Skywest Inc Q1 FY2021 Earnings Call

Hello. And welcome to the SkyWest, Inc. First Quarter 2021 Earnings Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. After today’s presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please note today’s event is being recorded. I’d now like to turn over the conference to Rob Simmons, Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Simmons, please go ahead.

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. 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?

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. 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 2020 Form 10-K and other reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. And now, I’ll turn the call over to Chip.

Thank you, Rob and Eric. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us on the call today. One year ago at this time, we were only beginning to feel the massive impact of COVID-19 around the world and across our industry. We’ve learned much over this past year, and we continue to make good progress on our strategy to emerge from this crisis as a better, stronger company. I want to thank our outstanding team of professionals for their continued teamwork, flexibility, and dedication in order to deliver an exceptional product in any situation. We made some good headway toward recovery in the first quarter, and while there’s still ground to cover, we are seeing strong demand improvement. We are working across all areas of the operation to ensure we’re quick and responsive to what our partners need from us to lead the recovery. Under previously announced agreements, we took delivery of one new CRJ900 for Delta and placed nine used CRJ700s into our American system. We still have 16 more aircraft to transition into our American network this year, and we’re making maintenance investments with those aircraft as we bring them out of storage and get them ready for profitable operations. As I just mentioned, we are seeing significant demand for all of our products. These maintenance investments are a critical part of our long-term strategy to build reliability into our fleet, as well as preparing for what we expect will be a busy summer ahead. Wade will talk more about our maintenance programs and associated costs in a minute. During the quarter, we also began hiring mechanics, flight attendants, and just recently accepting pilot applications once again. We continue to advance our commitment to diversity through important partnerships with organizations across the industry to ensure we continue attracting the best professionals to join our team. In addition to receiving a Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award for the second year in a row, as previously announced, we were also named to Forbes America’s Best Employers 2021 list during the first quarter, once again the only regional airline on the list. We’re always working to set SkyWest apart as a leader in the industry and as an exceptional employer. I am incredibly proud of our outstanding team of professionals for their work that helps us continue to advance. Thank you. As vaccinations across the U.S. increase, it’s clear that people are anxious to resume a sense of normalcy, including travel. We’re seeing more leisure travelers on board all aircraft, and there is some reason for optimism in terms of demand, especially for SkyWest fleet and product. We believe our ability to deliver a solid product is more important than ever as we work with our partners to support the return to travel. Our operational performance for the quarter improved year-over-year with a 99.97% completion adjusted for weather and nearly 81% of our flights departing on time. Our teams worked hard through severe weather events impacting our operations across Texas and Colorado, and I want to thank them for their teamwork and diligence through these challenges. During the first quarter, we reported net income of $36 million, driven by a slight improvement in production over Q4 and the extension of the payroll support program. Revenue was $535 million, down from the fourth quarter, mainly due to prorate seasonality and temporary partner concessions related to PSP2. These concessions are temporary ways we can support our partners through the current challenges. In terms of liquidity, we had $836 million cash at quarter-end, and while we have until the end of May to decide on further participation, we do not expect to draw additional funds under the CARES Act secured loan facility. Over the past several months, SkyWest has seen strong utilization compared to our competitors. The first quarter is seasonally the weakest for our industry, but in Q1 we did see an increase from the fourth quarter of 2020. While the second and third quarters will still have lower production than 2019 levels, we anticipate the fourth quarter of 2021 will be similar to the fourth quarter 2019 production levels pending continued recovery. Ensuring we’re a solid partner is critical to our business and our ongoing agility remains a key component to our recovery strategy. While we are still below 2019 levels, we remain optimistic about the shape of the recovery so far. As demand returns, we’re confident our fleet will continue to play a critical role in the country’s return to travel. We are focused on remaining aggressive and deliberate in taking care of our people and our customers as we preserve our liquidity and plan for recovery to ensure we emerge as a better, stronger company. Rob will now take us through the financial data.

