Hawaiian Airlines just became the third US airline to require that all staff be vaccinated against Covid-19. The mandate will be effective November 1.
CEO Peter Ingram said that there would be exceptions for medical or religious reasons.”There is no greater demonstration of our values than ensuring the safety of others. Safety is the foundation of air travel, and it is ingrained throughout our operation and service. This is no different.”
Timing of the mandate is similar to United Airlines.
UAL said last Friday that vaccination is “incredibly compelling” and that it will require its entire 67K employees to be vaccinated by October 25. They may even move that date closer. Then, Frontier became the second airline on Friday, and today, Hawaiian became the third. The remaining US airlines may well follow suit. United acknowledged that “some of you will disagree with this decision to require the vaccine for all United employees,” according to CEO Scott Kirby. United had already required new hires to be vaccinated since June.
Full vaccine approval and airline vaccination mandates are closely tied.
Timing of the implementation of these mandates appears to be in concert with expected upcoming full approval from FDA for one or more of the vaccines. United said that the mandate would take effect five weeks after full approval, which may be sooner than October 25. The airlines will also require proof of vaccination rather than accepting employees’ word for it.
At United, employees who are already vaccinated or become vaccinated by September 20 will receive a bonus of an extra day of pay.
Thus far, American, Delta, and Southwest have not ordered employees to be vaccinated. Delta, however, already requires that new hires be vaccinated. Once the vaccines have full FDA approval, the mandates could well be industry-wide.
Delta variant impacting forward Hawaii travel reservations.
Travel has been on a tear for nearly six months. However, that appears to be taking somewhat of a pause due to the highly contagious Delta variant. We’ll see how that plays out in the coming weeks, which will be largely dependent on whether the Delta variant peaks and then declines soon or does not.
Question: Do airline vacation mandates influence your choice of carriers to Hawaii?
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Delta, Southwest, & American came out with a statement saying they will not require employees to get the vaccine. I’m not against vaccines but I am against forcing people to. My grandparents came to the US from France and experienced horrible things during the war. They constantly warn our family about what they are seeing here in the USA. As Dr Redfield said in an interview several days ago, this virus was created in a lab & unfortunately it is not behaving like previous SARS viruses. Just look at Iceland, where 90% of men & 96% of women are vaccinated. Yet they are seeing spiking rates of reinfection that are overwhelming their health system. news.com.au/world/coronavirus/global/iceland-deals-with-growing-delta-outbreak-as-high-vaccination-rates-stop-deaths/news-story/b970a814615715e573d67b3a1c1525f0
No, I’d prefer all the passengers be vaccinated! Honestly, have little or no contact with airline employees or flight attendants
Aloha guys!! Thank you for bringing this information to light.
Being that I have 3 family members that cannot be vaccinated, it only makes me happier that Hawaiian Airline is going ahead and having it’s employees vaccinate.
I know this is a hot button topic so I applaud you for bringing it up.
The science will be complete when the FDA gives it’s blessing to the vaccine.
I honestly believe that people are inherently good hearted and can only have other’s in mind by being vaccinated. This whole Covid mess has been something that I think we could have all lived happily forever without, but since it’s here, the piper must be paid. I’m happy to do whatever it takes to protect others. I want our beautiful islands open to Ohana and visitors as soon as possible.
You guys are the best!!! Mahalo for your kindness and reporting. We here love you there so much 💟
Stay safe and keep that news coming.
Aloha nui oi.
💕💕💕💕💕💕
Hi Pam.
Thank you! We were both wondering where you were – hadn’t heard from you in a bit. You mean a lot to us, obviously.
Aloha.
The Us Supreme Court held more than 100 years ago that vaccinations can be required when there is a public health emergency.
On my recent SWA flight from Dallas to San Jose, I had maybe 30 seconds of contact with SWA employees. That was “What kind of drink do you want” and “Do you want a bag of pretzels”. Their vaccination status meant nothing to me.
