Regional airline operator SkyWest Airlines has landed a new client, with big hopes for the future.

SkyWest will provide daily flights for US Airways to five cities from the latter's Phoenix hub under a three-year agreement, beginning next month. The number of destinations will jump to 19 in the spring.

"This contract is only for 15 aircraft, so [it's] small compared to our existing contracts" with other carriers, SkyWest chief financial officer Mike Kraupp said.

SkyWest already flies for Delta Air Lines as Delta Connection, United Airlines as United Express and Alaska Airlines.

"We are viewing this as an entry point with US Airways and hope for it to grow in the future," Kraupp said.

Operating under the US Airways Express banner, SkyWest will begin flying Dec. 16 between Phoenix and Durango, Colo.; Monterey, Calif.; Palm Springs, Calif.; Santa Barbara, Calif.; and Tucson, Ariz.

Sometime in the spring, SkyWest will also fly to Grand Junction, Colo.; El Paso, Texas; Albuquerque, N.M.; Bakersfield, Calif.; Los Angeles; San Diego; San Luis Obispo Calif.; Yuma, Ariz.; Las Vegas; Fresno, Calif.; Burbank, Calif.; Flagstaff, Ariz.; Oakland, Calif.; and Ontario, Calif.

SkyWest will fly the routes with Bombardier CRJ200 regional jets, which hold 50 passengers.

In Phoenix, SkyWest will replace service currently provided by Mesa Airlines, US Airways said.

Mesa will continue to fly other US Airways Express routes from Phoenix, US Airways spokesman Andrew Christie said.

US Airways offers 267 daily departures from Phoenix; 87 are operated by US Airways Express.

SkyWest Airlines is a subsidiary of St. George-based SkyWest Inc.

Last week, Federal Aviation Administration officials granted a single operating certificate to two SkyWest Inc. airline units. Atlantic Southeast Airlines and ExpressJet Airlines can begin flying as one airline to be called ExpressJet Airlines, beginning Dec. 31.

That combination will create the single biggest regional carrier in the world.

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