American Airlines to Unvaccinated Workers: No Special Leave for Quarantining If You Get Covid

American Airlines said on Friday it would not provide special leave from next month to unvaccinated employees who have to quarantine due to COVID-19.

Unvaccinated workers will have to use their sick time or medical leave if they miss work due to the disease, it said.

“Given there is an FDA-approved vaccine, pandemic leave will only be offered to team members who are fully vaccinated and who provide their vaccination card to us,” the carrier said in a memo to staff seen by Reuters.

The move comes after United Airlines Inc last month became the first U.S. carrier to require vaccinations for all domestic employees.

Separately, Alaska Air said on Friday that it had stopped special pay for unvaccinated employee absences due to COVID-19 infection or exposure to a suspect.

The airline has mandated vaccination for all new hires and will pay $200 to employees who provide proof of vaccination.

(Reporting by Shreyasee Raj in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)

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