TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — United Airlines plans to immediately terminate up to 593 employees who chose not to get vaccinated under the airline’s mandate.
United says more than 99% of its employees chose to get vaccinated.
Roughly 2000 employees sought a medical or religious exemption, but the airline says because of on-going litigation they will not reveal how many employees were granted exemptions.
United says anyone who applied for an exemption will still be allowed to go to work until a final decision is made on how to handle their cases. They expect a decision by October 15.
"For the less than 1% of people who decided to not get vaccinated, we’ll unfortunately begin the process of separation from the airline per our policy. This was an incredibly difficult decision but keeping our team safe has always been our first priority. The pandemic is now killing more than 2,000 people per day - a 65% increase in just the past 30 days – and the most effective way to keep our people safe, is to make sure they’re vaccinated.
We have no greater responsibility than to ensure everyone’s safety at work. And now that nearly all of our U.S. employees are vaccinated, we take another important step forward as we emerge from the pandemic as a better, stronger United Airlines."
-United Airlines
Previously, United said anyone who was granted an exemption would be put on indefinite unpaid leave.
For those who submitted for a medical or religious accommodation, we have extended the deadline for implementing the accommodations in light of a pending court case.
-United Airlines
At least seven United employees are suing the company over the vaccine mandate in Texas and Colorado.
