The airlines are spinelessly softening their original demands that all employees be vaccinated

[Celerity]

Southwest and American Are Making a Dangerous Mandate Mistake

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-10-20/southwest-and-american-s-vaccine-mandates-won-t-work-unless-enforced

Covid-19 vaccine mandates are only as good as the people enforcing them. And it seems the executives running Southwest Airlines Co. and American Airlines Inc. could use more backbone. For inspiration, they can look to United Airlines Inc.’s managers, or to mayors, governors and college presidents around the country.

Last week, Southwest and American gamely pushed back against Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s effort to forbid companies headquartered in his state to impose mandates. Both airlines issued statements saying their first responsibility was to follow the Biden administration’s planned federal mandates. In the days since, however, the two Texas-based airlines have shown less gumption.

Link to tweet

American originally told employees they would have to be vaccinated or lose their jobs, and eventually imposed a Nov. 24 deadline. It invited employees with religious, medical or disability claims to apply for an exemption. But American’s flight attendants’ union said management recently indicated that employees who have applied for exemptions can keep working — a concession that weakens the mandate. Southwest first told its employees they had to be vaccinated by Dec. 8 to keep their jobs unless they received an exemption. Employees who applied for exemptions would be placed on unpaid leave while applications were reviewed. But more recently, Southwest told employees that anyone seeking an exemption would not be placed on leave — and encouraged them to apply. I imagine that might persuade many Southwest employees who are opposed to vaccination to take that advice and dodge the mandate.

Maybe this shouldn’t be surprising. Gary Kelly, Southwest’s chief executive officer, told CNBC last week he wasn’t fully behind this public health stuff. “I’ve never been in favor of corporations imposing that kind of a mandate,” he said. “I’m not in favor of that, never have been.” But he had federal guidelines to follow, he allowed. “My goal obviously is that no one loses their job. The objective here obviously is to improve health and safety, not for people to lose their jobs.”

snip

[JohnSJ]

1. If I need to fly I Will avoid any airline that does that bullshit

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. That's every airline with a union.

Who do you think is fighting the vaccination?

As I heard on the radio this morning, the union members are saying to the airlines, "you don't like that? Okay, fire us. You won't have an airline."

Pick your side.

[JohnSJ]

12. From what I understand Delta and United Airlines are enforcing the mandate, so there are

airlines who are doing it.

[RockRaven]

2. Of course they are... Hiring, training, etc costs money.

With the impotent enforcement mechanisms pervasive throughout every government agency captured by the corporations it is supposed to regulate, lying/bullshitting is obviously the tried and proven method. Until they have experiences which force them to behave otherwise...

[TexasTowelie]

3. The airlines based in Texas are caught in the crossfire.

I think that characterizing their dilemma and reaction to the conflicting mandates, as (split-infinitive aside) "spinelessly suffering" is melodramatic. Pushing numerous employees into unemployment prior to the busiest travel season of the year (Thanksgiving and Christmas) will not provide any positive press for the Biden administration. Everyone deserves due process so we'll have to be patient.

Furthermore, it does appear that Southwest is taking the situation seriously:

"The injunction that SWAPA {Southwest Airlines Pilots Association} seeks is extraordinary," Southwest said in a legal filing Saturday.

The airline argues that an approved injunction would "put SWA’s business, employees, and customers at risk because SWA would be forced to retract policies that implement basic CDC guidance and quarantine protocols." It also says the move would jeopardize its contracts with the federal government, its largest single customer, causing "substantial harm" for Southwest's business and all of its employees, including pilots represented by SWAPA.

The air carrier noted that the court does not have jurisdiction because the issue constitutes a "minor dispute" under the RLA that can be resolved through binding arbitration rather than a negotiation process that can take years to resolve. It also emphasized that the union has been in talks with SWAPA to establish a process for pilots to request religious or medical exemptions from the mandate./div]

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/southwest-pilots-union-vaccine-mandate
(my apologies for the source)

[Vinca]

5. So they'd rather be flying petri dishes. No thanks.

[tanyev]

6. I wonder how much pressure they're getting from Abbott, Patrick, Paxton, et al?

[bullwinkle428]

7. This was entirely predictable. Every single time we've seen the national

case rate begin to drop, there's a certain segment ridiculously eager to declare victory and move on, kind of like what Condoleeza Rice was attempting to do yesterday regarding 1/6.

[BeckyDem]

8. Of all the things to back down on?????

omg.

[uponit7771]

9. Unnnn, they.. LEGALLY ..have to make exceptions for religion no? They just have to protect their

... other employees by requiring frequent tests and that sounds fair

[Hortensis]

10. "The objective here obviously is to IMPROVE health and safety." Not PROTECT it.

Well, undoubtedly it will "improve" it. Hopefully, this will help make the case in court for victims of "improving" their chances of coming through without harm.

[lark]

11. Part of the reason I refuse to fly these days.

Until the airlines pull their heads out of their asses & start actually protecting people by 100% enforcement of vaccine mandates/testing & masking, I will not fly. Life is too stressful for me to deal with any added stress at all and I can't risk infecting my immunocompromised sister. I am fully vaccinated, Moderna, and am just waiting for the approval to get through to one of the local pharmacies so I can get it scheduled!