Delta Air Lines requires shots for new workers
ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) — Delta Air Lines will require new employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 starting on Monday.
The airline won’t impose the same requirement on current employees, of whom more than 60 per cent are vaccinated, a spokesman said Friday. The airline says the policy for new hires is designed to protect other employees and passengers as travel demand recovers from last year’s pandemic low levels.
Meanwhile, some airline stocks rose after the CDC’s new guidance for people who are fully vaccinated. United Airlines was up four per cent in early Friday trading, and other US airlines rose by smaller amounts.
The federal requirement for wearing face masks on planes remains in place. A spokesman for trade group Airlines for America says carriers will continue to enforce the rule.
The Transportation Security Administration announced 1.74 million people passed through US airports on Thursday, a new pandemic-era high. However, those airport crowds were still 33 per cent smaller than on the comparable day in 2019.
