Southwest CEO says he never wanted a Covid vaccine mandate but Biden forced his hand

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: CNBC

Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly told CNBC on Tuesday he believes businesses should not impose Covid vaccine mandates on their employees, but he said his company is doing so to comply with federal rules put in place by the Biden administration.

"I've never been in favor of corporations imposing that kind of a mandate. I'm not in favor of that. Never have been," Kelly said in an interview on "Squawk on the Street." "But the executive order from President Biden mandates that all federal employees and then all federal contractors, which covers all the major airlines, have to have a [vaccine] mandate ... in place by Dec. 8, so we're working through that."

Southwest said last week that its 56,000 employees needed to be vaccinated against Covid by Dec. 8 in order to keep working at the airline under the federal mandate. Southwest's announcement came a few days after other carriers — including American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and JetBlue Airways — informed employees about the need to adhere to federal vaccine rules.

In August, before the Biden administration's action, United Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines instituted Covid vaccine requirements for their staffs. United said earlier this month that more than 96% of its 67,000 U.S. employees have shared proof of vaccination after its late September deadline.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/southwest-ceo-says-he-never-wanted-a-covid-vaccine-mandate-but-biden-forced-his-hand/ar-AAPqigj

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Oh fawk you and your airline. If you don't care about the health and safety of your passengers I don't want to take my chances with your glorified bus service.

[onecaliberal]

1. Will NEVER fly southwest again.

It’s funny that none of the other airlines are crying about the mandate.

[hlthe2b]

10. Ditto. Albeit I've almost always flown United or Delta within the US for decades...

So, they aren't losing much from me.

[live love laugh]

21. If I can help it. 🤞🏼

[JohnSJ]

2. Guess what southwest ceo asshole, I won't fly on any airline that doesn't require their employees to

be vaccinated, and passengers to wear masks as long as we are in a pandemic, and I don’t think I am a minority on this

You can be known as the trumper airline if you keep this up

[brush]

3. Totally agree with your last paragraph. He should be glad the president...

made the decision for him since he's too stupid to understand the need to protect public health during a pandemic. Maybe he doesn't understand what the word pandemic means.

[Scrivener7]

4. Good. Glad Biden did that.

[LiberalFighter]

5. Why would passengers that have a negative testing for Covid or be vaccinated

want to fly an airline that doesn't have their crew vaccinated?

Doesn't make sense.

[Ray Bruns]

6. So it is a sickout, you lying sack of crap.

Sounds like someone is having problems with people not showing up for work.

[speaktruthtopower]

8. The company president...

is not responsible for a sickout.

[Ray Bruns]

18. Agreed. But he was on the news with the union head yesterday

saying it wasn't a sickout. I am just not buying the weather and air traffic controller excuse. It's not even a holiday weekend.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

11. There was no sickout

However, the Southwest Airline Pilots’ Association, in whose name the supposed sickout is supposedly happening, says it “can say with confidence that our Pilots are not participating in any official or unofficial job actions.” Instead, the union said the airline “has become brittle and subject to massive failures under the slightest pressure” and pointed to the mass flight delays the airline suffered over the summer—months before the company even announced a vaccine mandate—after smaller technical issues caused cascading delays across the company’s operations.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ted-cruz-and-co-promote-non-existent-anti-vax-airline-strike/ar-AAPpkhr

[MurrayDelph]

39. They were trying to blame their screwup on ANYBODY except themselves

because if they admitted fault, they would have to pay for customer accommodations.

I've been boycotting them for over 30 years, ever since one time they were behind getting out of LAX, so despite my having a low boarding number, they were trying to push and shove everyone into the plane, with the result that there was no room for my carry-on in the overhead compartment, and while I was still standing in the aisle trying to get my bag under the seat, they had closed the doors and pushed away from the gate so as not to lose their place in line. I am not a small man, so the only reason they didn't see me is that they didn't look and/or care. It was then that I decided that if they were cutting such obvious safety procedures (which could have cost their pilot his license), I was unwilling to discover what other safety procedures they were skipping.

[wryter2000]

7. This is so dissppointing

I'm one of those faithful Southwest flyers. We do exist. I find their system very easy to use, and I have always loved the flight attendants and the ground personnel. I'm weird in that I like to get off the plane and walk around instead of spending huge numbers of hours on one flight. It makes the day much longer, but I'm happier when I get there.

I have one more flight scheduled with them, and it's on points, so I'm not paying them anything. After that, I don't know. I have friends who love Jet Blue, and I enjoyed the one time I took them, so I may go with them. I'll never fly Virgin America again.

[DarthDem]

13. Well, No . . . You Won't

Ever fly Virgin America again. For good reason.

[wryter2000]

25. Did they close?

Good thing.

