Hawaiian Airlines told U.S. staff on Monday that they will be required to be vaccinated against Covid-19, becoming the third major carrier to issue such a mandate in less than a week.
CEO Peter Ingram told employees that they must receive their second shot, if they are getting a two-dose vaccine, by Nov. 1, though there will be exceptions for medical or religious reasons, according to a staff memo reviewed by CNBC.
Last week, United Airlines became the country’s first major carrier to mandate vaccines, requiring that its 67,000-person U.S. workforce show proof of inoculation by Oct. 25 at the latest. Frontier Airlines also announced that it will require that its employees be vaccinated against Covid by Oct. 1 or that they are regularly tested.
“There is no greater demonstration of our values than ensuring the safety of others,” Ingram said. “Safety is the foundation of air travel, and it is ingrained throughout our operation and service. This is no different.”
Most other U.S. airlines have encouraged but not mandated that staff get vaccinated. However, Delta Air Lines in the spring said new hires would need to show proof of vaccination. United had followed suit several weeks later.
More than a dozen large U.S. companies have issued vaccine mandates for all or some of their employees in recent weeks, some executives citing concerns about the fast-spreading delta variant of Covid.
Source: Business - cnbc.com
