Southwest Airlines announced its new COVID19 vaccine incentives for employees on Wednesday. It is Southwest’s latest strategy to improve their vaccination rate. According to the airline’s memo, employees who will complete their vaccination by mid-November will get 16 hours extra pay.
Southwest announced that, “If you have not been vaccinated and choose to do so, this timeline gives you enough time to receive both rounds of a two-series vaccine or the single-dose vaccine”.
However, Southwest informed its staff that the new COVID19 vaccine incentives are “unrelated” to President Joe Biden’s recent measures. President Joe Biden announced that companies with more than 100 employees should require COVID vaccination on their employees. But with regards to the federal government’s announcement, Southwest announced last week that it was ready to comply with the rules.
Other carriers such as Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and United Airlines already offered COVID19 incentives for their employees.
COVID19 Incentives and Other Approaches by Airlines
Airlines had different strategies to encourage vaccination among employees. United Airlines announced a vaccine requirement on their US workforce. Those who will receive religious exemptions will have to take temporary unpaid leave.
Delta, on the other hand, wants unvaccinated employees to pay an additional $200 a month for their health insurance starting November. And for American and Alaska, both carriers announced ending pay protection for their unvaccinated workers.
After Delta announced to penalize their unvaccinated employees, the carrier’s vaccination rate jumped from 74% to 78%.
Fauci Supports Vaccine Mandate for Air Travelers
This week, infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci expressed his support for a vaccine mandate on air travelers. He said that “I would support that if you want to get on a plane and travel with other people that you should be vaccinated”.
It is common for international travelers to show proof of vaccination to skip quarantine. On the other hand, domestic travelers can board flights without showing proof of vaccination.
According to the White House COVID19 response team coordinator Jeff Zients, nothing is off the table. Even if there is no vaccine mandate on domestic travelers yet, the Biden administration announced stricter implementation of COVID protocols on planes. The government announced to double the fines on passengers refusing to follow the mask mandate on planes