[DarthDem]

37. Bought by Alaska

I believe.

[jmowreader]

38. Exactly. Bought by Alaska.

[RobinA]

22. I Like Southwest

as well and fly them when it makes sense. I will continue to like them. All airlines like to whine and play footsy with the truth, so they are a necessary evil if you want to get somewhere.

[wryter2000]

26. Turns out there's a huge difference between Jet Blue and Southwest

I checked both for Oakland to Phoenix. Jet Blue showed me one flight each way. Total - $794 non-refundable.
Southwest gave me a selection of at least a dozen flights each way, a few costing $33. I selected the two flights I liked. Total $297. It didn't specify refundable, but I've successfully cancelled or rescheduled flights with them with no problem. For cancellations, they returned my money or points promptly with no begging.

I guess I'm staying with Southwest. I knew I liked them for a reason.

The CEO may be acting like an a-hole, but they still have to obey the mandate.

[hibbing]

9. Don't these people have PR staff?

I mean really, how pathetic. It is a plane after all, sometimes it is best to say nothing.

Peace

[kimbutgar]

12. Who would want to fly on an airline where you can catch Covid?

I flew Southwest once and never again. I hope it goes out of business.

[DarthDem]

14. Sounds Good, Southwest

I never fly them as a rule, so this works well.

[Gore1FL]

15. Good on Biden, then

It's nice to know there is an adult in the room imposing good sense.

[BadgerKid]

16. The CEO is just one person though.

The board if directors could replace him I would guess.

[hamsterjill]

17. What a chickenshit!

He’s only saying that because he’s getting blowback from Trumpers.

[Initech]

19. Oh I would not feel safe flying on the same plane as an anti-vax flight attendant or pilot.

Fuck that shit!

[live love laugh]

20. WTF

[OneCrazyDiamond]

23. Has OSHA released the draft rule yet?

How do you blame The President when the rules aren't finalized?

[IbogaProject]

24. I'm guessing their pay rate is below average

I'm guessing their pay rate is below average and now with a tight labor market people are hopping over to better paying jobs elsewhere.

[Tommy Carcetti]

27. Well, too bad, so sad. Wanna get away?

Get the fucking vaccine.

[Javaman]

28. trying his best to maintain his right wing bullshit street cred.

"they made me do it, whine!!!"

whatever dude, you go against the feds and the FAA, you are quickly out of a job because the board with vote you the fuck out in a flash just on fucking stupidity.

[oasis]

29. Team Science vs. Team Ignorance: The centuries-old battle continues.

[maxsolomon]

30. It's fair to say that Antivax Dipshits forced Biden's hand.

If American's weren't such blockheads and had gotten vaccinated to 70, 75% of the adult population everywhere, he wouldn't have imposed the mandate where he could.

[SouthernDem4ever]

31. Talk aboout pandering to the idiots

he should know better.

[Slammer]

32. Gary Kelly

I had a number of conversations with him back when he was Southwest's CFO. He's a thoroughly political person whenever he has to be (I was working for him on 9-11).

He's being a political creature here. His airline is based in Texas so that means a large portion of the headquarters staff and a lot of their recruits for the airline as a whole are native Texans. So he's dealing with a lot more Trumpster infighting than most businesses.

He's also having to navigate around a governor who's hostile to taking COVID precautions and some angry unions.

He might be secretly high-fiving the some of the other executives behind closed doors. But he really doesn't have much choice other than so put on a sad face and blame the vaccine mandate on Biden while claiming to be completely clean of it himself.

Once he retires and writes his memoirs, and he will write his memoirs, he'll come out with all kind of secret memos to back up whatever position on the pandemic he truly believes.

But for right now, he's having to tell angry employees, (some) angry stockholders, and likely some angry board members that he didn't have a choice in order to protect his position and keep the airline running.

[Marcuse]

33. Biden's strategy is to give cover to CEOs like Kelly.

[myohmy2]

34. I wouldn't...

...want to fly in an airplane with COVID sick employees...

...unless he plans to fly mainly trumpers...

...I'm still nervous...

[Grins]

35. You could give up your federal contract...!

If you have that “deeply held belief,” drop the contract! The other carriers will be glad to pick up the slack.

Something is fishy here. I did federal contracting for years as a vendor and interpreted this as the employees of 3rd party contractors, working on government projects, on government installations, with government employees, needed to be vaccinated.

If the feds buy soap from Proctor & Gamble, does that mean all P&G employees worldwide have to be vaccinated under Biden’s EO?

[Paladin]

36. Plenty of other airlines.

If Kelly craters and subjects Southwest to Greg Abbott's unsanitary, virus-friendly edicts, I'll never fly Southwest again.