Today, we reported first-quarter net income of $36 million or $0.71 diluted earnings per share. Q1 pretax income was $50 million. Our diluted share count for Q1 was 50.7 million shares and our effective tax rate in Q1 was 28.2%. First, let’s talk about revenue. Total Q1 revenue of $535 million is down 27% from Q1 2020 and is down 9% from last quarter. Although our Q1 block hour production was up 3% sequentially from Q4, as Chip mentioned, the sequential reduction in revenue was primarily driven by PSP2-related temporary partner revenue concessions and prorate seasonality. This breaks down with contract revenue down 27% from Q1 2020 and down 11% from Q4. In both of these comparisons, we have temporary partner revenue concessions in Q1 2021, but not in Q4 2020 or Q1 2020. Prorate revenue is still down 32% year-over-year and was down 4% from last quarter due to seasonality. As we’ve previously said, prorate revenue is nicely levered to a demand recovery. Leasing and other revenue is up 14% year-over-year and 18% sequentially. These GAAP results include the effect of the deferral of $21 million of revenue this quarter, compared to $111 million during 2020. As of the end of Q1, we have $132 million of cumulative deferred revenue that will be recognized in future periods. As discussed last quarter, the timing and amount of future deferrals and the reversal thereof into revenue depends on the shape and cadence of the recovery of our flying. All deferred revenue will be reversed into revenue by the end of the various contract periods. We may continue to defer some revenue into later 2021 when it could begin to reverse. Let’s move to the balance sheet. We ended the quarter with cash of $836 million, up from $826 million last quarter. Our CapEx during the first quarter was $56 million for four used aircraft spare engines and other fixed assets. Our expectation for 2021 CapEx is approximately $650 million to $700 million, including the purchase of 18 new E175s later this year under our previously announced contract with American. This compares to $438 million in CapEx in 2020. We ended Q1 with debt of $3.1 billion, down from $3.2 billion as of year-end 2020. Let’s talk about liquidity, as of March 31, 2020, our cash position was $836 million, in addition to availability of $665 million undrawn in our CARES Act loan and approximately $40 million available on our revolving line of credit. We have until later in May 2021 to decide how much additional draws we will make under the CARE Act secured loan facility, if any. Based on the high cost of warrant coverage of any additional draws on that facility, it is likely that we will not draw any additional amounts and may choose to also repay the $60 million outstanding currently on that facility and let that additional availability go. This would release $1.5 billion of pledged collateral under this government facility. During Q1, $193 million in PSP2 grants was recognized as income in the form of a contra expense laid out clearly as its own line item in our P&L. This is a change from grant income of only $3 million recognized in Q4. Subsequent to quarter-end, SkyWest entered into an agreement with the U.S. Treasury for approximately $250 million in funding under the PSP3 program for airlines. $45 million of this amount represents a low interest, no amortization 10-year loan. $205 million of the $250 million is the payroll grant expected to be recorded as income largely in Q2 and Q3 2021. Under PSP3, SkyWest will issue the U.S. Treasury Department warrants to purchase approximately 78,317 shares of SkyWest common stock at a strike price of $57.47. Also, subsequent to quarter-end, SkyWest received an additional $35 million top-up to PSP2. This top-up breaks down as $10 million in debt and $25 million in grants with warrants to purchase 25,958 shares of SkyWest common stock at a strike price of $40.41. Last quarter, we estimated that we would burn cash in the first half of 2021 at a rate of about $250,000 per day or $7 million per month. Based on March ending cash of $836 million, we are running a bit better than our forecast. We expect to be slightly cash positive in the first half of 2021 before the possible voluntary repayment of the $60 million outstanding under our CARES Act secured loan. Depending on the pace of the recovery, we could be cash positive in the second half of 2021. If the economic effects turn out to be worse and the recovery is slower than we currently expect, we have additional liquidity tools that we can call on, including our cash balances, our revolver, and either $665 million of undrawn availability under our secured CARE Act loan facility or the $1.5 billion of collateral that freezes up if we decide to let that facility expire next month. In addition to our strong core liquidity position, we are expecting 2021 and 2022 to be years where we continue to focus on our balance sheet. As of March 31, 2021, our debt net of cash balance is actually $200 million lower than it was as of the end of 2019. In 2021, we expect to repay over $400 million in principal debt balances related to existing aircraft financing. Of course, we continue to expect to take delivery of additional aircraft in 2021. Debt, as usual, will be financed with long-term debt financing. But over the next couple of years, we expect to reduce our absolute debt balance while maintaining strong liquidity. During Q1, the debt on another 24 used aircraft was fully repaid. Including partner-owned aircraft, over 50% of our fleet in service now has no financing obligation. We also continue to have minimal tail risk of around $100 million, the dollar delta between financing terms and contract terms on our fleet. Our next pocket of tail risk is now out to late 2022. Especially in times of great uncertainty like this, and consistent with our policy and practice, we are not in a position to give any specific EPS guidance at this time. But let me give you a little color. Ignoring the effect of PSP3, net of related temporary partner concessions, we expect Q2 earnings to be close to breakeven. With the second half of 2021 likely positive both in earnings and cash flow. Continued headwinds to our model include several factors I’d like to call out. Number one, our prorate business was still unprofitable in Q1. Wade will talk more about this in a minute. Number two, maintenance expense was up $17 million from Q4 as we continue to prepare our fleet for a busy summer. Maintenance expense for 2021 will likely continue at the current run rate before finding a new lower normal level later in 2022. And number three, deferred revenue was $21 million in Q1 2021 and now it’s a cumulative $132 million. We expect to defer additional revenue until later in 2021 when it could start to reverse. And now some tailwinds. Number one, production is trending higher into the summer with good demand for our product. Number two, the new PSP3 program brings us $205 million in grant income to be recognized in Q2 and Q3 before any new temporary partner concessions. And number three, deferred revenue may begin reversing later in 2021, pending the timing of the recovery. We are excited that the actions we are taking now and expect to take over the next few quarters are setting us up nicely for the new normal in the future. Wade?

