SkyWest Inc., parent of SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines, reported net income of $159.2 million for 2007, a 9.2% increase over the $145.8 million earned the previous year. Revenue rose 8.3% to $3.37 billion and expenses climbed 9.2% to $3.03 billion. Operating income was up 1.6% to $344.5 million from $339.2 million in 2006. SkyWest and ASA operate a combined fleet of 436 aircraft in partnership with United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Midwest Airlines. The company said it is working with DL to swap out some of it smaller 50-seat CRJs for CRJ900s in an effort to improve operating economics. "None of this is contractual, but we are trying to find creative solutions to work for the needs of our partners," Executive VP and CFO Bradford Rich said. RPMs for the year were up 13.1% to 17.89 billion while ASMs increased 13.7% to 22.97 billion. Load factor dipped 0.4 point to 77.9%. Yield fell 4.1% to 18.7 cents as RASM lowered 4.5% to 14.7 cents and CASM declined 4.2% to 13.7 cents. The company is seeing some relief from pilot turnover due to the new ruling that allows pilots to continue working after age 60. It also said that many of the operational problems linked to ASA, which SkyWest acquired in September 2005 for $350 million, have been resolved. "We are making significant improvements in the quality of our operations," Rich said. "We feel pretty positive about the future." Fourth-quarter net income was up 30.7% to $40.9 million from $31.2 million in the same period a year earlier. Operating income improved 6% to $83.6 million from $78.9 million. by Sandra Arnoult