Starting the Conversation 💬
How to Share the Facts with Fellow SkyWest Flight Attendants — and Help Them See Why It Matters
Many of our fellow Flight Attendants are still learning about the SkyWest AFA campaign — or unsure how it applies to their day-to-day lives. This page is here to help you have clear, confident, and constructive conversations with your coworkers about why we need a real union, what our SkyWest AFA Union can do for us, and how every Flight Attendant has the power to make change happen.
Why We Need a Union
As Flight Attendants, we take pride in being safety professionals, frontline problem-solvers, and caretakers in the sky. But no matter how hard we work, we’re still subject to last-minute schedule changes, stagnant wages, and policies we had no say in. That’s why we’re organizing with the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) — a real union, with real legal standing to negotiate on our behalf and protect our rights. And by joining AFA, we don’t stand alone — we stand united with tens of thousands of Flight Attendants at many AFA-represented carriers across the country. Together, we amplify our voices, strengthen our bargaining power, and raise standards here at SkyWest and throughout the industry. When we unite, we lift each other up — and we all rise.
Right now, we are at-will employees under company-controlled policy, which means SkyWest can change the rules at any time — and does. A union contract changes that. With AFA, we gain:
Legally enforceable rights — not “policies” that can disappear overnight.
A seat at the table to negotiate better pay, benefits, and work rules.
A fair grievance process when issues arise, instead of hoping someone in management will take our side or come to their senses.
The Truth About SIA: A Management Tool Meant to Mislead, Not Represent
Management doesn't want us to have a union with real power — so they created their own internal group, the SkyWest InFlight Association (SIA). SIA isn’t a union. It’s a company-approved committee with no legal power to negotiate contracts or protect us under federal labor law. It's a pretend union, designed to give the appearance of representation while keeping all the control in management’s hands.
Real unions like AFA-CWA are independent from the company and certified under the Railway Labor Act, giving us the legal backing to negotiate and enforce a binding contract.
When you talk to fellow Flight Attendants, remind them:
If it was really working, we wouldn’t still be dealing with…
✖ Pay that falls behind inflation
✖ Last-minute schedule changes
✖ Vague or inconsistent discipline
✖ No voice in critical decisions
✖ No commuter policy
Why a Union is Important for YOU — and Every Coworker
Every Flight Attendant, no matter your seniority or base, benefits from a union contract:
✅ Higher pay and consistent raises
✅ Enforceable work rules and scheduling protections
✅ Legal support and due process when things go wrong
✅ Stronger benefits and retirement plans
✅ Fair, transparent treatment — not favoritism or fear
AFA contracts have already raised standards at other regional and mainline carriers — and we deserve no less. With AFA, we fight for what we earn and protect what we build.
As the largest group of regional Flight Attendants in the industry, SkyWest Flight Attendants are in a position of massive influence — and management knows it. That’s why executives at SkyWest and across the regional sector benefit from us staying non-union. It helps them keep the entire regional workforce divided and underpaid while they maintain a two-tiered system where regional Flight Attendants do the same safety-critical job as our mainline counterparts — for far less.
But when we unionize, we partner with thousands of other AFA-represented regional Flight Attendants to flip the script on this broken system. We gain the power to challenge and dismantle the industry’s unfair pay gaps — and finally demand the respect, compensation, and protections our work deserves.
Our decision to organize doesn’t just change SkyWest — it changes the entire regional industry.
We Can’t Wait for Change — We Have to Create It
Management will say “now’s not the time,” while executives like CEO Russell Childs and VP Greg Wooley sell off millions in stock. Just recently, Wooley dumped $1.5 million worth of stock, and Childs has offloaded over $3.1 million in shares in just a few months — all while we’re told the company can’t afford to improve pay or working conditions.
Meanwhile, hundreds of millions in company profits are being funneled into a stock buyback scheme — a corporate strategy that artificially boosts stock prices, right as executives prepare to sell. They’re enriching themselves off the value we create, while continuing to deny us the compensation, protections, and respect we’ve earned.
They’re looking out for themselves.
It’s time we look out for each other.
What You Can Do — and How to Talk About It
Every conversation matters. A coworker you talk to today might be the next supporter who signs their card and talks to five more people.
Here’s how you can help move the conversation forward:
1. Start with Listening
Many people are hesitant because they don’t have the full picture. Ask questions like:
“What have you heard about the union campaign?”