Thank you, Rob. I’ll provide a fleet and production status update, as well as an update on our prorate and leasing businesses. To update by partner, during the quarter, we put nine CRJ700s into service with American, bringing our total CRJ700s under contract with American to 74. We anticipate placing 16 additional CRJ700s into service from our existing fleet throughout the remainder of the year, bringing our American CRJ700 fleet total to 90 by year-end. These 25 aircraft have been in long-term storage for the past few years and have required a lot of maintenance to return to service. We also have 20 new E175 scheduled for American service in 2022, with deliveries scheduled from Q3 of this year to the first quarter of 2022. This will bring our total American fleet to 110 in 2022. Let me briefly talk about our Delta agreement. During the first quarter, we took delivery of one new CRJ900 under our Delta agreement. The aircraft is owned and financed by Delta. As of March 31, 2021, we have 116 aircraft under contract with Delta. During the quarter, we worked with all of our major partners on a second round of contract concessions that included temporary rate reductions. These concessions are reflected in our first quarter results. We expect to work with our major partners during the second and third quarters for a third round of concessions. Let me review our current production. During the first quarter, our completed block hours were down by approximately 23% compared to the same quarter last year. Based on the current schedules we have from our major partners for the second quarter of 2021, we anticipate that our block hours will be up by approximately 10% compared to the first quarter of 2021. As we look at the third quarter, we anticipate that our block hours will be down by approximately 5% compared to Q3 2019 and the fourth quarter will be approximately the same as the fourth quarter of 2019, pending continued improvement in the recovery curve. The E175 fleet continues to fill an important need for our major partners. While the majority of the reductions in block hours have been on the CRJ200 fleet, our Q1 E175 block hours were down by 3% compared to Q1 last year. While our Q1 CRJ200 block hours were down by 53%. Let me talk a little bit about our prorate business. During the first quarter, we reduced our prorate block hours by 6%, and revenue decreased by 32% or approximately $32 million compared to Q1 2020. We anticipate our prorate block hours for Q2 to be up by approximately 14% and the prorate revenue to increase by 30% compared to Q1 2021 as we see demand beginning to recover. Our prorate model is nicely levered to the recovery. With prorate revenue down 32%, we expect the incremental revenue coming back to the prorate business will have attractive margin characteristics. Let me shift gears to our leasing business. Last quarter, we announced that we signed a purchase agreement to acquire 13 additional used CRJ700. As of today, we have closed on five of the 13 aircraft and expect to close on the others throughout 2021. We are working with several parties for SkyWest to either operate or lease these aircraft. Following the purchase of these 13 aircraft, we will own or control 169 CRJ700 aircraft. We are fortunate to be in a unique position to purchase these aircraft, as we believe the CRJ700 is an exceptional asset that will continue to set SkyWest apart with strong demand from our major partners. Let me talk briefly about our current maintenance expense, which is up $44 million or 27% from Q1 2020. The increase is primarily due to anticipated recovery of our flying and bringing the 25 aircraft from the American agreement out of long-term storage. We currently have 30 lines of heavy maintenance at our third-party providers and the ramp-up of these suppliers have been slower than anticipated. To provide some context, this level of maintenance is unprecedented in our history; we anticipate that we will continue maintenance at roughly these levels through this year and expect to return to more normal levels during the second half of 2022. We have spent the last several years reducing risk and enhancing fleet and financing flexibility to ensure we’re well-positioned. We are committed to continuing our work with each of our major partners to provide creative solutions as we work toward full demand recovery. Okay. Operator, we’re ready for our sell-side Q&A.

