United Airlines becomes first U.S. carrier to require employee vaccinations

United Airlines will require employees in the US to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of October, perhaps even sooner, to join a growing number of large companies responding to a surge in virus cases.

Company leaders called it a safety issue and cited “incredibly compelling” evidence of the vaccines’ effectiveness.

“We know some of you will disagree with this decision to require the vaccine for all United employees,” CEO Scott Kirby and President Brett Hart told employees on Friday. But they added, “The facts are crystal clear: everyone is safer when everyone is vaccinated.”

American Airlines, based in Fort Worth, and Southwest Airlines, based in Dallas, are encouraging their employees to get vaccinated, but they don’t have to, the airlines said Friday.

Back in March, American Airlines said employees who get vaccinated would receive a $ 50 gift card and an extra day of vacation for 2022 or 2023.

“What we’re doing there, and what we’ve been doing from the start, is giving our employees great incentives to get vaccinated,” said Doug Parker, CEO of American Airlines, this week on The Sway podcast of the New York Times. “And in our opinion that is the right way to motivate people to vaccinate, and we are pushing it very hard.”

United, which employs 67,000 people in the US, is the first major US airline to announce that it will require vaccinations for its workers. The airline has been requiring a vaccination for new hires since mid-June. Unvaccinated workers are required to wear face masks in company offices.

The Chicago-based airline estimates that up to 90% of its pilots and nearly 80% of its flight attendants are already vaccinated. They get incentives for this.

The airline announced on Friday that they must be fully vaccinated by October 25, or five weeks after a vaccine is fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration, whichever comes first. So far, the FDA has only approved vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson for emergency use. Full approval is expected shortly.

Every employee must send a picture of their vaccination card to the company. Those who fail to do so will be fired, with exemptions made only on religious or health grounds, officials said.

Employees who are already vaccinated or who do so by September 20 will receive an additional day’s wages, according to the Kirby and Hart memo.

Like United, Delta Air Lines operated an employee vaccination center and recently started requiring vaccinations for new employees. Ed Bastian, Delta CEO, said this week that 73% of the airline’s workforce are vaccinated. Executives at other airlines have similarly encouraged their employees to get vaccinated, even offering bonuses and paid time off to get the vaccinations, but they haven’t made them compulsory.

Airlines and other companies in the travel industry have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic, which has resulted in severe travel restrictions. The United States requires people entering the country, including US citizens, to show evidence of a negative COVID-19 test, and the Biden government plans to vaccinate non-US citizens prior to entering the country desire.

Microsoft, Google and Facebook have announced that they will require proof of vaccination from employees and visitors to their US offices starting this fall.

This week, Tyson Foods announced that all U.S. employees must be vaccinated by November – notable because, unlike the tech companies, Tyson relies on many lower-paid workers who cannot do their jobs remotely. The President of the United Food and Commercial Workers criticized Tyson for imposing the requirement while the vaccines still only have emergency FDA approval.

Some governments get involved. California and New York City require employees to get vaccinated or undergo weekly tests, and the California mandate extends to employees in public and private hospitals and nursing homes.

The new rules come as the US grapples with a surge in infections caused by the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19. The seven-day average of newly reported coronavirus cases has increased from around 12,000 a month ago to more than 90,000 a day, although hospital stays and deaths have increased more slowly.

The Associated Press and contributor to author Kyle Arnold contributed to this report.

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