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Special Items | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2021
Special Items |
Special Items | (9) Special Items During 2021, the Company entered into an agreement with Delta to purchase and operate 16 new E175 aircraft under a multi-year capacity purchase agreement. The 16 new E175 aircraft will replace 16 SkyWest-owned or financed CRJ900 aircraft currently under its Delta contract with expirations ranging from the second half of 2022 to early 2023. In 2021, SkyWest Airlines only operated the CRJ900 aircraft under a flying agreement with its major airline partner Delta. As a result of this fleet transition beginning in 2022 and the uncertainty about the Company’s ability to redeploy the CRJ900 aircraft with another major airline partner, the Company concluded that indicators of impairment existed and therefore, evaluated its CRJ900 fleet and related CRJ900 assets for impairment. Pursuant to ASC 360-10, “Impairment and Disposal of Long-Lived Assets,” the Company determined that the asset group for the CRJ900 aircraft existed at the major airline partner level. A recoverability test was performed utilizing estimated undiscounted future cash flows for the CRJ900 aircraft pursuant to applicable agreements with Delta and forecasted cash flow including the estimated value the Company would realize upon disposal of aircraft. This was compared to the carrying value of the related assets resulting in a cash flow deficiency indicating that an impairment existed. The impairment analysis required the Company to perform an assessment of the fair value of its long-lived assets related to the CRJ900 aircraft within the asset groups utilized in the recoverability test. The Company engaged a third party to assist in determining the fair value of these aircraft. These values were estimated based on listed market values or recent third-party market transactions for similar assets, adjusted by the related maintenance status of the fleet. All fair values are considered to be Level 3 within the fair value hierarchy. The amounts the Company may ultimately realize from the disposal of its CRJ900 long-lived assets may vary from the fair value assessments. During 2021, the Company recorded a non-cash impairment charge of $84.6 million to write-down the CRJ900 aircraft operating under the Delta contracts to their estimated fair value. This special item impairment charge is reflected in the SkyWest Airlines operating expenses under Note 3, “Segment Reporting.” The following table summarizes the components of the Company's special items, for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 (in thousands):
​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​
​ | ​ | Year ended December 31,
​ |  | 2021 |  | 2020 |  | 2019
Special items: | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​
CRJ900 Impairment Charge 1 | ​ | $ | 84,592 | ​ | $ | — | ​ | $ | —
Parts Credit 2 | ​ | ​ | — | ​ | ​ | — | ​ | ​ | 18,508
Employee severance 3 | ​ |  | — | ​ | ​ | — |  | ​ | 3,361
Total special items | ​ | $ | 84,592 | ​ | $ | — | ​ | $ | 21,869
(1) | Consists of the impairment charges to write-down CRJ900 aircraft in 2021 to their estimated fair value as discussed above.
(2) | The Company terminated an agreement with an aircraft manufacturer that obligated the Company to future aircraft lease return conditions on aircraft the Company leased. In conjunction with the terminated agreement, the aircraft manufacturer released the Company from the future aircraft lease return obligations and the Company agreed to
| terminate aircraft part credits previously issued by the manufacturer to the Company. As a result of the terminated agreement, the Company recorded a non-cash expense of $18.5 million (pre-tax) during 2019 to write-off the terminated aircraft part credits, which was reflected as a special items operating expense in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income. These special items are reflected in the SkyWest Airlines operating expenses under Note 3, “Segment Reporting.”
(3) | During 2019, the Company incurred $3.4 million of employee severance related costs associated with the sale of ExpressJet that are also reflected in special items. These special items are reflected in the ExpressJet operating expenses under Note 3, “Segment Reporting.”

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