Yes. Thank you. And the first question comes from Mike Linenberg with Deutsche Bank.

Hey. Good afternoon, everyone. Just a couple here. If I compare the temporary rate reductions. So if I heard you correctly, Rob, the second phase was obviously this March quarter, right? And there was nothing in the fourth quarter of last year, the first quarter. So the first phase, I think, covered the second quarter and third quarter of 2020, and I think we have a third phase that will be in the second quarter and third quarter of 2021. Is that the timing on these temporary rate reductions, the concessions?

Yes. That’s correct.

Have you mentioned the extent of those reductions in your quarterly reports, or could you provide some insight on how they relate to deferred revenue? Is that a reliable indicator as it accumulates to help us understand these reductions? I am trying to gauge the extent here and avoid counting a couple of items twice.

Yeah, Michael, this is Wade. Regarding the temporary rate reductions, we’ve been collaborating with our partners for several quarters. As you mentioned, there were temporary rate reductions in the second and third quarters of last year. While we won’t discuss the specific extent of these reductions, they are significant. We’ve been working closely with them to ensure we are a reliable partner, proactively assisting them with their businesses and their recovery.

So, Wade, as I think about modeling for, though, because these are temporary, when they come back, as well as a reversal in deferred revenue as we go out to 2022,2023, there will be a meaningful bump up, right, is that...

Yeah, Mike, as we discussed for the remainder of the year, we anticipate Q2 to be roughly break-even and then expect to see positive earnings in Q3 and Q4. This outlook does not account for the net impact of the PSP grant income that will be recognized in Q2 and Q3, along with the partner concessions related to that, which will also be reflected in Q2 and Q3.

Okay.

That guidance, just to be clear, was before any PSP3 noise in those numbers.

Okay. That's helpful. Wade, I have a question regarding the 18 American airplanes. It seems that 18 will arrive in the third and fourth quarters, with two expected in 2022. You'll incur significant CapEx this year, but it appears that the planes won't actually enter service until the March quarter of 2022. Will you just deliver them to American and receive some form of compensation? There seems to be a two to three quarter delay between the arrival of the planes and when they begin productive service. I'm interested in the timing on that.

