SkyWest Investors Send Unmistakable Message for Third Consecutive Year: Labor Rights Matter
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
26.9% of shareholders vote to require independent labor rights audit just as United Airlines flight attendants achieve landmark union contract
MEDIA CONTACT: Ryon Harms, [email protected], 310.730.9407
EL CERRITO, CA — May 19, 2026 — As You Sow, the nation's leading nonprofit practitioner of shareholder advocacy and engagement, today responded to vote results released by SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ: SKYW) in the wake of its Annual General Meeting held May 5, 2026. A shareholder resolution requesting that the board commission an independent third-party assessment of whether the company's policies and practices align with internationally recognized rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining received 26.9% overall support — a figure representing more than one in four SkyWest shareholder votes and approximately $788 million of the company's total $3.22 billion shareholder value as of May 5, 2026.
This marks the third consecutive year the resolution has come to a vote at SkyWest. Each year, support has held steady at approximately one quarter of all shareholders. This is a remarkable degree of consistency that advocates say reflects a durable and growing investor consensus, not a passing trend, around the importance of healthy labor relations. The strength of the signal is particularly significant given the headwinds facing ESG-related resolutions in the 2026 proxy season.
The vote comes days after United Airlines flight attendants — represented by the same Association of Flight Attendants-CWA that has sued SkyWest for alleged labor law violations — ratified a landmark new five-year contract with 82% approval, announced May 12, 2026, delivers a 31% average wage increase, $741 million in retroactive pay, and boarding pay for United's roughly 30,000 flight attendants. The contrast with SkyWest could not be starker: one airline is closing a chapter of labor tension through good-faith collective bargaining; the other continues to face shareholder pressure, active federal litigation, and allegations of interference with its employees' right to organize.
“For three straight years, one in four SkyWest shareholders has told this board that labor rights oversight is a material issue,” said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow “At the very same time, we’re watching the rest of the airline industry demonstrate that good-faith engagement with workers is not a threat. Instead, it’s a competitive advantage. The question for SkyWest’s board is: how long can you ignore both your investors and the direction of your industry? An independent assessment is the minimum step needed to reassure shareholders that the company understands the risk it is carrying.”
SkyWest’s posture isolates it from the direction the broader industry has taken. In 2025, Delta Air Lines investors withdrew a similar shareholder resolution after the company agreed to neutralize its communications around employee unionization. SkyWest, by contrast, has not changed its approach despite three years of substantial investor dissent representing hundreds of millions of dollars in shareholder value.
The concerns driving investor support are well-documented. In October 2023, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA filed a federal lawsuit against SkyWest alleging violations of the Railway Labor Act, including the alleged termination of union activists and the unlawful establishment of a company-sponsored union. The U.S. Department of Labor has also filed suit against that same company-sponsored union, the SkyWest InFlight Association (SIA), alleging management’s interference in employee elections. Senator Bernie Sanders publicly called SkyWest’s approach “an illegal union busting tactic” and urged the company to “Follow the law.” Meanwhile, SkyWest operates a public website, “Stronger Together,” actively discouraging employees from joining a union.
“For a highly labor-dependent company like SkyWest, effective human capital management is core to operational continuity and long-term value creation,” said Meredith Benton, principal of Whistle Stop Capital and a part of the As You Sow team negotiating with SkyWest. She continued “This resolution asks that the Board make clear that it has reviewed SkyWest’s approach to ensuring employees’ concerns are being heard and addressed. In any company, this would be important, but at SkyWest, where the flight attendants are responsible for both the safety of the passengers and set the tone for the passengers’ experience, managing labor relations successfully should be a top priority.
About As You Sow
As You Sow is the nation’s leading shareholder representative, with a 30-year track record promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility. Its focus areas include climate change, ocean plastics, toxins in the food system, the Rights of Nature, racial justice, and workplace diversity. Click here to view As You Sow’s shareholder resolution tracker.
About Whistle Stop Capital
Whistle Stop Capital is a data and analytics firm focused on helping investors identify latent, emergent, and overlooked forces in the marketplace — including the financial implications of labor relationships and human capital management.