SkyWest Plans to Add Thousands in 2007

Jan. 2, 2007
The airline is looking for about 4,000 pilots, flight attendants and customer service agents at 32 locations.

Dec. 28 -- Rapidly growing SkyWest Airlines, which hired a record 4,000 employees this year, is preparing to hire a similar number of new workers in 2007.

SkyWest will host recruiting sessions at locations throughout the country to aid in its coast-to-coast expansion next year, a representatives of the St. George-based airline said Wednesday.

"We are celebrating our 35th anniversary [in June], and our growth is continuing," spokeswoman Sabrena Suite-Mangum said. "There is a need for quality individuals who want to be part of an exciting industry and an airline with a great history."

The airline is looking for pilots, flight attendants and customer service agents. The location of recruiting sessions will depend on the type of job.

Candidates competing for flight attendant jobs can interview at 32 locations, including Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco and Seattle.

SkyWest is planning seven pilot job fairs. They will be in Salt Lake, St. Louis, Chicago, San Francisco, Phoenix, Denver and Los Angeles.

SkyWest, which has about 10,000 employees and operates in 38 states and five Canadian provinces, is a regional airline that flies for Delta Air Lines as Delta Express and United Airlines as United Express. It has taken on numerous new routes for Delta in the 15 months since the Atlanta-based carrier filed for bankruptcy. In Salt Lake, where Delta operates its westernmost hub, SkyWest has been assigned more than 25 new destinations.

Employment growth has also been fueled by a gradual shift to larger regional jets. And SkyWest has taken over five ground stations for Delta and United.

Last week, SkyWest announced that it had been chosen to supply and fly a minimum of 15 and as many as 25 regional jets for Midwest Airlines, a Milwaukee-based specialty airline. The aircraft begin flying in April from Midwest's hubs in Kansas City, Mo., and Milwaukee.

In November, Delta selected SkyWest's parent company, SkyWest Inc., to take over some of the regional flying business operated by its Comair subsidiary. Starting in February, Delta will shift 12 jets to SkyWest, which has placed bids to fly another 131 aircraft.

"With our new Midwest partnership, there will be obvious recruitment needs in Milwaukee and Kansas City," said Necia Clark-Mantle, SkyWest Airlines vice president of people.

Clark-Mantle said the airline also wants to hire people to serve its winter destinations in Aspen, Colo., Denver and Salt Lake.

SkyWest expects more new business in 2007, but Suite-Mangum declined to elaborate.

"Our leadership has always got things in the works, to build more business, to have opportunities for growth and development," Suite-Mangum said.

"Knowing that our goal is to diversify and to have appropriate growth, we want to make sure that we have the appropriate number of team members."

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