Yeah. So you’re right, we have 20 new 175 coming in, and as you said, the majority of those are coming in Q3 and Q4 of this year. And we’ve worked with either the OEM or the partner to cover the costs associated with carrying those for a little bit.

Okay, Okay. That’s great. And then just my last one, this is just on pilots. Hard to believe, we obviously were dealing with a pilot shortage and then, I think, at one point, we thought we all of a sudden went from a deficit to surplus, and now all of a sudden, everybody’s hiring again, including yourselves, as well as new entrants, Avello, Breeze and even carriers like ExpressJet, it looks like they’re going to be reincarnated as a prorate operator. So I am curious sort of where your pipeline is tied into either flight schools? And are we going to go from a situation where we thought we were going to have a lot of pilots out because of the PSP and new entrants coming into the market, that it’s actually going to get pretty tight, pretty quickly, combined with the fact that we have a slew of retirements across the industry. I mean, you’ve got a pretty great workforce. So it’s a broad question there, but I am just curious if we’re going to start running into pilot problems over the next six months to 12 months. Thanks.

So, Mike, it’s Chip. That’s a great question. I think it sets us up very well, and it feels like we want to return to where we were more than a year ago. You might remember our discussions in previous pre-COVID earnings calls about being well-prepared for a pilot shortage. We collaborate with 300 schools, and we had a robust operation going with tremendous demand for pilots at SkyWest. Recently, as we reopened hiring and began bringing people back to class to boost our pipeline, we were amazed by the response. We anticipated strong interest due to how we've navigated through the pandemic, receiving numerous credible awards and recognition during this past year. This clearly indicates the demand for joining SkyWest. Honestly, we've been overwhelmed by the interest, which has pleasantly surprised us. I don’t foresee SkyWest encountering any issues in the near future. Long-term, things might tighten up, but currently, there's still a strong supply and many new entrants, though I don't believe they can match SkyWest. Many seem to share this sentiment. We're excited about the opportunity, and it has never been a better time to join SkyWest. We look forward to enhancing professionalism and diversity in collaboration with the schools to shape the type of company we aspire to be.

Great. Great. Thanks, Chip. Thank everyone.

Thank you.

Thanks, Mike.

Thank you. And the next question comes from Duane Pfennigwerth with Evercore ISI.

Thank you. In your fourth quarter, block hours have remained stable. Can you explain the fleet changes from last year and what that means for utilization? Additionally, if we expect utilization to remain at a normalized level into 2022, along with your booked growth, what kind of topline figures should we anticipate for 2022?

Hi, Duane. This is Wade. I’ll discuss production. Comparing Q4 of 2019 to Q4 of 2021, we will observe a significant change in the production mix. As I mentioned earlier, even this quarter, the E175s are only down 3% compared to last year, and as we add more airplanes and put them into service, that mix will shift. Our 50-seat mix, the CRJ200, is down about 53%, so the mix will definitely change quite a bit. On the revenue side, excluding concessions, we should remain consistent with our 2019 performance.

Thanks. And I guess, just to extend that, right, if we keep that more normalized level of production, combined with the booked growth that you have, what is sort of baseline production growth into 2022, if we just sort of run rate that forward?

Yeah. So at this point, I don’t think we’re prepared to quite talk about 2022, but we will see continued growth. As I talked about, the American E175, we have 20 of those coming into service in basically Q1 and Q2. And so we will continue to see growth there and so we will have additional growth on top of that, but at this point, we’re not prepared to give guidance on where it will be in 2022.

Okay. That’s fair. And then just to follow-up on Mike’s question and maybe you answered it in your response to him, but should we be thinking about the concessions very similarly to the amount of PSP grant funding that you’re receiving?

Yeah. So directionally, it will be very close. It’s directionally the same amount, yes. Some of it can stick a little bit with us, but not all of it. But directionally, yeah.

