August 23, 2021
by Dingzi
A number of airlines are making it mandatory for their employees to be fully vaccinated. It is only to be expected as a prelude to the next step of requiring their passengers to be vaccinated as well before they are allowed to board.
If airlines want to protect their crew from possible infection by un-vaccinated travellers, surely flyers too want to be assured they are similarly protected being served by vaccinated flight attendants. The impression conveyed thus far seems one-sided and needs to be corrected.
Courtesy Getty Images
Qantas, an early proponent of vaccination, wants its pilots, cabin crew and airport workers to be fully vaccinated by mid-November, and all other employees by March next year. It previously said it would require all international passengers to be vaccinated once Australia opens its borders. It is also considering a similar requirement for domestic travel.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said, “It’s clear that vaccinations are the only way to end the cycle of lockdowns and border closures.”
Perhaps aware of possible dispute by labour unions and some individual employees who may argue that the regulation is an infringement of a person’s right, rival Virgin Australia is not ready to follow suit. But the airline will have to ask themselves if they will lose market share as a consequence.
Qantas has said vaccination as a way to check the spread of the Covid-19 virus will help in the industry’s recovery, which will in turn mean staff can keep their jobs and return to work sooner. But it will exempt those who for medical reasons are unable to get vaccinated.
This should send a clear message to workers as to where they stand in the event that jobs need to be trimmed. Fortunately Qantas seems to be in good stead, as a poll shows only about four per cent of employees are either unwilling or unable to get vaccinated. Still, industrial disputes can be disruptive and damaging even if it involves a small segment of the employment base.
Cathay Pacific for one is taking the tough line, informing all its Hong Kong-based pilots and flight attendants to be vaccinated by August 31 or risk losing their jobs.
Courtesy Wikimedia Commons/Flickr
In Singapore, Jetstar Asia which is 49 per cent owned by the Qantas Group, became the first carrier to require its employees to be fully vaccinated. It has set October 15 as the deadline. Chief executive Bara Pasupathi said the move would help Singapore open up to international travel. Almost all of its 500 employees have been vaccinated.
Jetstar Asia has the support of the Ministry of Manpower, National Trades Union Congress and National Employers Federation who in an advisory stated that it is acceptable for employers to require Covid-19 vaccination as a company policy in higher risk employment settings. The airline industry is generally considered to be one with high exposure to the virus.
Singapore Airlines (including Scoot) has since followed in the footsteps of Jetstar Asia, setting an earlier target of September 1. The airline said 99 per cent of active pilots and cabin crew had already been vaccinated.
While not all Asian airlines are specifically mandating vaccination for its workers, most of them are already reporting high vaccination take-up rates above 90 per cent. These include Malaysia Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, China Airlines and EVA Air.
In the Middle East, Etihad Airways became the first Gulf airline to have fully-vaccinated crew while Emirates Airlines said its crew could get vaccinated free-of-charge or pay for regular testing themselves.
Europe is quiet on the matter.
Courtesy United Airlines
In the United States, United Airlines became the first airline to require domestic employees to get vaccinated, followed by Hawaii Airlines. Frontier Airlines is targeting an October 1 deadline, or employees will have to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test “on a regular basis”.
However, other US carriers are sitting on the sidelines. Most said they would encourage their crews to get vaccinated but stop short of making it mandatory. American Airlines even offers an incentive of a day off and a cash reward of US$50. Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly said he would not make it a requirement.
While Delta Air Lines requires all newly recruited members to be vaccinated, the rule has yet to apply to existing staff. CEO Ed Bastian said, “It’s very difficult for us to come in and mandate a vaccine that isn’t even federally approved yet – the authorization hasn’t been final yet.”
If at all the industry is trending towards mandatory vaccination for airline employees, it may still be a long, hard way to go. Generally, all it takes is for a few major airlines to take the lead, and others will follow suit. But the Covid-19 pandemic has defied a global solution that even as the world recognizes the need to join hands, countries and business entities are adopting different approaches to the problem.
Granted that different parts of the world are affected differently by degree, it is a challenge that goes beyond medical medical considerations, influenced no less by economic, social and political issues.
A big part of the problem is how the Covid-19 virus continues to defy definition with no end in sight of its decimation from the face of the earth. Airlines need their governments to support their policies as much as they have lived with border and travel restrictions imposed by the authorities. It is a common goal towards recovery of the industry.
But with no end of the pandemic in sight, acceptance if not resignation may take sway. Live with it, sort of. This may undermine the effort to get the world population vaccinated, and new infections reported of vaccinated people are not helping to convince doubters. Although it is shown that the risk of infection is lower with vaccination, continuing new findings in research of the disease are also causing some of them to hesitate.
Travellers rushing willy-nilly to book seats to satisfy pent-up hunger whenever limited travel restrictions are eased are not helping airlines to push mandatory vaccination as a condition of employment. Many uncommitted airlines know very well that few are the customers who care to know if they are being served by a fully vaccinated crew. So, coming round full circle, it is up to the airlines to convince their employees that getting vaccinated is really for their sake and not that of passengers.
Airlines and Airports 