Largest regional airline in North America also sued by flight attendant union for alleged retaliatory firings

SkyWest Airlines, the largest regional airline in North America, is facing legal action over an alleged “fake” company union that the airline operates and the allegedly retaliatory firings of flight attendants who were engaged in union organizing efforts.

A lawsuit was filed by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) in October 2023. The US Department of Labor also filed a lawsuit last month against the company over the “company union”, alleging SkyWest Inflight Association (SIA) did not perform its legal duties as a representative agency and barred two employees from running in an election for leadership positions due to their support for an independent union at the airline.

The legal battles come as the conservative presidential plan for Trump’s second term, Project 2025, has called for enacting labor law reforms to permit employers to create non-union employee involvement organizations that are run jointly by management. The National Labor Relations Act currently makes it an unfair labor practice for employers “to dominate or interfere with the formation or administration of any labor organization or contribute financial or other support to it”.