Okay. Thanks. Thanks so much.

Thank you, next question comes from Savi Syth with Raymond James.

Hey. Good afternoon, everyone. I think the plan for the E175 fleet is pretty clear. But I wonder if you could talk a little bit about how you’re thinking about what your other fleet types would look like kind of exiting this year from a fleet count standpoint?

Yeah, this is Wade. We currently have significant activity with our CRJ700s. As of the end of the last quarter, we had 74 CRJ700s contracted with American. By the end of the year, we expect to increase that number to 90, adding 16 additional airplanes through the latter part of 2021. This will be the main area of fleet growth for us. The CRJ200s remain steady, and we reduced the Delta fleet a few quarters back. The CRJ900 fleet is currently stable. So, the main expansion on the CRJ side will focus on the CRJ700.

Understood. If I consider that you had 74 CRJ700s with American and a total of 98, are the remaining 24 going to stay, or should I simply calculate 90 plus 24? What would that total be?

We currently have 19 under contract with United and we expect those to remain with them. The remainder are under contract with Delta, and we also anticipate they will stay with Delta.

Make sense. And thanks for that Wade. And then on just on the 1Q quarter, it seemed a little bit stronger than anticipated, is that fair? Did that come from block hours? Is there anywhere else that may be came in better or it may be came in line with what you were thinking?

Yeah. No. As we talked about, Savi, I mean, production was up sequentially. And I guess, net-net, we’re pleased with the level of demand that we’re seeing for our product, and we’re obviously investing right now in that product in the form of maintenance and getting ready for a busy summer.

Okay. Is it fair to say that the surprise was more on the CPA side than the prorate side?

Yes, demand remained strong on the CPA side. We are continuing to see progress on the prorate side, even though it was not profitable in the first quarter. However, as volumes return, we expect that to positively impact the prorate side of the business during the summer and beyond.

Make sense. Thank you.

Thank you. Next question comes from Catherine O'Brien with Goldman Sachs.

Hey. Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for the time. So I’ve got a similar one to Mike’s first question as well. Just as we think forward to back when you’re fully up and running, you’re full schedule with your partners again at a minimum contractual minimum, it sounds like more like back to pre-COVID levels. How should we think about your margin profile? I can think of a couple of tailwinds. So higher percentage of E175 flying, probably, the pre-COVID, you take some of these new deliveries? And then probably the positive impact of that deferred revenue coming back on, as you talked about earlier. So if we put those things together, should we just think about margins probably being higher post-COVID or are there some tailwinds I am not giving enough to? Thanks.

Thank you for the question, Catie. This is Rob. I think there are some nuances regarding the margin situation. In the short term, we anticipate continued high costs for maintenance as we reintroduce new airplanes into service and prepare for what appears to be a busy summer. There are various factors at play here. One significant concern is prorate, which is currently negatively impacting our overall margins since it is not profitable at the moment. However, we are hopeful that this business will benefit from the recovery. You also mentioned deferred revenue; that's another area where we might see modest increases in the next quarter, depending on the speed of recovery. When that deferred revenue starts to reverse, it will contribute positively to our margins. So, while there are some challenges on the expense side in the near term, we believe that the combination of demand and the reversal of certain items will have a positive effect in the long run.

Thanks for that. Yesterday, we heard from one of the major global lessors about airlines beginning to take steps to plan for the future and secure more aircraft, as we look to recover and regain growth compared to 2019. I’m not inquiring about your leasing business specifically, but more broadly, are you initiating discussions with your partners regarding potential additional regional flights over the next few years? I imagine their primary focus was on managing cash burn throughout 2020. I would appreciate hearing whether conversations about long-term growth planning are resuming or if things remain stagnant. Thank you.

