Airline to financially penalise staff who refuse to get Covid-19 vaccine

A major airline in the US will force staff to pay hundreds a month if they refuse to get the Covid-19 vaccination.

A major US airline is going to impose a costly surcharge on workers who refuse to get the Covid-19 vaccine.

Starting November 1, unvaccinated employees on Delta Air Lines’ account-based healthcare plan will get hit with a $US200 ($A276.50) monthly surcharge.

It’s a necessary policy, according to the airline’s chief executive officer Ed Bastian, who noted that the average hospital stay for Covid-19 costs the carrier about $US50,000 ($A69,124) per person.

“This surcharge will be necessary to address the financial risk the decision to not vaccinate is creating for our company,” Mr Bastian said in a memo to employees sent on Wednesday.

From November, unvaccinated employees on Delta Air Lines’ account-based healthcare plan will get hit with a $A276.50 monthly surcharge. Picture: Daniel Slim/AFP

Following the rise of the Delta variant – which has fuelled a surge in infections across the United States – “all Delta employees who have been hospitalised with Covid were not fully vaccinated,” Mr Bastian further noted.

The airline said on Wednesday, it will stop extending pay protection to unvaccinated workers who contract Covid-19 on September 30, and will require unvaccinated workers to be tested weekly beginning September 12, although Delta will cover the cost. They will also have to wear masks in all indoor company settings, effective immediately.

To date, 75 per cent of the airline’s workforce are vaccinated, up from 72 per cent in mid-July.

Delta Air Lines will be financially penalised if they refuse to get the jab. Picture: Mario Tama/Getty Images/AFP

Mr Bastian commended Delta’s progress but cautioned that the “aggressiveness of the variant means we need to get many more of our people vaccinated, and as close to 100 per cent as possible”.

Delta’s chief health officer, Dr Henry Ting, refers to the variant as a “heat-seeking missile” that predominantly transmits through unvaccinated people.

“While breakthrough cases among the vaccinated do occur, the vast majority of those are mild and often present no symptoms at all,” he said.

“However, the variant has resulted in a significant rise in hospitalisation and deaths, almost entirely impacting those who have not yet been vaccinated.”

This article originally appeared on Fox News and was reproduced with permission