SkyWest says October traffic rose 9.3 percent

SkyWest says October traffic rose 9.3 percent, outpacing increase in capacity

• On 1:33 pm EST, Tuesday November 10, 2009

ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) -- The parent of regional carrier SkyWest Airlines said Tuesday that traffic rose 9.3 percent in October, outstripping an increase in available seats, so planes were more full than a year ago.

SkyWest Inc., which operates SkyWest and Atlantic Southeast Airlines, said paying passengers flew 1.50 billion miles last month, up from 1.37 billion in October 2008.

Capacity rose 8.3 percent, to 1.86 billion available seat miles -- the number of seats times miles flown.

Average occupancy or load factor on the company's planes rose to 80.3 percent from 79.6 percent a year earlier.

Through the first 10 months of the year, traffic on SkyWest and Atlantic Southeast was up 1.1 percent while capacity was down 0.6 percent.

SkyWest and Atlantic Southeast operate regional service for bigger airlines under the United Express, Delta Connection and Midwest Connect banners. They often fly customers between smaller airports and the big hub airports operated by the major airlines.

SkyWest shares fell 4 cents to $15.36 in afternoon trading.