United Airlines says unvaccinated pilots on paid leave are costing the company millions Blog
United spending millions of dollars to keep unvaccinated pilots on paid leave.
United Airlines has said it’s spending nearly $3 million a month to keep hundreds of employees, including many pilots, who refuse to get vaccinated against Covid-19 on paid leave.
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The numbers were revealed in a filing Friday night in a Fort Worth, Texas federal court, where United is fighting a legal challenge to the employee vaccine mandate it announced in August.
Some workers who haven’t complied by getting vaccinated are challenging United in court.
The plaintiffs have argued that vaccinated pilots should “not know whether they are flying with an unvaccinated pilot” and that “United should be informing its pilots — as they do the general public — that the risk of contracting Covid-19 on a United airplane is almost zero.”
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US District Court Judge Mark Pittman of Texas placed a temporary restraining order on United barring it from implementing its vaccine mandate.
Pittman said the temporary restraining order will maintain the status quo while he decides whether to block United’s vaccine mandate for the remainder of the litigation.
Without a restraining order in place, hundreds of workers might be “compelled to take a vaccination in violation of their religious beliefs or medical restrictions” or face “being placed on indefinite unpaid leave,” Pittman wrote.
United Airlines argues the order is unwarranted because pilots who sued would get “money damages and retroactive seniority if they ultimately prevail on the merits.”
