US regional airline SkyWest on Wednesday said quarterly earnings fell 16 percent, hurt by high fuel costs.

The airline, which owns SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines, reported first-quarter profit of USD$29.1 million, compared with USD$34.8 million in the year-ago period.

SkyWest said quarterly revenue was USD$868 million, a 10 percent increase from USD$789 million during the same period last year.

SkyWest said its board authorized an additional stock buyback program of 5 million shares.

Last month, SkyWest had a takeover bid for ExpressJet Holdings rejected.