Delta Air Lines will impose a vaccination requirement on new employees. On the other hand, old employees do not have to get the COVID vaccine. Delta currently has approximately 74,000 employees and 60% are vaccinated.
Other airlines including American, United, Southwest, and Alaska airlines haven’t announced their plans to have a vaccination requirement for both new employees and current employees. However, American has encouraged its employees to get vaccinated. American Airlines incentivized them by giving them an extra vacation day and a $50 gift card.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already allows fully vaccinated individuals to remove their masks. However, this doesn’t apply in all situations. Passengers and crew on both planes and trains will still have to cover their faces.
Unvaccinated Employees Can’t Work Overseas
According to Delta CEO Ed Bastian, old employees are not going to be required to get the vaccine. However, there is a catch. Unvaccinated employees will not have the chance to work on international flights since foreign governments will most likely require vaccination. According to Delta, their new policy on required vaccination will protect passengers and other employees.
Domestic travel is slowly making a comeback. More people are confident to travel again, while airlines are preparing to accommodate the increased travel demand. Some airlines want furloughed staff to come back while others are acquiring new planes.
Though domestic travel has picked up, international travel is still a long way to go. Americans still have limited options where they can travel. The US State Department still wants Americans to stay away from the majority of the countries around the world. The US also didn’t make it to the UK’s green list. Plus, the EU also didn’t include the US in its green list either. However, vaccinated Americans can travel to Europe.
Delta has a vaccination center in Atlanta located in its Flight Museum. It is the largest vaccination center in the state of Georgia.