Day-to-day operations function exactly like a union shop.
They have a contract with the pilot group, and a representative body which serves a function similar to a union. All airlines are subject to the RLA (railway labor act) union or not.
The difference is that the pilot group has less leverage, since the contract is harder to enforce for minor violations. But in the regional world market forces play a larger role than any sort of labor organization, so there's no real difference between skywest and other regionals. Historically about 1/3 of skywest pilots came from other (union) regionals in search of greener pastures. There's a limit to what unions can do in the regional world, since they are outsourced subcontractors.
IMO it would be nice is they had a union, but I certainly would not make that a priority. Geography, upgrade opportunity, and QOL would be far more important.
Last edited by rickair7777; 05-29-2019 at 10:08 AM.