Passenger Tom Quaglia of the San Francisco Bay Area, top, raises his arms in celebration Thursday after the first United Express nonstop flight from San Francisco to Hailey landed at Friedman Memorial Airport. The flight—which was operated by SkyWest Airlines using a 66-seat CRJ 700 jet—was the first ever into Friedman by a commercial regional jet. Shortly after the plane landed at about 1:20 p.m., 52 passengers were greeted by family, friends and public officials who worked to support the new service. In front of the jet are, from left to right, Pam Snow, a representative of SkyWest Airlines; Jameson Año, a representative of United Express; Ron Fairfax, chairman of the Friedman Memorial Airport Authority; Tim Silva, general manager of Sun Valley Co.; and Eric Seder, president of the nonprofit Fly Sun Valley Alliance. The new service will run daily through March 30 for the 2013-14 winter season and from July 2 through Sept. 23 for the 2014 summer season. Quaglia, who has been visiting Sun Valley since 1979, said the flight was “as smooth as silk.” In January, SkyWest is scheduled to begin using regional jets for its Delta Connection service to and from Salt Lake City. Photo by Roland Lane