A traveler wearing a protective mask speaks with an assistant in the Southwest Airlines check-in area at Oakland International Airport in Oakland, California, USA on Tuesday, January 19, 2021.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Southwest Airlines on Wednesday introduced new incentives to vaccinate staff against Covid-19, following similar policies that other airlines implemented earlier this year.
The Dallas-based carrier said it will offer additional pay to staff who demonstrate full vaccination in mid-November, according to a note from the company, which was reviewed by CNBC.
Employees who load their vaccination cards at the company by the end of Nov. 15 will receive 16 hours of pay, though flight attendants and pilots will receive compensation for 13 travel segments, the company said.
Southwest told staff that its new policies are not “related” to the major measures President Joe Biden announced last week to increase vaccines against Covid-19. However, Southwest last week said it was “ready to move towards compliance” with the upcoming rules. Biden has called on the Department of Labor to force Covid inoculations into companies with more than 100 employees.
“If you haven’t been vaccinated and decide to do so, this timeline gives you enough time to receive both rounds of a two-series vaccine or the single-dose vaccine,” Southwest wrote to staff.
Southwest will also restrict quarantine protections from covid infections to vaccinated personnel, effective Nov. 16. However, those unvaccinated employees can still use their own sick time.
The airline’s new policies come months after airlines such as Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines offered incentives as an additional pay to encourage staff to get vaccinated.
The recovery of airlines is closely linked to a decline in Covid cases, a loosening of travel restrictions and the resumption of business travel.
Carriers have adopted different methods to vaccinate staff. United has demanded the vaccination of its U.S. workforce of about 67,000 people and has said it will put staff receiving religious exemptions on unpaid temporary leave. Delta, meanwhile, plans to charge unvaccinated employees an additional $ 200 a month for the company’s health insurance starting in November.
American and Alaska Airlines announced earlier this month that they would end pay protections for unvaccinated workers.