somewhere in the range of 80-ish today that are flying at SkyWest Airlines.

是的，這是一個很好的問題。這是韋德。因此，上個季度，我們確實談到了我們所擁有的 140 家公司，這些公司沒有債務，而且帳面價值也很低。我們確實有很多客戶仍與主要合作夥伴簽訂了合約。我們也在 SkyWest 按比例飛行這些航班。因此，目前有相當一部分飛機（約 80 架）在天西航空飛行。

We also, as we talked about last quarter, we do deploy those assets in SkyWest Charter as well. And so they are being used within SkyWest Charter very productively. And then we have had success in selling some to selling and leasing the engines to third parties as well. And so the asset is still good demand from our perspective. We're still using it. We'd anticipate using it for several more years. So yes, the CRJ200 is still something that we're still very optimistic about.

正如我們上個季度所討論的，我們也在 SkyWest Charter 中部署了這些資產。因此，它們在 SkyWest Charter 中得到了非常有效的應用。然後，我們也成功地將一些引擎出售和租賃給第三方。因此從我們的角度來看，該資產仍然有良好的需求。我們仍在使用它。我們預計它還能使用幾年。所以是的，我們對 CRJ200 仍然非常樂觀。

Savi Syth, Raymond James.

薩維西斯、雷蒙德詹姆斯。

I think, Chip, you mentioned really strong demand, clearly, taking up block hours here a little bit more supports that. I was curious if your partners have talked to you, I know this is kind of beyond kind of that four-month period that maybe schedules are being set. But have your partners talked to you about kind of the post-summer plans and how that might look?

我認為，Chip，您提到了非常強勁的需求，顯然，在這裡佔用更多的時間段可以更好地支持這一點。我很好奇您的伴侶是否與您談過，我知道這有點超出了可能正在製定時間表的四個月期限。但是您的合作夥伴是否與您討論過夏季後的計劃以及具體內容？

Well, now, Savi, this is Chip real quick. I think you have to kind of look a little bit from the starting point with all of that. I mean, still understand, and we've talked about it the last couple of years, we're still striving our way through a pilot shortage. And in all honesty, small community, strong demand that we have not yet got back to. So I think the dynamics of what our model is and the niche of what our model is a little different from a domestic perspective.

好吧，薩維，現在我是奇普。我認為你必須從起點來看這一切。我的意思是，仍然明白，我們在過去幾年也討論過這個問題，我們仍在努力解決飛行員短缺的問題。老實說，我們還沒有回應小社區的強烈需求。因此，我認為從國內角度來看，我們的模式的動態和模式的利基略有不同。

I mean, for your answer, we're always having ongoing conversations about the current climate beyond the next four months or whatever is going to happen with the current macroeconomic situation. Nothing has taken our eye off the long term still because the long term still needs planning as of today. Some of the things that could impact us for the summertime, we still look to have a very strong robust schedule for the summertime and some of the most that we've had.

我的意思是，對於您的回答，我們一直在討論未來四個月後的當前環境或當前宏觀經濟狀況將會發生什麼。我們仍然沒有忽視長遠目標，因為截至今天，長遠目標仍然需要規劃。有些事情可能會影響我們的夏季計劃，我們仍然希望為夏季計劃制定一個非常緊湊的時間表，以及一些我們曾經有過的最重要的計劃。

And so from that perspective, you do see some of the things that we've talked about in previous quarters about the urbanization in the United States, where we fly, the small communities that we still have to get back access to, which we have a lot of opportunities to do that we're working on now.

因此，從這個角度來看，您確實會看到我們在前幾個季度討論過的一些事情，例如美國的城市化、我們的飛行地點、我們仍需重新進入的小社區，我們有很多機會可以做到這一點，我們現在正在努力。

The conversation relative to our business model is I would say it's still dynamic with our partners, but we're still in a catch-up mode with pretty much all of them, some more than others. So overall, for the entire model, it's still pretty strong and solid as of now.

關於我們的商業模式的對話是，我想說我們與合作夥伴的合作仍然充滿活力，但我們仍然處於追趕模式，幾乎所有合作夥伴都在追趕我們，有些合作夥伴的追趕程度比其他合作夥伴更高。所以總的來說，就目前而言，整個模型仍然非常堅固和穩固。

Makes sense. Appreciate that. And then I noticed that SkyWest Charter, it shows 9 CRJs in SkyWest Charter. I think last time, it was 18. Is that just kind of seasonally, something came down there? Or what's the kind of the latest view on SkyWest Charter for this year?

