Flight attendants are handing out refreshments on a jam-packed Delta Airlines flight scheduled for Friday, April 21.
Kent Nishimura | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
Ed Bastian, Delta Air Lines CEO, told employees on Wednesday that if they are not vaccinated against Covid-19, their health insurance premiums will be increased by $ 200 a month starting November 1.
Unvaccinated employees will face other restrictions, including indoor masking from now on and weekly Covid-19 testing starting September 12, the Atlanta-based airline said when it announced new Covid guidelines for employees.
The measures are the latest attempt by a US company to increase Covid vaccination rates. Delta stopped short of a full mandate, as set up by rival United Airlines earlier this month. The airline, which self-insures its employees, stands out for its plans to increase the premiums for unvaccinated workers to cover the higher costs of insuring employees who contract Covid.
“The average hospital stay for COVID-19 has cost Delta $ 40,000 per person,” Bastian said in an employee memo. “This surcharge will be necessary to address the financial risk that the decision not to vaccinate means for our company. In the last few weeks since variant B.1.617.2 came up, all Delta employees have been infected with COVID hospitalized, not fully vaccinated. ” . “
Delta is self-insured and United Healthcare manages the airline’s health insurance plans. The change in approach was the initiative of Delta.
Delta also said that as of September 30, “in accordance with state and local laws, COVID payment protection will only be granted to fully vaccinated individuals who have a breakthrough infection.” Unvaccinated employees who contract Covid must, without exception, use their sick days thereafter.
CEO Bastian said that around 75% of Delta’s 75,000 or so employees have already been vaccinated and that “the aggressiveness of the [delta] Variation means that we have to get a lot more of our people vaccinated, as close to 100 percent as possible. “
Delta started vaccinating new employees against Covid earlier this year.
On Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave the Pfizer vaccine full approval, though a Delta Air Lines spokeswoman said the plan had been in the works for weeks and the timing was random.
Alaska Airlines told its employees earlier this month that it was considering requiring employees to be vaccinated against Covid but would not do so until after one of the vaccines received full approval. Frontier Airlines said this month that employees need to be vaccinated or tested for Covid on a regular basis.
Delta, which has the fewest unionized employees on any major US airline, said it had notified the Air Line Pilots Association, their aviation union, of the changes.
Airlines are among the hardest hit by the pandemic, and the rise of the Delta Covid variant is already leading to a recent rebound in bookings, according to airlines such as Southwest, American Airlines and Spirit.
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