Ahead Of Vaccine Mandate Deadline, United Airlines Says 97 per cent of Employees In US Fully Vaccinated

Kathleen Kinder
Kathleen Kinder

Updated · Sep 24, 2021

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United Airlines has said that over 97 per cent of its employees in the United States are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus disease. The announcement comes when only few days are left for the deadline to get Covid-19 jabs or get fired. The airline has clarified that the latest figure does not include a ‘small group’ of employees. These employees have sought exemption from vaccination on religious or medical grounds. “The airline is likely to start the separation process by September 28. The good news is that more and more employees are getting vaccinated on priority. They are also uploading their vaccination records,” United Airlines spokesperson Leslie Scott said. The airline had said in August that around 90 per cent of its pilots were vaccinated. Without giving any specific figure for all employees in America at that time, the company also said that 80 per cent of its flight attendants were also vaccinated.

The employees of the airline are getting vaccinated on priority after United announced a vaccine mandate for all of its US-based workers last month. The airline has around 67,000 workers in the country. It must be noted that no other airline has issued any such mandate. But all of them have said that employees would be required to get vaccinated and more guidance would be announced soon. Other airlines have allowed unvaccinated staff to take weekly Covid-19 tests as an alternative. But United Airlines has no such provision for its employees. “We know that it was a difficult decision for some of our employees to get vaccinated. But we are encouraged by the kind of support and appreciation we have so far got from our employees,” the airline said in an update. “It is also a fact that we will be safe when everyone one of us is vaccinated against Covid-19. And vaccine requirements work,” the company said in a memo.

Meanwhile, the airline has been sued by some employees. They claimed that United is discriminating against employees who are exempted from the vaccine mandate. The case has been filed in federal district court in Fort Worth, Texas by six employees of the airline. Lawyers for the employees alleged that their Plaintiffs were left with the choice of either taking jabs or lose their livelihoods. “The Plaintiffs will either have to take a tough decision of getting vaccinated at the expense of their health and religious beliefs or find another job,” the lawsuit said. The lawsuit said all six employees of the United were granted exemptions but told that they would be put on unpaid leave. While four of the employees had sought exemptions on religious grounds, one of them said she is allergic to penicillin and eggs and another said his neurologist recommended against vaccination as he has multiple sclerosis. Commenting on the lawsuit, a company spokesperson said that United is reviewing the complaint in great detail. “However, at this point, United thinks it has no merit at all.” The airline has made it clear that it will soon start termination proceedings against unvaccinated employees. United is among a few companies that have fixed a deadline for their employees to get vaccinated. This was done after the Biden administration issued an executive order asking employers with more than 100 employees to required vaccination or getting weekly tested for Covid-19.

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Kathleen Kinder

Kathleen Kinder

With over four years of experience in the research industry, Kathleen is generally engrossed in market consulting projects, catering primarily to domains such as ICT, Health & Pharma, and packaging. She is highly proficient in managing both B2C and B2B projects, with an emphasis on consumer preference analysis, key executive interviews, etc. When Kathleen isn’t deconstructing market performance trajectories, she can be found hanging out with her pet cat ‘Sniffles’.