SkyWest adds to jet order

announced today that SkyWest Airlines of St. George, Utah has placed a firm order for 20 additional Bombardier CRJ700 regional jets, increasing its CRJ700 fleet to 52 aircraft. The firm order is valued at approximately $637 million.

SkyWest's CRJ700 aircraft, of which 23 were in service as of February 28, 2005, all fly under the United Express banner for United Airlines from bases in Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

When all firm orders have been delivered, SkyWest will be operating a total of 177 CRJ aircraft.

Separately, Bombardier Transportation announced recently that it received a firm order from the Greater Toronto Transit Authority (GO Transit) for 10 additional Bombardier BiLevel commuter rail vehicles.

The order will add to GO Transit’s existing fleet of 385 Bombardier-built commuter railcars. Valued at approximately $21 million, the contract calls for the design, manufacture and delivery of the new commuter vehicles.

“The BiLevel continues to be the most popular multi-level commuter rail car in North America with more than 750 BiLevel cars in operation with 11 public transit authorities across Canada and the United States,” commented William Spurr, president, Bombardier Transportation, North America.

The GO Transit vehicles will be built at Bombardier’s Thunder Bay, Ontario, manufacturing facility. Production is expected to extend from August 2005 to the second quarter of 2006.