Dukey1

I am certainly not sure that unvaccinated passengers are better to be around, either.

jubilada

Of course not, but not holding breath until US mandates vaccines for air travel.

jane1144

If there is a federal mandate for masks, how do they still maintain their licence to fly in US airspace? It just seems like individuals and entities can defy the law with impunity and not pay a price.

jubilada

They do require masks.
This is about vaccines..

tomfuller

On 11/3 DW and I will be flying on Southwest from Las Vegas to Honolulu. I am assured that all of the passengers onboard will be either vaccinated or have a negative covid test within the past 48 hours. My DW and I went through the travel Hawaii website and uploaded pictures of our vaccine record cards to avoid quarantine. Southwest will check our QR codes before letting us on the plane.
We are spending several hours on the layover in LAS. We got our Covid 19 vaccinations in March and got our boosters on 9/30. We got our flu shots last week so we are more immune than 90+ % of the rest of the world.

jane1144

<<They do require masks.
This is about vaccines..>>
Sorry, my mistake, but I feel the same. I dont understand how they get to flaunt the government requirements.

kybourbon

**On 11/3 DW and I will be flying on Southwest from Las Vegas to Honolulu. I am assured that all of the passengers onboard will be either vaccinated or have a negative covid test within the past 48 hours. My DW and I went through the travel Hawaii website and uploaded pictures of our vaccine record cards to avoid quarantine. Southwest will check our QR codes before letting us on the plane.**

That isn't Southwest requiring it, it's Hawaii requiring Southwest and other airlines if they want to bring passengers there.

I was in a Southwest hub yesterday (Houston Hobby). They had a lot of empty gates (no planes). Not normal for a Saturday so either their business is way down or they can't staff their planes. Delta pilot announced they were contemplating throwing some passengers off for not masking correctly. No one was sure if he was kidding or they had an issue with a few passengers.

**The feds are Southwest's single largest customer.**

I see a lot of uniformed military on AA. I imagine the feds are the largest customer of many airlines.

** After December 8, new or augmented contracts will require personnel to be vaccinated on the first day of performance.**

Biggest Biden mistakes for covid were not doing that right away in the spring when they first had a surplus of vaccines and lifting masks for vaxxed public. If Biden had put a July deadline, not only would it have slowed Delta variant, but also saved lives.

FTR - If you are flying into Atlanta after 8pm (even on a Saturday) you will find many food places and stores/kiosks closed for the night.

mlgb

American Airlines is taking the same stance.

clarkgriswold

for a list of other safety regulations that Southwest doesn't feel the need to enforce, just google "Southwest fined".

clarkgriswold

"American is taking the same stance"

Just at their Los Angeles airport terminal, and just over the last two weeks, American has 89 employees out with covid. (Delta across the street has 45 out).

At this point they probably feel that most of their employees have natural antibodies since most of them have probably been out sick and in isolation over the last year and a half. I think we all know the real reasons that Spirit and Southwest have had catastrophic interruptions in service this year, they just don't want to cast a air of gloom over themselves, or the industry in general.

wtm003

I had the same experience in Portland in June. I was lucky and got a bottle of water and a snack before everything shut down. Denver International is a mess. There was a recent news story about Denver airport management requiring restaurants to stay open until 10 pm. Good luck with that. Yesterday a job fair was held at Mile High Stadium with the goal of hiring 1000 workers for airport jobs. Only about 100 people showed up for the event. The shuttle parking lots are closed because there aren't enough bus drivers. We've been lucky to find parking for our past two trips but the few spaces left were on the far end of the economy lot. Fortunately, we like to walk! I flew out of DIA on 10/1 and the security line wrapped through baggage claim to the other side of the building. I always arrive very early but was still concerned I'd miss my flight. And to top off that day, the restrooms had no toilet paper. It is going to be a fun holiday travel season!

obxgirl

I didn't mean to suggest otherwise. The thread topic was SWA.

Federal contracts w/airlines aren't only about personnel. Plenty of equipment transport as well. Additionally, pretty much every US domestic airline has a contract with the feds to be part of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet.

I disagree on two counts. First, Biden didn't have that option while the vaccines were under EUA. Full FDA approval came at the end of August and the fed mandate was issued about a week later. The coming mandate was certainly telegraphed in the weeks leading up to FDA approval.

Secondly, it would have required Biden to have been prescient in late March or early April about how many stupid people wouldn't vaccinate.

Of course any life lost is one life too many. But the lost lives are primarily due to people not vaccinating.

Dukey1

IMO "the US" is probably never going to mandate this. Did the Government of Australia mandate it or was it just one company Qantas?

Unfortunate because as long as the Gov doesn't mandate vaccines the various airlines will also not do so in fear of losing revenue to other airlines that don't. Now, what if the passengers themselves started en mass to refuse to fly on any airline which did not mandate vaccines? Gonna happen? You know the unfortunate answer.

Songdoc

If given the option, there's no way I would fly with unvaccinated people. So the airlines that don't mandate vaccinations will lose the revenue from people like me. Presuming the decision will have nothing whatsoever with doing the "right" thing, I guess the airlines will need to determine which approach will result in less loss of revenue.

I live in Hawaii. The couple across the drive from me (in their early 60s) are moving back to the mainland because they are vehement anti-vaxxers and they fear that mandates will be put in place and they will be unable to fly to see their children and grandchildren (who are also anti-vaxxers). They "explained" that they have done their own research and the vaccines being given are worthless because they were manufactured to protect against strains that no longer exist. They have been taking hydroxycloroquine and large doses of Vitamin C for a year. They got COVID and said it was no big deal. They did not specify which effects from the vaccine they are trying to evade.

These are educated people. He was a fire chief and she was a NURSE! I don't understand how people like them (and apparently there are 65 million of them) can explain away that they know countless people who have been vaccinated with no ill effects; that more than 90% of COVID hospitalizations and deaths are among the unvaccinated; and ... where are the millions of people who have been harmed by the vaccine?

starrs

FWIW - I flew SW this week and the emphasis on wearing masks in announcements - in the waiting area and then on board - was far more prominent than on my SW flights this summer.

There was an idiot couple who sat in the boarding area, masks around their necks, for a long time talking the entire time. They were sitting by themselves and I think they were trying to make their rebellious little point. Everyone else I saw in the Miami airport was fully masked.

On board announcements were a bit over the top, for which I was thankful. To the extent of pointing out to wear masks between sips and bites. I wondered if they expected problems from that couple. This summer, one jerk held a cup of coffee while waiting in the SW line, used as pretense of drinking and thus not required to wear his mask. I said something to the jerk.

I'm not happy about this position on vaccination but I was very much relieved to hear the very clear expectations on mask wearing. I was really dreading the SW flight but the Delta option was just too much more money and could not book it in our travel system. It was SW or American. I chose SW.