American Airlines Takes Different Approach to Employee Vaccine Requirements

American Airlines does not yet require its employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus – although it “strongly encourages” them to do so, going so far as to offer rewards to those who receive the vaccine.

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Vaccinated team members will not only have “an extra day off in 2022,” but they will receive $ 50 through the company’s employee recognition platform, an American Airlines spokesperson told FOX Business.

US CEO Doug Parker previously told The New York Times he favors incentives, “but we’re not putting mandates in place.”

People check-in at the American Airlines counter at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on July 16, 2020 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images / Getty Images)

The airline is part of a growing list of companies urging its employees to get vaccinated, especially as concerns about the delta variant of COVID-19 – which is fueling a wave of infections – increase.

UNITED AIRLINES REQUIRING ALL EMPLOYEES TO BE IMMUNIZED

To fight the tide, some of America’s competitors have already started to impose vaccines on its employees as recently as last week.

United Airlines was the first major airline to announce that it will require its employees in the United States to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of October. Frontier Airlines has followed suit, saying it will require employees to be fully vaccinated by October 1 or undergo “regular” testing for the virus.

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Since the highly contagious delta variant became the main strain of COVID-19 in the United States, most airlines have said it has not affected ticket sales.

However, airlines and other businesses in the travel industry have been particularly devastated by the pandemic, resulting in lockdown orders and travel restrictions around the world.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.