I’m not impressed with the self-righteous UAL vaccination mandate. How about UAL doing these three things for their customers. (1) Don’t make me sit on the tarmac for two hours while you fiddle with “mechanical problems”. (2) Don’t make my wife and I spend another 100 bucks for “Preferred Seats”instead of being crammed into seats in the back of a plane by a stinky restroom. (3) Don’t make me spend 75 bucks to store a couple of suitcases.
Feel Safe ? Thoughts-My brother in law runs a Hospital in OC, California. His sister runs an even bigger Hospital. Current hospitalizations are running 60% fully vaccinated/40% unvaccinated. The vaccinated are spreading Covid. My hubby co-worker’s wife is ER doc, they all had Covid already- Guess who has has Covid again? The whole family of fully vaxxed. Freedom of Bodily autonomy IS guaranteed under the US Constitution!..You can choose to FLY with an airline with fully vaxxed staff OR not. I personally know within hours of Covid vaccine 4 people who DIED, 4 young men who had HEART Attacks (& subsequent surgeries), 4 Dead Babies via miscarriage (4,6,7,7 months) and now one permanently blind in one-eye 19 year-old young man. The Covid injection is still in an “experimental trail stage” (EUA_Emergency Use only not FDA approved) & yeah you may feel “safe” on a plane with those participating in the experiment or again you may choose NOT to fly on said airline…I know what my dear friend, a Delta pilot and my family will do..
You are not telling the truth Nita, if you don’t want to get the vaccine for whatever
internet reason you want that’s your choice….but you should not be spreading misinformation about something that has saved countless thousands of lives.
Your post is not factual.
There are hundreds (if not thousands) of stories like this across the web, from not only the US, but across the world. It’s truly sad! 😢
Like the saying goes, if it’s on the internet it has to be true! 🙂
Nita, sorry, but pretty much everything you said is not true. Not sure where you’re getting your info, but these posts from armchair experts are exhausting. Pretty much every single trusted source is saying the same thing, that this is a surge of the unvaccinated. At least in terms of who’s getting hospitalized and/or dying. I was trying to just ignore them, but by leaving them out there they become a source for OTHER armchair experts, etc. It’s called confirmation bias, and it’s running rampant on social media. If anyone wants to know the truth, look at this: healthline.com/health-news/risks-of-the-delta-variant-for-vaccinated-vs-unvaccinated-people
BTW Joerg there was an article just now in the news about the many misinformation stories circulating about the vaccine. The 60/40 split one she used is a version of one that had it’s roots in England. It was a mistake and when the person that had been misquoted corrected it had already exploded on the internet.
Canada has surpassed us with vaccinations and the editorial on that said it can be attributed to one major difference between Canada and the U.S……they never politicized it. All the main political parties agreed that the well being of the citizens was far more important then trying to make political gains with any single voter base by stoking fear with conspiracy theories.
John W, yes I read that article about Canada as well. They have their own issues up there, but politicizing a public health emergency certainly isn’t one of them. They also said that Canada got a later start in vaccinating people, and STILL have passed us. And those are the nationwide numbers. In some of the states where the hospitals are filling up the vaccination rates are MUCH lower than the national average.
Very nice to know that Hawaiian has taken this extra step to protect their customers.
Everything they (or any airline) does to enhance passenger safety is a good thing. Isn’t amazing that some have a problem with that? Safety mandates are a very important part of the airline industry. If you want to be responsible for the lives of others you have to be responsible yourself.
I know a lot of HA employees, the have an exceptional employee group and I’m confident they will step up to the plate. There will be some outliers as their always is, but less so at Hawaiian, the vast majority will do what’s right.
Oh and by the way, they are not just protecting their passengers with this step, they are doing their part to protect Hawaii.
