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Delta and United Won’t Add New Workers Without Vaccinations

United Delta Bill Abbott Flickr

Two airlines now say they won’t hire new employees unless they have taken the COVID-19 vaccine. Both Delta Air Lines and United Airlines say workers joining the company must have received their shots, with proof of their vaccination card.

If you are planning on applying for a job with either Delta Air Lines or United Airlines, expect to get another qualification prepared with your resume and interview answers: Your COVID-19 vaccine. CBS News reports both carriers are requiring all new hires get the shot before reporting to work.

Delta Adds Requirement in May; United Starts for Offers After June 15

Delta was the first major U.S.-based carrier to announce they would require new employees to get vaccinated prior to reporting for work on Friday, May 14, 2021. With a reported 60 percent of the current workforce inoculated against the novel Coronavirus, the Atlanta-based carrier said that vaccines would be key to getting international travel restarted.

“The vaccines are not only extremely effective in preventing illness and symptoms from COVID-19, but they are also nearly 100 percent effective in preventing hospitalization and death,” the airline said in a statement. “Vaccines are safe, effective and essential to the future of the airline and our world.”

United announced they would take the same stance on Monday, June 7, 2021. For all new hires who receive an offer after June 15, they must be fully vaccinated against the virus prior to their start date. Employees will need to provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccine card within seven days of reporting for work.

The move was publicly debated for months by airline president Scott Kirby. On at least two occasions, the executive said that he would consider making vaccines mandatory for his workforce but stopped short of announcing United as the policy pioneer.

Delta and United May Stand Alone in Demanding Vaccinations

With both airlines adopting a mandatory requirement for vaccinations, other carriers say they will not follow the trend. In a statement to CBS News, American Airlines said they are “strongly encouraging” their employees to get the shots, but will not make them a requirement unless it’s necessary to arrive at certain destinations.

7 Comments
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Transpacificflyer June 12, 2021

Vaccinated people can still be carriers and infect others. The current data suggests that in vaccinated people the vaccine only stops transmission in 40-60% of cases. Depends on the vaccine too. not everyone was dosed with an mRNA vaccine. With the new variants, the data is may change. The benefit of vaccination is that it will reduce the likelihood of serious illness This reduces the potential for health plan medical costs and benefits all employees as well as the employer. It is not unusual for some Covid serious care patients to incur $100,000+ medical bills. An airline cannot afford to have customer facing personnel at risk of serious illness. Nor is it fair to responsible employees who have made the effort to protect themselves and the small number of people who are unable to be vaccinated for medical reasons.

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bozacksmith June 9, 2021

their business their right but since when is this even solving the problem for the paranoid? Most of the nurses my wife works with that are testing positive again and having to quarantine from their shifts are all vaccinated............

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EdV June 9, 2021

This is fantastic news and more need to adopt this.

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fletchbo June 8, 2021

Hygiene theater continues. Fauci even admitted he wore masks for months just for "optics", after lying to Congress to the fact they work. Now it's CDC ego that can not let go of science fiction. NO RCTs support masks; just guess work.

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MRM June 8, 2021

I'm not here often, but in this case I'm very much in Delta's and United's corner. They have a right to hire who they want - and I can't wait for the "muh rights" crowd start screaming discrimination.