Spirit CEO Wants Employees Vaccinated, But Won’t Mandate It

Amidst the backdrop of a national debate of mandating the COVID-19 vaccines, Spirit Airlines CEO Ted Christie said Friday he would like to see his employees and passengers all vaccinated – but won’t require it.

Speaking on CNBC, Christie is urging his workers and those who fly Spirit to get the shot but added that he has no plans to implement a mandate.

“Rising case counts with regard to the delta variant obviously is a concern for everybody,” Christie said on the network’s popular “Squawk Box” program. “The answer to that, we believe, is to get your vaccine, make sure you get out there and get vaccinated.”

As the debate rages, Christie said he believes Spirit does not have the authority to mandate vaccines, especially for travelers, adding that he believes it will ultimately be a question for the federal government to answer.

He did say he is “strongly encouraging” his employees to get vaccinated and to continue to use face masks.

The CEO said Spirit implemented facial covering requirements since early in the pandemic, which remain in place today as the highly contagious delta variant drives the latest surge in COVID cases across the U.S.

Nonetheless, Christie has been pleased with the significant surge in travel due to pent-up demand.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, leisure traffic has led the recovery and Spirit is a leisure-based airline, so we’re focused mostly on big leisure destinations … and that traffic has really rebounded quite quickly,” he said. “We’ve had a very, very busy summer.”

To that end, Spirit last month announced an ambitious plan to expand into Miami International Airport later this year, adding flights to 30 cities both domestically and internationally.