“How do you feel about the current policies and treatment we get?”
“What would you want to change at SkyWest?”
2. Share the Basics
“We’re organizing with AFA-CWA to win a legal contract that can’t be changed by management.”
“AFA is Flight Attendant-run — not a company committee. It gives us real power to bargain.”
“Once we vote yes, we’ll become our own SkyWest AFA Council within AFA-CWA. That means we’ll be part of a larger union of over 50,000 Flight Attendants, but SkyWest AFA will be led by SkyWest Flight Attendants — elected by us.”
“We’ll bargain our own contract, based on the priorities we choose together, not anyone else. We’ll have the backing, experience, and resources of AFA-CWA, but all decisions for SkyWest Flight Attendants will be made by SkyWest Flight Attendants.”
“This is about us coming together to make SkyWest better — not about fighting the company, but about standing up for ourselves with a real voice and a real say in our future.”
3. Debunk the Myths
When you hear something like, “Unions don’t do anything,” or “We don’t need one,” gently redirect:
“AFA Flight Attendants at other airlines have better pay, schedules, and protections than we do.”
“We don’t have a union now — and it’s not working. We deserve better.”
“A lot of what we do have — like minimum rest rules and the appearance of competitive pay — only exist because unionized Flight Attendants across the industry fought to set higher standards. But unlike them, we don’t have a contract to lock anything in. That means SkyWest can change our work rules, incentives, and policies whenever it wants — and it does.”
“Even when pay looks comparable to union carriers, SkyWest quietly claws it back through manipulations like reducing minimum day credit, building longer duty days with less pay, and trip pairings that stretch our time without proper compensation. Without an enforceable agreement, it’s all smoke and mirrors — and we’re the ones paying the price.”
“SkyWest also ‘optimized’ us, with mixed-pairing, requiring us to adapt — sometimes within the same trip — to flying under different mainline partners, each with different service standards, procedures, and expectations. That kind of flexibility saves the company millions of dollars every year, but we’re not compensated for the extra work it demands. A union contract would give us a way to demand fair pay and protections for that labor.”
“Management likes to push the myth that AFA is some ‘outside party’ trying to come in and take over. That couldn’t be further from the truth. This campaign was 100% started by SkyWest Flight Attendants and is 100% led by us. We did our homework. We had conversations, asked tough questions, and looked at the records of multiple unions. After all that, we chose AFA-CWA because they’ve spent decades defending Flight Attendants and advancing our profession. Now, with the help of expensive union-busting consultants, management is trying to undo that work by planting seeds of doubt and spreading confusion — not because they care about us, but because they fear what we can accomplish when we’re truly united. We don’t take marching orders — we take ownership of our future.”
“We picked AFA not just because of its experience, but because they deliver results. AFA led the way in securing the Payroll Support Program (PSP) during the pandemic — a historic win that protected Flight Attendant jobs and pay nationwide. That program delivered nearly $700 million to SkyWest, helping preserve our jobs and stability at a time of crisis. Management was more than happy to accept that money — all while continuing to oppose our right to unionize. That tells you everything you need to know about where their priorities lie.”
Get more facts about dues and more on the page, “Don’t Buy Management’s Lies.”
4. Encourage Action
“Have you signed your AFA Authorization Card yet? That’s the first step to getting a vote.”
“Let me show you where to sign — it only takes a minute.”
“In order to trigger a union vote, we need a strong majority of SkyWest Flight Attendants to sign their cards. This shows the federal government that we’re serious and ready to choose union representation.”
“The more conversations we have and the more cards we collect, the sooner we reach the threshold — and the stronger we’ll be when we win our vote and negotiate our contract.”
“This is a legally protected process, and your signed authorization card is private. SkyWest management won’t know who signed — but they’ll feel it when we win.”
Ready to Help? Here’s What to Do Now:
✅ Sign your AFA Authorization Card
✅ Talk to your fellow Flight Attendants and coworkers
✅ Reach out to your base rep or local AFA supporter
✅ Join our outreach and support team — we’ll train and guide you
📚 LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR CAMPAIGN - Website, Podcast
SkyWest Flight Attendants — we are the union we’ve been waiting for.
Together, we can change our future. Let’s organize. Let’s rise.
Let’s win the union we deserve.