If you actually believe that the half dozen employees you may have direct contact with can’t spread the virus to you after being vaccinated, and is anything other than an insignificant step of protection, then you’re quite disillusioned. Especially when you have to spend a few hours (at least) wading through a sea of hundreds of customers, who may or may not have been tested or vaccinated; then, travel through at least 2 airports (likely more), at least 1 airplane to/from Hawaii. This step offers little to no protection to anyone. It’s a publicity move to appease the powers that be, and to make people like you “feel good” about it, Bud.
You take a risk, and it’s already a small one, with the protocols the airlines already have in place. It’s a risk You should be able to choose (or not), just like you should be able to choose to take the vaccine (or not).
Not quite sure how you think a vaccinated person can spread the virus as easily as an unvaccinated person but that really just goes to show you how many different perspectives are out there and some pretty unique ones are floating around. This will never be everyone thinking the same way and of course the internet has fueled some pretty crazy stuff. Bottom line is having vaccinated employees versus unvaccinated one’s clearly reduces the chance of spreading the virus, there is simply no rational argument against that.
If you work for an airline and are against getting vaccinated why not go work in a new field. Let’s be real airlines pay garbage and who wants to put up with the people they have to.
Kids working at In and out are getting $19 an hour. This will backfire on the airlines and we will see more cancellations and delays. What’s the point in vaccinating employees but not the passengers? They are all in a steel tube together breathing tha same air.
I’ll say this, I agree, that everyone on the airplane should be vaccinated. Note that the cruise lines are trying to do this and are being fought tooth and nail by the same people who don’t want to get the vaccine and now have a HUGE surge and hospitals filling up with unvaccinated people.
Thank you for this post and for keeping us informed of all the latest and ever changing requirements to visit Hawaii. We fly HAL on every trip to Hawaii and am relieved to know that the crew will all be vaccinated soon. Yes, this is America, yes, you have the right to not agree w/ the company policy. And Yes! You have the right to go and work elsewhere. Dealing with the public should require one to be Unselfish and HAL’s policy reflects just that! Mahalo.
BOH. Looking at some of the replies it really looks like someone is pointing an upside down ray at the US from orbit. These arguments against vaccination is plain ludicrous. What has happened to America? Never have I been so glad to live on Kaua’i as now. For the most part we wear a mask as a sign of our Aloha for others. We vaccinated to protect our Kapuna, now we must vaccinate to protect our unvaccinated keiki. We do this to protect ourselves and each other. Oh what a world. Kaua’i needs the world but the the world needs Kaua’i. As long as we follow Public Health guidelines we will be waiting for the world to return as Americans have flocked to our special shores. Aloha
Your are 100% correct. Mahalo. And isn’t getting vaccinated living “ Pono”
Speaking for myself. I am not against vaccinations. I am against being forced too. It should not be forced. Its our constitutional right.
The Us Supreme Court held more than 100 years ago that vaccinations can be required when there is a public health emergency.
Did the US Supreme Court, uphold that you can force people to vaccinate with an experimental drug that’s proven to kill, disable and destroy people’s lives? I think you’re comparing apples to oranges here, Paul B.
There are specific issues with this particular vaccine that will be legally challenged, by constitutional lawyers, because of it’s rush to market, and the blanket immunity from lawsuits for manufacturers. Should the Government try to force this on people, we could be looking at the next civil war. It appears many would rather risk dying on a battlefield of their own free will, than being forced to take something that has even the smallest potential chance to kill or disable them.
It seems to me that vaccines aren’t the end of the story since there have been many nationwide cases of fully vaccinated coming up Covid positive and therefore able to spread Covid. Mandatory pre travel testing seems to be a no brainer to really curb Covid cases. It needs to be for everyone arriving by plane, regardless of what state they live in.
It seems funny that the different variants started coming up after the vaccines were started
It is also funny (actually not) that the variants keep coming up because there are some people who will not get vaccinated. Simple science.
It’s also funny that people would ever think that virus variants won’t continue to evolve, if Everyone in the world gets vaccinated, especially from a vaccine that doesn’t KILL the virus.
