Southwest, along with American Airlines, has announced that they will follow Biden’s vaccine mandate despite Abbott issuing an executive order forbidding any entity from issuing vaccine mandates:
BLOOMBERG – American Airlines Group Inc., the biggest U.S. airline, and No. 4 Southwest Airlines Co. will follow President Joe Biden’s mandate requiring that employees be vaccinated against Covid-19, defying an order from the Texas governor blocking such actions.
The decisions Tuesday set up an immediate challenge to Republican Governor Greg Abbott by two of the state’s largest corporations. Companies with operations in Texas like the two airlines have been caught between Abbott’s decree and a White House measure that says federal contractors must require the shots.
American Airlines employed 117,400 workers nationwide as of the end of June and Southwest had about 54,500 staff. Both airlines have government contracts with the federal government for transporting employees and goods.
“We believe the federal vaccine mandate supersedes any conflicting state laws, and this does not change anything for American,” Fort Worth, Texas-based American said of the state’s ban.
Dallas-based Southwest echoed that statement.
“We would be expected to comply with the president’s order to remain compliant as a federal contractor,” the company said.
As I suggested in a previous post, now would be a great time to file a lawsuit against Biden’s mandate. But instead, it looks like the airline companies are just going to roll over and accept it and allow Biden to send the industry into more chaos.
It’s simply unbelievable considering what’s potentially at stake should 30% of pilots, as well as flight crews and other employees continue to refuse to get vaccinated.