Senior Biden official has held calls with airline executives to push for vaccine warrants for employees

Administration officials “expressed their gratitude to airline executives for their commitment and actions to meet these demands as quickly as they did,” the source added. Federal employer tenure rules announced by Biden last month covered most businesses with 100 or more employees and gave workers a choice between vaccination or weekly Covid testing.

Reuters first reported on Friday that Zients had spoken to executives at American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines, urging them to implement vaccination warrants for their employees before the next administrative deadlines. Over the weekend, American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and JetBlue announced they were joining United Airlines in demanding vaccines for employees, and Southwest Airlines joined them on Monday. Airlines cited the U.S. government requirement that federal contractors be vaccinated as the primary reason for the warrant, and don’t offer the option of regular testing instead.

Delta Air Lines remains the biggest recalcitrant.

United Airlines announced last week that only 593 of its workers were at risk of being made redundant for failing to meet the Covid-19 vaccine requirement, less than 1% of its 67,000 U.S. workers who are covered by the rule. About 2,000 other employees, or less than 3% of the workforce, have requested medical or religious exemptions from the vaccine, and their cases are being reviewed by the airline.

Support for employer mandates has grown as Covid-19 cases and deaths have increased this summer, mostly among those unvaccinated. A CNN poll in August showed that 54% of employers supported vaccine mandates, down from just 46% in April.

This story has been updated with additional information.