Delta And United Airlines Won't Hire Unvaccinated Workers

Delta and United Airlines will both require all new employees to get vaccinated for COVID-19

At a certain point you have to ask, do anti-vaxxers enjoy not doing things? As the world adjusts to the post-COVID-19 vaccine reality, employers, schools, airlines, and events are all making decisions on whether or not to require COVID-19 vaccines for entry or employment. The latest update is that Delta and United Airlines will both require all prospective employees to get the jab if they want a job starting next week.

“As we welcome new employees to the company, it’s important we instill in them United’s strong commitment to safety. As part of this commitment, effective for all job offers made after June 15, 2021, we will require any external candidates for U.S.-based jobs to attest that they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by their start date,” United said in a statement.

New United hires will be asked to upload their vaccine cards into the company’s internal system within a week of being hired.

However, according to an internal memo, United has not specifically stated that current employees need to be vaccinated, but if any employees have to fly internationally to do their job, they will need to provide proof of vaccination. Also, last week, the airline said it would give vaccinated flight attendants up to three additional days of vacation as an incentive to get the jab.

Last month Delta also said that all new hires would need to be vaccinated and that while they aren’t forcing current employees to get vaccinated, they were considering barring current employees from working on international flights if they don’t get a vaccine. This seems pretty inevitable seeing as some European countries only allow vaccinated Americans to enter.

“Any person joining Delta in the future, a future employee, we’re going to mandate they be vaccinated before they can sign up with the company,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian told CNN last month.

However, United did say it may accommodate those who are unable to be vaccinated due to “medical or religious reasons,” and we all know that anti-vaxxers love to use the “religious reasons” loophole **insert eye roll here**. Though the anti-vax crowd does tend to overlap with the anti-woke crowd, who love to boycott companies that they don’t “agree” with, so I could see an entire swath of anti-vaxxers just full-stop boycotting Delta and United over their vaccination policy, and honestly, be my guest. Also, United can just as easily not hire someone who won’t get vaccinated. So there’s that, too.

For those flying with Delta or United, it’s nice to know which airlines actually care about the health of their guests and employees. I know what airlines I’m flying now.