有道理。非常感謝。然後我注意到 SkyWest Charter，它顯示 SkyWest Charter 中有 9 架 CRJ。我認為上次是 18 歲。那是不是只是季節性現象，那裡發生了一些事情？或者今年對 SkyWest Charter 的最新看法是什麼？

Yes, Savi, this is Wade. That's right. So we had 18 flying at the end of last quarter. And as you know, the demand for SkyWest Charter at the moment, the demand during the winter months is very, very strong. And the demand at SkyWest Airlines is extremely strong in the summertime.

是的，薩維，這是韋德。這是正確的。因此，上個季度末我們有 18 架飛機在飛行。如您所知，目前對 SkyWest 包機的需求，尤其是冬季的需求非常非常強勁。夏季，天西航空的需求量非常強勁。

And so in order to fulfill all of our demand that we have at an entity level, we felt like we needed to move a few of those back to SkyWest to continue to fulfill all of demand at SkyWest Airlines. And so long term, we do anticipate those airplanes going back. But for the short term, in order to fulfill all the demand that we have at SkyWest Airlines, we needed to move those over.

因此，為了滿足我們在實體層面的所有需求，我們覺得我們需要將其中一些轉移回天西航空，以繼續滿足天西航空的所有需求。因此從長遠來看，我們確實預計這些飛機將會回歸。但就短期而言，為了滿足天西航空的所有需求，我們需要將這些需求轉移過來。

And maybe I can ask you, Wade. Just -- you did see prorate stepping up from fourth quarter, which is a little bit unusual. Was that just more Charter business? Was that just strength in demand? Or I was curious why that was stepping up.

也許我可以問你，韋德。只是——你確實看到比例從第四季度開始上升，這有點不尋常。這僅僅是更多的包機業務嗎？這僅僅是需求強勁嗎？或者我很好奇為什麼會出現這種情況。

Yes. So on the prorate side, the increase year-over-year is definitely due to increase of markets that we've added. We've had the opportunity to add several new markets year-over-year. And so as we've said, the small community air service, the demand is extremely strong. A lot of these small communities are looking for good, reliable air service. And so we've been able to fulfill that, and we'll continue to look to do that over the next several years.

是的。因此，從比例角度來看，同比增長肯定是由於我們增加的市場數量的增加。我們有機會逐年增加幾個新市場。正如我們所說，小型社區航空服務的需求非常強勁。許多小社區都在尋求良好、可靠的航空服務。因此，我們已經能夠實現這一目標，並且我們將在未來幾年繼續努力實現這一目標。

Your Q-over-Q was up too, which was unusual, which is what I thought.

您的 Q-over-Q 也上升了，這很不尋常，我也是這麼想的。

Yes. And that's also just capacity increases.

是的。這也只是容量的增加。

Makes sense. Seems like strong demand. All right.

有道理。看起來需求強勁。好的。

Mike Linenberg, Deutsche Bank.

德意志銀行的麥克‧林伯格。

I just -- I wanted to follow up on the DOT approval process for SkyWest Charter. It was -- it seems like it was a few months ago that they came back and it was a fairly comprehensive endorsement of what you were trying to do. It was a two-week show cause. It seems like that was a few months ago. That usually -- you have your two weeks and then we get a response. Is that -- did I miss something? Are we still waiting for a response?

我只是——我想跟進 SkyWest Charter 的 DOT 審批流程。好像是幾個月前他們回來了，並且對你所做的事情給予了相當全面的認可。這是一場為期兩週的展示活動。那好像是幾個月前的事了。通常，您有兩週的時間，然後我們就會得到答案。那是——我遺漏了什麼嗎？我們仍在等待回覆嗎？

No, Mike, it's Chip. It's a great question. We did get a show cause order which typically says you're basically -- I would suggest that the 1 foot line on the goal line, and you've just got a little bit further to go. You can imagine in our view, we would have hoped to have gotten the final approval by now. But as you can imagine, things in DC are a little chaotic right now. And so we attribute it to a little bit of that.

