SkyWest to fly United

United Airlines, the world's second-largest carrier, on Monday chose St. George-based SkyWest Inc. and St. Louis-based Trans States Holdings Inc. to fly 30 jets on United Express routes as part of an effort to cut commuter carrier costs.

UAL Corp.'s United, which is trimming expenses to stem losses and exit bankruptcy, said in a statement that the new 70-seat Bombardier Inc. jets will begin flights in August and be fully in place by the first quarter of 2006.

Chicago-based United didn't say which routes the commuter carriers will operate on.

United in November requested bids from 10 commuter carriers to operate as many as 70 jets on routes flown by its second-biggest regional partner, Air Wisconsin Airlines Corp. Some of those routes will now be flown by SkyWest, which will operate 20 of the jets, and closely held Trans States' GoJet, which will fly 10, the statement said.

"We offered up a very competitive cost structure," Michael Kraupp, vice president of finance at SkyWest, said in an interview.

Bombardier said Monday it had received an order from SkyWest valued at $637 million for 20 CRJ700 regional jets.

The purchase will increase SkyWest's fleet of CRJ700s to 52 aircraft, Montreal-based Bombardier said. SkyWest had 23 CRJ700s in service as of Feb. 28, flying under the United Express banner from bases in Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

SkyWest earlier this year said it does about 59 percent of its business with United and 39 percent with Delta Air Lines.

United and Air Wisconsin, which currently flies only for United, are still in negotiations on revising their existing commuter contract, spokespeople for the two companies said.

Air Wisconsin, a commuter carrier based in Appleton, Wis., said in February that it's seeking to provide service and $125 million in financing to US Airways Group Inc. United and Air Wisconsin have since argued in court over disclosure of details on that arrangement.

United said it may cut back the commuter service to small and mid-size U.S. cities by using smaller jets on some routes or cutting some flights. United has been in Chapter 11 protection since December 2002 and is trying to cut at least $2 billion in annual costs, on top of $5 billion previously, as part of a plan to exit bankruptcy in the second half of this year.

SkyWest shares rose 24 cents to close at $18.48 Monday on the Nasdaq Stock Market. UAL shares, which rose to over $100 in 1997, traded at 96 cents.

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Contributing: Bloomberg News; Dow Jones; The Associated Press