Since a virus needs a living organisms to survive, they are continually trying to NOT die from vaccines that may keep them from surviving; hence, they mutate to different variants. Not really “Simple science” at all. 🤦♂️
All of these messages from armchair experts are exhausting. Just because you can find something to boost your opinion somewhere on the internet doesn’t mean you’re right. There are organizations that employ people who have specific expertise and many years of experience in this area such as the CDC, the FDA, and the NIH, etc. Anything not coming from that kind of source is, in my opinion, suspect and that includes armchair experts who have “done their own research”.
For those that are interested in understanding how vaccines work take a look at this page on the CDC website: cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/mrna.html
I will feel a lot better about flying if I know that all of the airline’s employees are vaccinated.
🤣😂🤣 So let me get this straight.
You knowing that the 6 (or so) employees you come in direct contact with, who you will now know are vaccinated, that you still know can contract and spread this virus; a couple of which you will not be able to maintain social distancing with for an entire 4-5 hour flight duration (to/from Hawaii), on a giant steel 20 foot tube; while also knowing you will have to pass literally hundreds of other people (vaccinated or not) in at least 2 airports; several who you won’t be able to social distance from; then fly with 200+ other people, of whom 8 or more will be sitting within 6 feet (not social distancing), and none of whom you know whether they have tested or are vaccinated; when clearly it’s been reported that a lot of locals choose to do quarantine rather than test, and suddenly NOW you’re going to “feel a lot better about flying”? ROFL…Uh yeah, that makes Total sense! SMH 🙄
The logic behind your statements sometimes is utterly mind boggling, Joerg…🤦♂️
I’m happy to read that. It adds an extra layer of protection for its passengers
It doesn’t really add any significant barrier, when vaccinated people can still catch and transmit the virus. It’s a very minute percentage at best…Although the airlines with their hepa-filtration systems make it a fairly safe way to travel. You’re better off in an airplane, with fully masked people than in a Walmart, for sure! 😉
Jim it sounds like you do understand that it’s a very minute percentage of vaccinated people that can catch and spread the virus??
That’s a true statement, vaccinated people are way less likely to spread the virus.
Oddly enough there are people very deep in the internet rabbit hole that don’t get that concept.
Medical fascism is never ok. Ever. Thinking any employer (or anyone) can tell YOU what to put in your body is ludicrous. Without bodily autonomy – medical freedom – there is NO freedom.
Where to start, but the bottom line is that these are private businesses that have the “right” to put any limit on employment that they like, within reason. So they have the “right” to say that you have to be vaccinated to work there, and their employees or potential employees have the right to work elsewhere. Most states, for example, are “at-will” employment states. this is something the Right has wanted for years, and now that it’s here, they are complaining about it. LOL
Wow! What happened to the peoples constitutional rights and freedoms? You have the right to drink alcohol and drive even though its against the law? You have the right to smoke cigarettes’ knowing that there is a message on each pack stating, WARNING: THE SURGEON GENERAL HAS DETERMINED THAT CIGARETTE SMOKING IS DANGEROUS TO YOUR HEALTH. You have the right to eat whatever you want knowing that you may die from a heart attack or stroke after your second bypass surgery. I could list more, but just these examples alone tells me that I have not seen any government official or company official governing me against these dangerous tasks like they have with this virus. Why? Because its unconstitutional!
Au contraire You DO NOT have the “right” to drink & drive. No more than you have the “right “ to go through a red light. As a matter of fact you don’t even have the “right” to drive. It’s a legal “ privilege “ in most states. Not a right.
You missed the point. Exceeding the posted speed limit is against the law, but yet its not speeding unless your caught. No one is forcing you that you cannot drink and drive. Its up to the individual to make that choice. It should be the constitutional right of the individual to believe that he/she wants the vaccine or not. The people must not be forced against their constitutional right.
