Related-Party Transactions (Details) (Zions Bancorporation, USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified			12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011 CRJ 200 aircraft	Dec. 31, 2011 CRJ 700s aircraft	Dec. 31, 2011 Brasilia turboprop aircraft aircraft
Related Party Transactions
Equity participation in leveraged leases on number of aircraft			3	2	5
Cash balance with related party	$ 51.8	$ 30.4

Represents the number of aircraft under leveraged leases in which the related party is an equity participant.

No definition available.

Name:	skyw_RelatedPartyTransactionEquityParticipationInLeveragedLeasesOnNumberOfAircraft
Namespace Prefix:	skyw_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration