White House presses airlines to get employees vaccinated

Alaska Airlines and JetBlue are joining United Airlines in requiring employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, just as the Biden administration steps up pressure on major U.S. carriers to require the shots.

White House coronavirus adviser Jeffrey Zients talked to the CEOs of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines about vaccine mandates, according to three people familiar with the situation. They spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because the calls were private.

Airlines are large employers that fall under President Joe Biden’s sweeping order that companies with more than 100 workers require employees to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing for the virus.

They are also government contractors, and so could fall under a Dec. 8 deadline that contractors enforce vaccination requirements — without the testing option.

Alaska Airlines and JetBlue Airways said Friday they will require employees to be vaccinated as soon as Dec. 8 because they will be treated as federal contractors.

“This means employees may no longer opt-in for regular testing and masking in lieu of getting the vaccine,” Alaska Airlines said in a memo to employees.

Delta said it was still evaluating Biden’s order. The airline previously said it will require vaccination or weekly testing and impose surcharges on unvaccinated employees. That would meet the Biden test for large employers but not the stricter rules for federal contractors.

United Airlines took an early and tough stance to require vaccination. United said Thursday that 320 of its 67,000 U.S. employees face termination for not getting vaccinated or seeking a medical or religious exemption by a deadline earlier this week.

American and Southwest say they are studying Biden’s order. Both are under pressure from their pilot groups not to require vaccinations but to instead offer options including testing.

The White House adviser’s calls with airline CEOs were reported earlier by Reuters.

At least two members of Congress — Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va. — have proposed requiring that passengers on domestic flights be vaccinated or show proof of a negative test for COVID-19 before they fly.

Anthony Fauci, the government’s top expert on infectious disease, supports that approach for domestic flights, and travelers entering the country must present a negative test before boarding. The Biden administration has not ruled out the idea, which the airlines oppose strongly.