American, Delta, Southwest Won’t Mandate Vaccines for Workers

Usually, airlines tend to be a copy-catting bunch. One makes a fare adjustment; the others fall in line. One institutes a new policy; the others fall in line.

Not this time.

The CEOs of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines say they will not join United and will not require their employees to get the COVID-19 vaccination.

United last week announced it was mandating that workers get vaccinated by October 25 at the risk of termination. Since then, Frontier Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines have announced they would require workers to get the shot but would not impose a threat of job security.

American CEO Doug Parker said last week his airline would not follow suit, noting it “wouldn’t be physically possible” on domestic flights without causing massive delays, and that requiring passengers to prove they’re vaccinated would be “incredibly cumbersome.”

Parker said he encourages getting the shot, but won’t mandate it.

In an internal memo obtained by CNN, Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly said the airline will “continue to strongly encourage” that workers get vaccinated, but the airline’s stance has not shifted.

“Obviously, I am very concerned about the latest Delta variant, and the effect on the health and safety of our Employees and our operation, but nothing has changed,” Kelly said.

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian, who already instituted a policy that any new hires must be vaccinated, told Good Day New York on Tuesday that 75 percent of its workforce has already been vaccinated even without a company-wide mandate.

“I think there’s some additional steps and measures we can take to get the vaccine rates even higher, but what we’re seeing is every day is those numbers continue to grow,” Bastian said.