Southwest Airlines on Monday said it will follow federal rules and mandate that all 56,000 of its workers be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.
The Dallas-based carrier joins United, Frontier, American, JetBlue and Alaska as domestic carriers to mandate its employees receive the vaccine. That leaves just Delta as the only major U.S. carrier yet to enforce a vaccine on its staff.
The Biden administration last month said that any business that serves as a federal contractor must have its employees vaccinated unless they are granted a religious or medical exemption.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian said 84 percent of its employees are already vaccinated, so he is unsure if he will implement a mandate. Delta is a federal contractor.
"Delta's own approach to encourage a high rate of employee vaccinations continues to work, with an 84% workforce vaccination rate and climbing daily," the airline said in a statement.
The new federal guidelines for government contractors are stricter than those in President Joe Biden's plan to increase vaccinations among companies with more than 100 employees by requiring inoculations or regular Covid testing, according to CNBC.
"Southwest Airlines is a federal contractor and we have no viable choice but to comply with the U.S. government mandate for Employees to be vaccinated, and - like other airlines - we're taking steps to comply," Gary Kelly, CEO of the Dallas-based airline, told staff on Monday.
Pilots unions at American and Southwest have strongly opposed vaccine mandates, saying aviators are concerned about side effects from vaccines.
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