Alaska Airlines Considering Covid Vaccine Mandates For Staff

Alaska Airlines told staff on Wednesday that it plans to make Covid-19 vaccines mandatory for employees, according to a memo, which was seen by CNBC.

The policy change would make the Seattle-based carrier the last airline to require vaccines for its employees. United Airlines on Friday became the first major U.S. carrier to impose vaccines on its staff. Frontier Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines have since issued similar requirements

Alaska, which has about 20,000 employees, said if it made vaccines mandatory, it would do so after the Food and Drug Administration gave full approval to one of the vaccines currently available under emergency approval.

Airlines executives recently raised concerns about the fast-spreading delta variant of Covid. Earlier Wednesday, Southwest Airlines lowered its revenue and profit outlook, attributing the spread of the variant to lower bookings and an increase in cancellations.

Delta, Southwest and American have encouraged but not required that employees be vaccinated.

“As an employer with a duty to protect you and given the contagiousness and health risks of the COVID-19 virus and its variants, we are entitled to make this decision and ask you for information about your immunization status, ”Alaska told employees. He said there would be exceptions for religious or medical reasons, similar to the policies of other companies. “