不，麥克，是奇普。這是一個很好的問題。我們確實收到了一份出示理由令，上面通常說你基本上——我建議在球門線上有一英尺的線，你只需要再走遠一點。你可以想像，從我們的角度來看，我們希望現在已經獲得最終批准。但正如你所想像的，華盛頓特區現在的情況有點混亂。因此我們將其歸因於這一點。

Now once we get that -- once we get the approval, I mean, like we've already talked about with some of the fleet going back and forth with SkyWest. I think that's very good for us to smooth out the seasonality issues that we have with Charter. And again, to get them fully deployed with small community service in certain areas that we want to do this in, it does take a little bit to get them up and going.

現在，一旦我們得到批准，我的意思是，就像我們已經討論過的一些與 SkyWest 往返的機隊一樣。我認為這對我們解決 Charter 面臨的季節性問題非常有幫助。再說一次，為了讓他們充分部署到我們想要開展這項服務的某些地區的小型社區服務中，確實需要一點時間才能讓他們開始行動起來。

So look, we've been patient for three years. We still think that there is a tremendous value to the SkyWest Inc. family with this model, and we'll continue to be patient and pursue this, we think it's coming soon.

所以你看，我們已經耐心等待了三年。我們仍然認為這種模式對於 SkyWest Inc. 家族來說具有巨大的價值，我們將繼續耐心地追求這一目標，我們認為它很快就會到來。

Okay. And then as we think about the sizing of Charter, as Savi mentioned, it was 18 airplanes, it went to 9. That list of cities who filed on your behalf of -- in support of Charter, it's a long list. It's a lot of cities that either have no service or have lost almost all their service. Like what -- as we think about sizing and how big that could get, how many airplanes could that be? It would seem like it's a lot more than 18 airplanes.

好的。然後，當我們考慮 Charter 的規模時，正如 Savi 所提到的，它有 18 架飛機，後來減少到 9 架。代表您提交申請以支持憲章的城市名單很長。許多城市要么沒有服務，要么幾乎失去了所有服務。就像——當我們考慮尺寸以及它能有多大時，它能容納多少架飛機？看起來遠不止 18 架。

Yes, I would say that it could be. We don't get too far ahead of ourselves because we've probably got a little bit of PTSD from three years of trying to get through the process, which is a long and arduous, no one's ever gone through this. And I think from our perspective, everybody knows the kind of company SkyWest is. They know we're going to do it right. We're really going to enhance safety throughout the industry.

是的，我認為有可能。我們不會想得太遠，因為我們可能因為三年的努力而患上了創傷後壓力症候群，這是一個漫長而艱鉅的過程，沒有人經歷過這種情況。我認為從我們的角度來看，每個人都知道 SkyWest 是一家甚麼樣的公司。他們知道我們會把事情做好。我們確實要加強整個產業的安全性。

And so you have all those factors that are coming into this. And for us to sit down and actually pencil it out, some of those cities will go towards SkyWest Airlines. But some of the more applicable ones will go to SkyWest Charter, and then it enables us to do some other things with Charter that from our perspective, could provide some very good value to the company and to other communities.

所以，所有這些因素都與此有關。我們坐下來認真算一下，其中一些城市將向天西航空開放。但一些更適用的項目將會交給 SkyWest Charter，然後它使我們能夠利用 Charter 做一些其他的事情，從我們的角度來看，這些事情可以為公司和其他社區提供非常好的價值。

So we haven't gotten too far ahead of ourselves until we get past the 1 foot line over the goal line, and then we'll probably give some more guidance when we get there.

因此，在我們越過球門線 1 英尺之前，我們不會走得太遠，然後我們可能會在到達那裡時提供更多指導。

Okay. Fair enough. And if I could just squeeze one more in. The last that I saw on the number of airplanes that you had leased out to third parties, the last I saw, it was like 40 airplanes. I don't know where that number is today at the end of the March quarter.

好的。很公平。如果我能再擠進一個就好了。我上次看到的關於你們租給第三方的飛機數量，大約有 40 架。我不知道三月季度末這個數字是多少。

But as you think about going forward, is there an opportunity for -- as those airplanes come off from their leases, that it makes sense to put them in the SkyWest business with one of your partners? Or does it make sense to continue to have a decent -- a pretty healthy lease portfolio because of the diversification that it offers you, SkyWest? Plus I suspect that the margins are probably pretty good on that business as well. How do you think about that, your lease book?

