United Airlines CEO Says Vaccine Mandate Wasn’t a Business Decision: Skift Exclusive
Photo Credit: United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby hopes the airline's first-mover status on a Covid-19 staff vaccine mandate won't be a competitive advanatge. United Airlines
Skift Take
Corporate Covid vaccine requirements are a uniquely U.S. problem as most countries lack the same level of anti-vaccine sentiment. United distinguished itself early with an employee mandate but, beyond being the "right thing to do," CEO Scott Kirby doesn't want a safety measure to be a competitive advantage.
In all the controversy over corporate Covid-19 vaccine mandates at airlines something has been lost: Whether consumers — travelers in airlines’ case — even care.
Fundamentally, what matters to a carrier like United Airlines or Delta Air Lines is whether a traveler buys a ticket and flies them, hopefully repeatedly. That is their business. Of course the safety of staff and passengers goes hand in hand with that but, when it comes to buying a ticket, how often does one check the frequency of maintenance checks or the last time a plane was electrostatically disinfected?
“I don’t want it to be a competitive advantage,” United CEO Scott Kirby said of the airline’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate for staff. Speaking with Skift in an exclusive interview at the trade group the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Annual General Meeting in Boston this week, he emphasized that the airline does not compete with other airlines on safety. United was the
