Alaska Airlines To Give Vaccinated Employees $200, While Other Carriers Wield The Stick

Alaska Airlines is taking one step further in encouraging vaccination in the workplace as the Seattle-based carrier said it will give a $200 bonus to employees who share their proof of vaccination by Oct. 5.

The bonus may be good news for vaccinated employees, but unvaccinated workers will take the brunt of new measures as Alaska announced it will stop covering pay for unvaccinated employees who test positive of COVID-19 or those who are exposed to the virus, CNBC reported.

Furthermore, unvaccinated workers are required to attend a program that provides more info about coronavirus vaccines.

Following the deaths of three unvaccinated employees, Alaska told Fox Business that it was “looking closely” at possibly issuing a vaccine mandate for its entire workforce. However, the company said Thursday it will not release a mandatory vaccination order as of now.

“We believe having as many people as possible vaccinated is the best path for protection against COVID-19 and we will continue to strongly encourage our employees to be vaccinated,” the carrier said in a statement to the outlet. Alaska noted that 75 percent of its employees, including those under its subsidiary Horizon Air, who shared their vaccination status were vaccinated.

Despite issuing no mandatory vaccine order, Alaska and Horizon now require new hires to be fully vaccinated by their date of hire, as part of the efforts to prevent infections. However, Alaska’s employee protocols are still below that of other large U.S. companies that require vaccination among employees such as railroad service Amtrak and Citigroup.

Meanwhile, other airlines are also pushing worker vaccinations. Earlier last month, United Airlines said it will require all U.S. employees to be vaccinated by late September, marking the first time a major American carrier announced stricter protocols for employees to follow. At that time, company officials said the decision was made due to “incredibly compelling” data regarding the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, the Associated Press reported.

Delta Airlines also put one foot down in getting unvaccinated employees to rethink their choices as the airline said unvaccinated workers will have to pay $200 in monthly health insurance surcharge, the Wall Street Journal reported. The said workers are also at risk of losing pay protection if they miss work due to COVID-19 exposure or confirmed infection.