但是當您考慮未來發展時，是否有機會——當這些飛機的租約到期時，將它們與您的某個合作夥伴一起投入 SkyWest 業務是否合理？或者，由於它為您提供的多樣化，繼續擁有體面的 - 相當健康的租賃組合是否有意義，SkyWest？另外，我懷疑該業務的利潤率可能也相當不錯。您覺得您的租賃合約怎麼樣？

Yes. So Mike, this is Wade. So as far as the number that we have, it's very consistent with what you're saying. It's right at the 40 mark. Some of these leases, they do go out for several more years. But the nice part about our lease portfolio is we can operate every one of those airplanes, right? Whether they're 550s or 900s, we can, and we do evaluate that, look at that.

是的。麥克，這是韋德。就我們掌握的數字而言，它與您所說的非常一致。正好是 40 分。其中一些租約確實還會持續幾年。但我們租賃組合的優點在於我們可以營運每一架飛機，對嗎？不管它們是 550 還是 900，我們都可以對其進行評估，並且對其進行查看。

I'll tell you, the -- and the margins are good and that they're fine. But the other business that's been very good for us is also the engine leasing business, right? There's very high demand for the engine leasing. And because of some of the assets that we've had, we've had a lot of success in that because of the size and scope and what we're able to bring. And so the demand has been very strong on both engine and aircraft leasing.

我會告訴你，利潤率很好，而且很好。但對我們來說非常好的另一項業務也是引擎租賃業務，對嗎？引擎租賃的需求非常高。由於我們擁有一些資產，憑藉其規模、範圍和我們能夠帶來的優勢，我們在這方面取得了巨大成功。因此，發動機和飛機租賃的需求非常強勁。

Duane Pfennigwerth, Evercore ISI.

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

Just wondering if you're seeing any changes in how your customers are scheduling given this theme of stronger peaks and weaker off peaks? I assume that regional lift is one of the tools in the toolbox to -- for your customers to get more tactical with their scheduling?

我只是想知道，考慮到高峰期更強、非高峰期更弱這一主題，您是否看到客戶的日程安排發生了任何變化？我認為區域提升是工具箱中的工具之一—可以讓您的客戶在安排行程時更具策略性？

Maybe on some level, down-gauging to regional could actually help in these off-peak periods. So basically, the premise of the question is any changes in how you're asked, how you're being asked to fly and how you're being scheduled given this peak versus off-peak dynamic?

也許從某種程度上來說，降低列車規模至區域性實際上可能有助於緩解這些非高峰時段的交通壓力。所以基本上，問題的前提是，考慮到高峰和非高峰時段的動態，您的要求、飛行方式和安排方式會發生任何變化嗎？

Duane, it's Chip. That's a fantastic question. And one I think that would -- is good for us to address for a couple of reasons. One, this has happened so quickly from the perspective of the summer schedules. Our partners have gone out and said, look, they're softening demand domestically.

杜安，我是奇普。這是一個非常棒的問題。我認為，出於以下幾個原因，解決這個問題對我們來說是有益的。首先，從夏季時間表的角度來看，這發生得太快了。我們的合作夥伴已經表示，看，他們國內的需求正在減弱。

From our perspective, we're still seeing strong schedules. We're going to have tremendous visibility in the yield, that's also always what our partners are. But to the extent that you could look back at history, typically, economic downturns, even going back to 9 11, going back to the financial crisis as well as COVID, typically, we're kind of the lowest common denominator relative to the aircraft size that we have. So they do strategically and have the ability to deploy this level of aircraft or these levels of aircraft in different ways.

從我們的角度來看，我們仍然看到了緊張的日程安排。我們的收益將具有極大的可見性，我們的合作夥伴也始終如此。但回顧歷史，通常來說，在經濟衰退時期，甚至可以追溯到 9 11 事件、金融危機以及新冠疫情，就我們擁有的飛機規模而言，我們的飛機數量通常處於最低水平。因此，他們具有戰略性，並且有能力以不同的方式部署這一級別的飛機或這些級別的飛機。

The schedule has been published so long. You're just going to have to be stuck with some of the schedules that they've got. But if this thing continues to stay on pace at where it's at today, we probably will see some difference of schedules in how and where they fly us and frequency and that sort of stuff. We just don't have that visibility in the schedules that we're working with over the next six months today.

