Reuters
Published Oct 21, 2021 07:14PM ET
By David Shepardson and Rajesh Kumar Singh
WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Two major U.S. airlines and the White House said they do not think the Biden administration's executive order mandating federal contractors require employee vaccinations by Dec. 8 will impact holiday travel or result in employees leaving.
American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) and Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) announced earlier this month they would comply with the mandate that employees be vaccinated by Dec. 8 unless they receive a religious or medical exemption.
Some airlines and industry-watchers had initially feared an exodus of unvaccinated airline or government employees involved in travel just before the Christmas season but airlines later said that would not happen and cited comments from the White House this week.
Southwest Airlines Chief Executive Gary Kelly said on Thursday: "We are not on a campaign here to force everybody to get vaccinated ... We want our employees to know that nobody is going to lose their job on December 9 if we're not perfectly in compliance."
He added: "We're not going to fire anybody who doesn't get vaccinated." He said the vaccination issue will not disrupt travel.
White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients on Wednesday told reporters the vaccine requirements for federal employees and federal contractors would not impact holiday travel.
"Vaccination requirements will not impact holiday travel," Zients said.
Some lawmakers including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have raised concerns about the impact on the Transportation Security Administration and travel.
"The requirements for federal workers and contractors will not cause disruptions to government services that people depend on. Agencies have the flexibility necessary to enforce the mandate without impacting critical operations," Zients said.
Zients added, "the point here is to get people vaccinated, not to punish them. So agencies will not be removing employees from federal service until after they've gone through a process of education and counseling."
American Airlines Chief Executive Doug Parker said on an earnings call on Thursday he does not expect any employees to leave as a result of the vaccine mandate.
"We think we're not going to see anyone leaving American. I don't think anyone's going to want to leave American because either they choose not to get vaccinated or they don't have a religious or medical (exemption)," Parker said.
Parker said the airline is "highly confident" it will have everyone needed to fly its holiday schedule even if some unvaccinated employees with approved exemptions face new testing requirements.
"We don't anticipate any operational impact," Parker said.
The Cargo Airline Association, a group representing FedEx Corp (NYSE:FDX), United Parcel Service Inc (NYSE:UPS) and other cargo carriers, said in letter to the White House on Monday that "it will be virtually impossible to have 100% of our respective work forces vaccinated by Dec. 8 ... Sliding this date into the first half of 2022 will allow association members to meet the demands of the e-commerce revolution during the holiday season."
The letter, seen by Reuters, was previously unreported.
FedEx told Reuters on Thursday it is "engaged with the relevant government agencies" on the guidelines.
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.