I think you’re not thinking through your own analogy. Once you are caught “speeding”, you cannot argue that you can’t be prosecuted because you have a “right” to drive while intoxicated since you have a right to choose what to put into your body.
But honestly, I wouldn’t care if people choose not to get the vaccine, as long as they were the only ones who were getting hospitalized and/or dying. Unfortunately, THEIR choice also affects other people (sort of like the drinking and driving example), and therefore, if you want to live in a civilized society, sometimes you have to think about someone else and not just yourself. Typically, when this is something REALLY important, like for example when there’s a deadly disease floating around, then we make rules (declarations of a public health emergency), etc. that provide us with guidelines. That’s not a violation of your rights, it’s called being a decent human being who cares about others.
I disagree with requiring airlines or any employer to require vaccinations. That goes against American values. We don’t even know the long term effects, what’s really in the vaccination, and it’s still not FDA approved. When and if people start getting fired for not being vaccinated, don’t be surprised when they start suing employers.
It’s already been tried, and the lawsuits were tossed out of court. Remember, most states are “at-will” employment, which pretty much means that the employer can fire you for any reason … or no reason at all. Under the law it’s considered a “health and safety work rule”, and the employer is well within their legal right to fire you if you refuse to get vaconated. It’s already been tested in the courts. Also, you will very likely NOT be eligible for unemployment if you’re fired, so please don’t listen to the FUD going around about that either. Finally, most of the airlines are waiting for final FDA approval (although the vaccines DO have Emergency Use Approval right now), which appears to be coming over the next few weeks or months. I wonder what excuse the anti-vaxers will use once full FDA approval is granted?
Joerg H
AUGUST 10, 2021 AT 10:10 AM
“It’s already been tried, and the lawsuits were tossed out of court.”
False Joerg. There are still continuing and ongoing lawsuits being filed, and there are multiple legal sites you can check to verify this statement is absolutely incorrect. There have been very few cases “tossed out” and literally more and more are being filed daily across the country.
“Also, you will very likely NOT be eligible for unemployment if you’re fired…”
Wrong again Joerg…
In every state with “at will” employment, there are “wrongful termination” exception laws. In some of those states there are covenant of good faith and fair dealings agreements, among other exceptions to “at will” employment, and if an employer can’t prove a justifiable cause for termination, you can absolutely collect unemployment with a judgement in your favor.
There are also ways to make sure you do not have to take this vaccine, stay employed by your employer, and likely be successful in a lawsuit, should you get fired. It’s why Hawaiian Airlines is NOT gong to be able to force All their employees to get vaccinated. Two of the reasons are listed in the 3rd sentence of this article, when you actually read it:
“CEO Peter Ingram said that there would be exceptions for medical or religious reasons…”.
Feel free to search phrases like: “at will employment and wrongful termination”–“employers and covid vaccines what’s legal or not” or “active covid 19 lawsuits”–“50-state Update on Pending Legislation Pertaining to Employer-mandated Vaccinations”, and definitely stop listening or believing people like this, who consistently feed you misinformation, whether intentional or not.
I know that this is a very divisive topic, but you can be pro vaccine and still be against mandates. What I foresee happening with Hawaiian and United is the same thing that has happened with other businesses that have required employees to receive the vaccine. An industry that is already struggling with a shortage of pilots and a multitude of flight cancellations will likely see this become even more of a problem as employees take early retirements or just quit. Planes cannot fly without qualified pilots and the proper number of flight attendants. If there is mass exodus because of this mandate, there will be no one to blame for your cancelled flights but the executives themselves. The Hawaiian Air and United shareholders had best brace themselves for turbulent times ahead. It will be interesting to see how much influence ALPA, the AFA and the airline mechanic’s unions ultimately have over this mandate.
Nice to see a voice of sound reason, who can see the bigger picture…well said Sheryl.
I agree with the potential that what you foresee could happen, but they may be able to weather the storm, if they don’t press the issue with employees, by making difficult working conditions should they choose the option of medical or religious reasons. 👍