Other US airlines decide to have vaccinations

Under pressure from the US government, other US airlines have obliged their employees to have corona vaccinations. The "New York Times" and the "Wall Street Journal", among others, report that American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and Jet Blue require their staff to be vaccinated at the weekend and have sent out corresponding circulars to the workforce. US President Joe Biden has ordered that from December 8, only companies with vaccinated employees will receive government contracts. Several airlines believe they fall under this rule. United Airlines was the first airline to require the corona vaccination for all employees. More than 96 percent met the requirement, almost 600 employees refused and should be fired. According to the "Wall Street Journal", around half turned in. The state-owned New Zealand airline Air New Zealand goes one step further and extends the vaccination requirement to travelers. From February onwards, only fully vaccinated passengers will be allowed on international flights. "The compulsory vaccination on our international flights gives both customers and employees the certainty that everyone on board meets the same health requirements," said CEO Greg Foran. The vaccination against Covid-19 is "the new reality for international travel". Lufthansa also wants to have its flight crew fully vaccinated against corona. Otherwise, stable, global flight operations will no longer be feasible in the future, they say. Individual countries would already require the vaccination for pilots, flight attendants, and others will follow. "As an airline that operates worldwide, we advocate mandatory vaccination for our crews and also need a way to record vaccination data," emphasized Lufthansa Executive Board member Detlef Kayser in "Bild am Sonntag". Unlike its Swiss subsidiary Swiss, Lufthansa is not allowed to impose any vaccination requirements. Swiss announced the rule for crews in August. Cabin crew who are not fully vaccinated by December 1st should be discharged. For decades, the proof of other vaccinations against yellow fever for Lufthansa crews in long-haul operations has been common in order to meet the entry requirements of many countries, according to Lufthansa. For deployment planning, it must at least be possible to request and record the Covid vaccination data from crews. In order to achieve the highest possible vaccination quota even without being required to do so, she works with the staff representatives on appropriate agreements. A spokesman said on request on Sunday: "We are in an exchange with the co-determination bodies to find a solution."