Originally Posted by
bennos
I'm not so sure about this. Given DL's pandemic focus has been on advertising a clean and safe travel environment, I could see DL and some of the other majors requiring proof of vaccination provided (1) the requirement could reasonably pass legal review and (2) vaccines are widely available such that anybody who wants one can get one without fighting for an appointment. That said, by the time we're there it's plausible that the infection rates could have already dramatically dropped sufficiently to make such a requirement mostly pointless.
Exactly the last point. By the time vaccines are sufficiently widespread (summer), case loads will (hopefully) be very low. By the time an airline could "reasonably require" vaccination, it will be a moot point because we will already be at herd immunity. The only way this doesn't happen is if there are enough crazies out there who resist vaccination and prolong this mess.
Point is, given the
relatively low risk of transmission on a plane (although it's not as low as airlines like to advertise) and likely case loads by summer, airlines would be silly to get in the vaccination fray. Not worth the squeeze.