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New SkyWest Flight Attendants…Welcome!

Start Strong — Build the Future You Deserve

Congratulations on joining us as a SkyWest Airlines Flight Attendant! We know this career can be exciting and rewarding, but let’s also be real: we face serious challenges. That’s why Flight Attendants across SkyWest are organizing a union — SkyWest AFA-CWA — to take control of our future and improve our working lives.

Check out our “New Hire Guide” podcast episode!

First Things First: SIA Is Not a Union

From the moment you start training, you’ll hear about SIA — the “SkyWest InFlight Association.” What management doesn’t tell you is:

SIA is not a union.
It’s a committee created and controlled by management. SIA cannot:

  • Bargain a legally binding contract

  • Enforce your rights under federal labor law

  • File grievances on your behalf that are handled through a legally mandated process

  • Hold the company accountable

SIA exists to look like a union, but it has no power to actually protect or represent you.

What a Union Actually Means — and What It Doesn’t (Yet)

Let’s be honest: AFA-CWA cannot intervene in disciplinary actions during probation. That’s a legal limitation — no union can. But here’s the key:

With an AFA contract:

  • We can shorten the probationary period, just like AFA has done at other airlines

  • Once you finish probation, you are fully protected with real, enforceable rights

  • AFA will be able to hold management accountable every time they break the rules

And right now, you have rights:

✅ You have the legal right to sign an AFA authorization card
✅ It is illegal for SkyWest to retaliate against you for supporting the union
✅ Your card is confidential — SkyWest management never sees it
✅ All cards are secured at AFA Headquarters and verified only by the National Mediation Board (NMB), a neutral federal agency

Real Protection. Real Voice. Real Power.

AFA-CWA represents more than 50,000 Flight Attendants at over 17 airlines. It’s democratic, transparent, and Flight Attendant-led.

AFA Flight Attendants have:

✈️ Legally enforceable contracts
💬 Grievance and arbitration protections
🧾 Better pay, work rules, and rest provisions
⏱️ Real scheduling protections
🛡️ Job security backed by federal law — including just cause protections, so management can’t discipline or fire you unfairly or without due process.

And unlike SkyWest’s probationary system — the longest in the industry — many AFA carriers have 6-month probation, not 12 (which often gets extended at SkyWest management’s sole discretion). That means you get protected faster.

Management’s Fear Tactics = Proof We’re Making an Impact

If management didn’t feel threatened, they wouldn’t:

  • Hire union-busting consultants

  • Spread fear and confusion through training

  • Launch anti-union websites and litter the crew lounge with their propaganda

They do this because they know a real union means they lose the power to act without accountability. AFA shifts that power to us.

Don’t Let Dues Myths Fool You

Here’s the truth about union dues:

  • You don’t pay dues until we have a contract. Period.

  • We only get a contract if we vote to approve it, and the improvements in that contract will be worth far more than the $50 monthly dues.

  • Dues fund our union, not management, and not outsiders

What do dues pay for?

  • Legal protection and grievance enforcement

  • Negotiators working for better pay, rest, and safety

  • A union structure that works for us, not for the company

AFA is accountable to us because we are the union.

Meanwhile… Executives Are Cashing In

While we’re told there’s “no money” for raises or better schedules, here’s what’s really going on:

  • CEO Russell Childs sold $3.1 million in stock

  • Executive VP of Operations Greg Wooley dumped $1.5 million in stock

  • Every insider transaction recently? Selling, not buying

  • At the same time, SkyWest has quietly implemented a stock buyback program, spending company money to inflate the value of shares, benefiting executives even more.

If there’s money for multi-million dollar stock sales and buybacks, there’s money for us.
Unless we organize and make them, they don’t want to share it.

We’re Organizing for YOU

This campaign isn’t just for senior Flight Attendants. It’s for every SkyWest Flight Attendant — and especially for new hires like you.

We’re fighting to:

  • Shorten the probation period

  • Secure fair treatment and due process

  • Protect you from retaliation and favoritism

  • Improve pay, schedules, and rest rules

  • Ensure real, enforceable rights — not empty promises

And yes — you can talk about the union at work.
Yes — you can wear union pins.
Yes — you can speak with your flying partners in the crew room.
These are all rights protected by federal law.

Ready to Take the First Step?

You belong in this movement — and your voice matters.
Here’s how to get involved today:

✅ Sign Your AFA Authorization Card
✅ Talk to your flying partners — you're not alone
✅ Ask questions — and get the facts

This is about building a future where new hires are respected, not silenced.
Where fairness isn’t optional. Where we all rise — together.

We’re Flight Attendants. We stand up for each other. And we know: It’s time.