American Airlines said Thursday in a statement that unvaccinated personnel should use their own sick days if they detect the coronavirus, ending the special pandemic drop for the company’s demographics.
The statement given to staff details the policy change that will take effect in early October.
Previously, an employee who became ill with the virus had a special pandemic leave and did not have to use sick time to take days off.
The policy is still in place for fully vaccinated employees, but not for unvaccinated people.
“Given that there is an FDA-approved vaccine, only pandemic leave will be offered to fully vaccinated team members and they provide us with their vaccination card,” the airline stated.
The company also warned that while the coronavirus vaccine is not yet mandatory, it could be in the future if the virus continues to mutate.
The move comes the same day Alaska Airlines announced new rules for unvaccinated people, which restrict them to the special payment of COVID-19 if they lose their job.
“We will also require all unvaccinated employees to participate in a vaccine education program and we will have to stop paying the special COVID for absences of unvaccinated employees due to exposure or infection. All new contracts, effective immediately, must be vaccinated before being contracted to Alaska Airlines or Horizon Air, “the statement said.
Vaccinated Alaska Airlines employees will receive a $ 200 payment.
Companies across the country instituted a mask warrant after the Federal Drug Administration fully approved the Pfizer vaccine, but some companies, such as American Airlines, have made changes to their pandemic rules.
Airlines, following federal guidelines, still require all employees, regardless of vaccination status, to wear masks during work.
Updated: 9:31 PM