Virgin Australia demands workers get vaccinated to end Covid lockdowns

Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka has warned the consequences of lockdowns could prove worse than the Covid virus itself.

Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka is concerned the consequences of lockdowns could take a greater toll on communities than the Covid virus itself. Picture: Britta Campion

Virgin Australia chief Jayne Hrdlicka has raised concerns the consequences of extended lockdowns could be more devastating on communities than the Covid virus itself as she joined Qantas in mandating vaccinations for workers.

Having previously called for borders to open even though “some people may die”, on Monday Ms Hrdlicka voiced concerns about the heavy toll of governments’ response to the pandemic, on young people in particular.

She said Australia was fortunate to have not had the same massive outbreaks as other countries but the need to vaccinate the population was just as urgent.

“The consequences of being locked down are pretty far-reaching and hard to calculate,” Ms Hrdlicka said.

“The impact on kids and their future and mental health, and the consequences for long-term stability, they’re factors that need to be considered that haven’t been as important or obvious.

“We need to open up and we need to do that in a way that’s safe and protects the community from the consequences of lockdown as well as the consequences of Covid.”

In an effort to play their part, Virgin Australia has taken the decision to mandate vaccination for all employees, no matter how far removed from the “frontline”.

Ms Hrdlicka said like Qantas, Virgin expected all pilots, cabin crew and airport staff to be fully vaccinated by November 15, and the remainder of the workforce by March 31, 2022.

“We’ve taken the view that every single employee in the company needs to abide by the same rules no matter your job because we’re so cross-connected as a company and our jobs regularly require people from head office to be out at the airport and so it’s a one-in, all-in for us,” said Ms Hrdlicka.

“It’s not an uncommon decision. Increasingly employers are starting to take tougher stances because it’s the only way to look people in the eye and tell them you’ve done the best job you can to keep them safe.”

A survey of employees revealed 85 per cent had already had one or two jabs, or were on their way to their first dose of vaccination.

Another “big chunk” wanted more information about the vaccination, and a small number were totally opposed.

Ms Hrdlicka said they were going through a consultation process to decide how best to navigate those situations where people simply did not want to be vaccinated.

“The most important thing for us as an airline is to keep all our people safe every day, and we don’t believe it’s possible to keep our people safe once Covid is in the community if they’re not vaccinated,” she said.

“Testing is an important piece of the armoury against Covid but it doesn’t really work in keeping people safe. It helps you understand whether or not you become infected and are infectious but it doesn’t help prevent you from becoming sick and so we need to keep our people protected from the exposure they will have as we start to get back to normal.”

She remained optimistic flying would return strongly once state borders reopen, with Virgin Australia leasing an additional nine 737s to help meet that expected demand over summer.

The forecasts were partly based on the US experience, where domestic travel demand had outstripped supply in recent months.

“Everybody was back and travelling and getting back to the things they love in their lives and they’re weren’t enough seats for people and it got pretty ugly,” Ms Hrdlicka said.

“So we’ve got to plan, we’ve got to build for a future that has state borders open and we have to do that based on the data we’ve been given.”