時間表已經公佈這麼久了。你只是必須遵守他們制定的一些日程安排。但如果這種情況繼續按照目前的速度發展，我們可能會看到航班時刻表在飛行方式、目的地、頻率等方面有所差異。我們只是對未來六個月的工作計劃沒有那麼清晰的認識。

So -- and no conversations about, okay, it's time to do a massive pivot. So from that perspective, nothing yet, but it's good to know typically what happens in economic softening and downturn relative to regional fleets than what we've seen in the past.

所以 — — 沒有人談論，好吧，是時候進行大規模轉變了。因此，從這個角度來看，目前還沒有，但了解經濟疲軟和衰退時期區域船隊的情況與我們過去所見的情況相比，通常是有好處的。

That's helpful. And then just as you ratchet your utilization incrementally higher, at least for this year, can you just walk us through how you get there? Does it start with lower observed attrition in your workforce and then you go back to your customers and commit to that? Or does it start with an ask from one of your mainline customers and then you go back and solve for that?

這很有幫助。然後，正如您逐步提高利用率一樣，至少在今年，您能否向我們介紹您是如何實現這一目標的？是否從降低員工流動率開始，然後您再回到客戶那裡並致力於此？或者它是從您的一個主要客戶提出的問題開始，然後您回過頭來解決這個問題？

Yes, Duane, that's a great question. So it really starts with the demand from our major partners at this point. We have told all of our major partners, they can schedule how they want at this point. We -- the staffing at SkyWest is very good at this moment, and we're bringing a lot of airplanes out of long-term storage. And so we give them the number of airplanes they can schedule, and they can schedule it how they see fit. And so we are seeing very good utilization for the summer months, as Chip said, and the demand appears to be very strong for our products still.

是的，杜安，這是一個很好的問題。因此，現在一切實際上都是從我們主要合作夥伴的需求開始的。我們已經告知所有主要合作夥伴，他們可以按照自己的意願安排時間。目前，SkyWest 的人員配備非常好，我們正在從長期存儲中取出大量飛機。因此，我們告訴他們可以安排的飛機數量，他們可以按照自己認為合適的方式安排。因此，正如 Chip 所說，我們看到夏季的利用率非常好，而且我們產品的需求似乎仍然非常強勁。

Tom Fitzgerald, TD Cowen.

湯姆·菲茨杰拉德，TD Cowen。

Congrats on the nice quarter. Is there -- just given that you changed up some of the contracts during the pilot crisis, is there any risk from the higher variable element of your CPA revenue that we should be thinking about?

恭喜本季取得良好成績。是否存在——鑑於您在試點危機期間更改了一些合同，我們是否應該考慮您的 CPA 收入中較高可變因素帶來的風險？

No, that's a good question. We've worked with each of our partners on optimizing our contracts, as you said, during COVID. All of them still have the fundamentals of minimum utilization, how they schedule it, they have to work with us on our schedules to make sure we are comfortable with them. And so the basic fundamentals are still very strong in the contracts.

不，這是個好問題。正如您所說，在 COVID 期間，我們與每個合作夥伴合作優化了我們的合約。他們所有人仍然具有最低利用率的基本原則，他們如何安排，他們必須與我們一起制定時間表，以確保我們對他們感到滿意。因此，合約的基本面仍然非常強勁。

Okay. That's really helpful. That's great to hear. Most of mine have been answered, but I was just curious, just given some of the headlines on the reverse merger between your second biggest independent competitor and one of the smaller regional airlines, I was just wondering how you and the Board are thinking about consolidation in the regional industry and M&A among your capital allocation toolkit?

好的。這真的很有幫助。聽到這個消息真是太好了。我的大部分問題都已得到解答，但我只是好奇，鑑於有關您的第二大獨立競爭對手和一家較小的區域航空公司之間的反向合併的一些頭條新聞，我只是想知道您和董事會如何考慮區域行業的整合以及資本配置工具包中的併購？

Yes, Tom, that's a great question. And from our perspective, the situation that you've discussed has been out there for a while. We've been a part of those conversations at some time or the other. We did -- we were able to do some things, even some things that we mentioned today that gives us some opportunities within that situation, but it doesn't take -- you have to go back in history probably 10 to 12 years and see when we used to be in a scenario where we would like to go out and buy and merge competitors, and that did not end up well for us. In fact, it almost destroyed our company.

