Regional airlines do not yet require snapshots

Major US airlines are increasingly requiring Covid-19 vaccines on their employees. Some of the regional carriers that fly under their names haven’t, at least not yet.

Big airlines like United, American and Delta contract out to smaller carriers to operate shorter routes in their networks, whose tickets are sold on the larger carrier’s website and on other platforms. Some of these smaller airlines are wholly owned subsidiaries like American’s Envoy and Delta’s Endeavor Air, while others, like SkyWest and Mesa Air Group, are independent.

Representatives from Mesa, Envoy, SkyWest and contractor United CommutAir said they have yet to issue requirements for employees, but are assessing whether federal requirements will force them to impose vaccines on staff. .

The Biden administration said last month that federal contractors must ensure their staff are vaccinated against Covid by December 8. President Joe Biden also said companies with more than 100 employees will need to enforce a vaccination mandate for all staff, or regularly test those who are not. Regional carriers would at least fall into the second category.

“It’s somewhat murky,” said Jonathan Ornstein, CEO of Mesa Air Group, which flies for American and United, of what will be required of regional airlines. Executives at the Phoenix-based airline are waiting for more clarity on the rules from federal officials, lawyers and airline customers, but the carrier will comply with federal mandates, he said.

Ornstein said he feared losing workers if the company with more than 3,000 employees demanded staff vaccinations without a federal mandate that would force competitors to do the same.

“I am afraid that if, in the hypothesis, we were to impose a vaccination and that there were other employment opportunities which did not require the vaccines [some employees] would leave, “he said.

American, Alaska, JetBlue and Southwest have each told staff over the past week that they need to be vaccinated to comply with federal contractor rules. Previously, these airlines encouraged staff to be vaccinated but did not require it. United implemented its own vaccination mandate in August and said more than 96% of its 67,000 U.S. employees are vaccinated after the deadline passed last week. The Chicago-based airline said it was encouraging its contractors to impose vaccines as well.

These major airlines are federal contractors, providing services such as cargo flights or tickets for government employees, among other services. Southwest does not use third party regional airlines.

Regional airlines operate some of these flights under the City Pair program, which sets prices for federal workers to some 12,000 markets. For example, a search for a Delta flight from Lehigh Valley International Airport to Detroit showed an option operated by Endeavor Air. A United flight from California Redwood Coast – Humboldt County Airport to Los Angeles showed one operated by SkyWest. The US General Services Administration, which administers the City Pair Program, did not respond to a request for comment.

A recent daily schedule showed that approximately 54% of United’s more than 4,000 departures were operated by regional flights, 40% of Delta’s approximately 4,100 daily flights were operated by regional carriers that fly for Delta Connection and that ‘They operated 52% of the flights on American’s schedule. , although the amounts fluctuate. Their share of overall capacity may be lower – just under 15% for United last year – as major carriers operate longer flights.

“A critical mass of US airline flights are operated by third parties who have their own standards and ways of doing business, including their approach to vaccinations,” said Henry Harteveldt, founder of the consulting firm in the travel industry Atmosphere Research Group.

Atlanta-based Delta does not currently mandate vaccines for its staff of around 80,000 people. He says more than 80% of them are vaccinated. In November, it will begin billing unvaccinated employees an additional $ 200 per month for the company’s health insurance. The supplement does not apply to Endeavor.

On Wednesday evening, American Airlines asked its staff of 100,000 to upload proof of vaccination by November 24 and that failure to do so “would result in the termination of the company.”

This only applies to employees of its major airlines, not to its regional carriers. Envoy, one of those carriers, said it is still reviewing the guidelines.

It is not known how many regional airline employees are vaccinated, but Harteveldt said the longer they wait “the harder it must be” to comply with a warrant.

United laid the groundwork for its vaccine tenure for months before its announcement. He has also worked with unions to establish vaccine incentives, ensure they have access to vaccines and policies for people who need medical exemptions.

“United worked very collaboratively with their unions, but the process took months,” said Harteveldt. “It wasn’t an hour-long Zoom call.”