Pilots for Southwest and American Airlines warned that pilots could leave if they are forced to get a COVID-19 vaccine

Pilots at two of the country’s biggest airlines said that mandates for COVID-19 vaccines could lead to major shortages during the critical holiday flying season.

The Allied Pilots Association, which represents 15,000 pilots at Fort Worth-based American Airlines, sent the White House and Congressional leaders a letter Friday that warned that carriers may have “mass terminations of unvaccinated pilots” if the White House goes through with its announced plans to require COVID-19 vaccinations for federal contractors and companies with 100 or more employees.

“To ensure commercial aviation’s ongoing viability by avoiding a scenario in which airlines are forced to either offer unpaid leaves of absence or, worse, implement mass terminations of unvaccinated pilots, it is essential that an alternate means of compliance with the Executive Order be made available for professional pilots,” the letter from Allied Pilots Association president Eric Ferguson said.

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