是的，湯姆，這是一個很好的問題。從我們的角度來看，您所討論的情況已經存在了一段時間了。我們曾經參與過這些對話。我們確實——我們能夠做一些事情，甚至我們今天提到的一些事情，這些事情在當時的情況下給了我們一些機會，但這並不需要——你必須回顧大概 10 到 12 年前的歷史，看看我們曾經處於這樣一種境地：我們想要出去收購和合併競爭對手，但結果對我們來說並不好。事實上，它幾乎毀了我們的公司。

So we -- we don't have the right culture and environment to do that type of stuff anymore. And we've said that on this call. I mean, we are very much an organic growth-oriented company. Given the dynamics of who we are and what we do and the way we do it, it just doesn't align that we could go out and do any of those acquisitions, and I think we've said this on calls in the past.

所以我們——我們不再擁有合適的文化和環境來做這類事情。我們在這次電話會議上也說過這一點。我的意思是，我們是一家以有機成長為導向的公司。考慮到我們的身份、我們所做的事情以及我們做事的方式，我們不可能出去進行任何收購，我想我們在過去的電話會議上也說過這一點。

But if the -- with the right opportunity is, I think we're very comfortable with what the acquisition between Republic and Mesa is. We think that consolidation in our space is good. We think that as we continue to go forward in the future, there likely will be a bit more, one way or the other.

但如果時機合適，我認為我們對 Republic 和 Mesa 之間的收購感到非常滿意。我們認為，我們領域的整合是件好事。我們認為，隨著我們未來不斷前進，無論如何，可能會有更多這樣的情況。

But from our perspective, our preference is just to find ways to acquire assets, deliver a fantastic product for our partners and be strategic with them in ways that nobody else can be. I mean, I think we've been clear with them that we can't do acquisition type of stuff given the DNA that we have.

但從我們的角度來看，我們傾向於尋找方法來獲取資產，為我們的合作夥伴提供優質的產品，並以其他人無法做到的方式與他們制定策略。我的意思是，我認為我們已經向他們明確表示，鑑於我們擁有的 DNA，我們不能進行收購之類的事情。

But we are very comfortable doing capital enhancements to derisk any elements of their business that they have. That's the real difference between us, is I think that as we continue to have a future with these four fantastic partners. We want to be more than just a carrier that flies from point A to point B.

但我們非常樂意進行資本增強，以降低其業務中任何要素的風險。這就是我們之間的真正區別，我認為，我們會繼續與這四位出色的合作夥伴共創未來。我們不僅想成為一家從 A 點飛往 B 點的航空公司。

We want to be a carrier that sits down with them and enhances what their risks are, what their problems are and find ways to leverage what is a fantastic operation, an amazing culture with the best professionals as well as the best balance sheet and creativity and be able to help them in ways that we can in the future. And we were very, very comfortable with that, given what we have in the marketplace and that we can continue to grow with.

我們希望成為一家能夠與他們坐在一起，了解他們的風險和問題，並找到方法利用我們出色的運營、令人驚嘆的文化、最優秀的專業人員以及最佳的資產負債表和創造力的承運商，並能夠在未來以我們力所能及的方式幫助他們。考慮到我們在市場上所擁有的以及我們可以繼續成長的優勢，我們對此感到非常非常滿意。

And it seems that we have no further questions. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Childs for closing remarks.

看來我們沒有其他問題了。現在我想將會議交還給查爾茲先生，請他致閉幕詞。

Thanks, John. Appreciate it. We appreciate everybody's interest in the call today. Obviously, it's a very dynamic world we're living in today. We're comfortable with the investments and the discipline that we've had in the past to make it through these dynamic economic environment, and we're looking forward to not only just protect what we have, but be opportunistic in ways to deploy our capital. And so we -- we'll update you on that progress again in three months. Thanks again.

謝謝，約翰。非常感謝。我們感謝大家對今天電話會議的關注。顯然，我們今天所處的世界是一個充滿活力的世界。我們對過去的投資和紀律感到滿意，這些投資和紀律使我們在動態的經濟環境中生存下來，我們期待的不僅是保護我們所擁有的，而且要抓住機會部署我們的資本。因此，我們將在三個月後再次向您通報進度。再次感謝。

This concludes the conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。