Hey, Catie. This is Chip. That’s a great question. Thanks for asking that because I think it has good perspective as our strategy. First thing that we’re still focused on through the rest of this year is out executing everybody relative to helping our partners recover. But in all candidness, we’ve been having those conversations even through the pandemic because we also thought that that was a big part of how they could recover. And certainly, today there is big demand for regional lift, and we think as the economy post-COVID continues to evolve, the smaller locations and mid-sized cities are going to have more travel demand. And so we’re having a lot of conversations with the partners about this long-term aircraft orders. We’re also having a lot of conversations with manufacturers about evolutionary ways that we can meet the needs of the environmental footprint that we’re trying to achieve with our partners and all of those things. So in quick answer to your question, we’re having a lot of dialogue with both partners and manufacturers. But it’s secondary to making sure we continue to recover from the pandemic, but those conversations are alive and well.

Got it. I'll ask one more question since you mentioned it. What are your thoughts on the future aircraft for growth at SkyWest? I believe the EQ is still not scope compliant. I'm also wondering what other options are available in terms of new next-generation aircraft. I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks.

Thank you, Catie. This leads to a different discussion. I want to emphasize that for nearly 50 years, SkyWest's long-term strategy has been to outperform our competitors and ensure we're positioned strategically. We are exploring many opportunities. It's important to note that the industry recognizes us as an excellent operator of aircraft, and we’re engaging in discussions about the future of aviation with various entities. However, we won’t share detailed information or announcements until we are ready. Returning to your earlier question, our priority is to move beyond the pandemic and focus on recovery. We need to support our employees, partners, and customers. At the same time, we are aware of what travelers will want, and our strategy is to lead in that area. I hope this gives you a clear understanding of our position.

Yeah. All right. Thanks for the time.

Thank you. And the next question comes from Helane Becker with Cowen.

Thanks very much, Operator. Hi, gentlemen. Thanks for the time. So two questions. One is pre-pandemic was the prorate business ever profitable in the first quarter or is that just normally a seasonally weak quarter?

Yes, Helane, this is Wade. We align closely with the industry standards. The first quarter has traditionally been weaker, even before the pandemic. Historically, we did see some profit in the first quarter, but it was not substantial in terms of the prorate business.

Okay. My other question is regarding the decline in year-over-year expenses. Is this decrease in landing fees and airport facility charges due to the CARES spending last year, and should we expect this to return as flying picks up?

Yeah. Helane, this is Wade again. So, on the landing fee side, the majority of those, the partners take care of directly and are not reflected in our financial statements. The other line item on our expenses is primarily just volume related and the decreases are associated with that volume.

Okay. Thanks. Very helpful. Thank you.

Thank you. Our last question comes from Joseph DeNardi with Stifel.

Hi. Thanks. Good afternoon. Just one quick question for me. I think I just want to understand, Wade, on the maintenance challenges you’re facing with your third-party providers. Is that just a byproduct of the tight labor market or are you kind of displeased with the performance of those providers?

That’s a great question. There’s a lot going on, obviously. As we said, there are over 30 lines of C check going on. A lot of it is just the ramp-up, right? So we never really stopped during the pandemic, but we definitely have increased as we anticipate the flying coming back and as we got some of these American contracts. Our third-party providers are great partners of ours. They do a lot of things. They’re just bringing back their workforces, they’re getting them trained, they’re getting them back up to speed. So I anticipate that they’ll be able to execute at a very high level for us going forward. SkyWest is very uniquely positioned with the size of our fleet and the strength of our own internal maintenance capabilities that we can navigate through any challenges that are in front of us.

Helpful. Thank you.

Thank you. This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Chip Childs for any closing remarks.

Thank you, Keith. Thanks to everyone for joining us again on the call today. We really appreciate your support and interest in SkyWest. I especially, again, want to thank our people. I am proud of our airline and our team and the great work they’re doing to support each other in the long-term success of SkyWest. I couldn’t be more proud and fortunate to be involved with such a great team. Thanks again and we’ll talk to you next quarter.

Thank you. The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect your lines.