With a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases in the United States amongst the unvaccinated population, Simple Flying takes a look at which airlines are requiring their employees to get vaccinated. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the United States reported a seven-day daily average of 108,600 new cases, on Sunday with 83% stemming from the highly contagious delta variant.
While the United States government does not require people to get vaccinated, several major employers, including airlines, are making vaccinations mandatory for their employees. Last week Chicago-headquartered United Airlines told its 67,000 American employees that they had until October 25th at the latest to get vaccinated. This then set a precedent that some other airlines are now following.
Frontier tells its employees to get vaccinated
Just hours after the United Airlines announcement, Denver-based Frontier Airlines said that it would require all its employees to be vaccinated by October 1st. If employees choose not to get vaccinated, they will regularly be asked to show proof of a recent negative COVID-19 test.
When speaking about the decision in a company statement carried by Reuters, Frontier Chief Executive Officer Barry Biffle said:
“As we continue to watch the rapid increase of new COVID-19 cases across the United States caused by the Delta variant, I am concerned for the well-being of our team members, their families, and friends.” Adding, “The good news is that the vast majority of our employees have already taken this important step and have gotten vaccinated.”
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Hawaiian Airlines mandates vaccinations
On Monday, Hawaiian Airlines became the latest US carrier to demand that its employees get vaccinated against COVID-19. In an internal memo seen by CNBC, Hawaiian Airlines CEO Peter Ingram told his employees that if they are getting a two-dose vaccine, they must be fully vaccinated by November 1st. He also said that exceptions would be made for medical or religious reasons.
“It is not a decision I take lightly, and I would acknowledge that my own thinking on this has evolved over the last few months as I have watched this pandemic continue to take its terrible toll,” Ingram said in his note to employees.
Almost 75% of Delta employees are vaccinated
While encouraging their employees to get vaccinated, other US airlines have not made being vaccinated mandatory. However, Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines did say that new hires would have to show proof of vaccination starting next spring. When speaking on "Good Day New York" yesterday, Delta's CEO, Ed Bastian, said he was not thinking about making vaccinations mandatory.
"We're almost 75% vaccinated already," Bastian said, "and if you think about that, you have probably some portion — maybe call it five to 10 % of our employee base — that's going to have some medical or religious reason why they're not getting vaccinated, you're really down to a relatively modest number, maybe 10 to 20 % of the unvaccinated, that you can drive with a mandate. Bastian added. "I think there are some additional steps, measures we can take to get the vaccine rates even higher, but what we're seeing is every day, those numbers continue to grow. I'm really proud of our team."
At the moment, The United States has reached a plateau, with about half of its population being fully vaccinated. Despite a fast rollout of the vaccine, the US now lags behind many other developed countries that have been more successful in getting their citizens vaccinated. After months of lagging, Canada finally caught up and passed the US last month, with around 67% of Canadians now fully vaccinated.
What do you think about airlines mandating that their employees get vaccinated? Are they right to do so, or should it remain a personal choice? Please tell us what you think in the comments.