United Airlines is terminating the employment of 232 workers who have refused to get vaccinated, CEO Scott Kirby has confirmed - as a Texas judge temporarily blocked the airline from putting 2,000 workers on unpaid leave if they're seeking religious or medical exemptions.
Kirby, 54, told CBS Mornings on Wednesday that the company had reached 99.7 per cent of their employees vaccinated in the six-weeks since announcing a vaccine mandate on August 6.
United was the first airline to require all employees to be vaccinated.
'You know, I wish we would have gotten to 100 per cent, but out of our 67,000 US employees there are 232 who have not been vaccinated and they are going through the termination process,' he said.
It came after U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman from Northern Texas granted a temporary restraining order against United on Tuesday restricting the company from putting employees on unpaid leave for seeking medical and religious exemptions from the mandate.
Six employees filed a federal lawsuit against United, citing unpaid leave as an unreasonable accommodation.
The restraining order expires October 26, leaving around 2,000 United employees at risk of losing their jobs.
Texas District Judge Mark Pittman (right) placed a restraining order against United Airlines, restricting them from putting around 2,000 unvaccinated employees seeking medical or religious exemptions on unpaid leave. United CEO Scott Kirby, 54, (left) announced that 99.7 per cent of his 67,000 employees are vaccinated and the 232 who refused the vaccine are going through the termination process
Those with religious exemptions were told in a company memo that they would be placed on unpaid leave while the airline put in addition safety mitigation measures, including 'new testing regimens, temporary job reassignments, and masking protocols.'
Lawyers for the employees and the airline agreed last month that United wouldn't put the workers on unpaid leave, but the judge wrote that the agreement will expire before he can rule on the merits of the matter.
That would leave 'hundreds of workers' at risk of being put on indefinite unpaid leave or forced to get a vaccination that violates their religious beliefs or medical restrictions.
On Wednesday, Kirby defended the Chicago-based company's vaccine mandate, despite Texas Governor Abbott banning all mandates.
And he claimed the mandate has not disrupted United workforce, including at their Houston hub.
United announced its vaccine mandate on August 6 and told employees in a company memo that all unvaccinated employees seeking exemptions will be put on unpaid leave while the company implemented 'new testing regimens, temporary job reassignments, and masking protocols'
'I think we've proven at United, that's just not the case. If you put a vaccinate mandate out there and you explain why you're doing it and if you're open, honest, and transparent with your employees about why you're doing it, and even when some of them disagree - and a lot of them did disagree,' Kirby told CBS Mornings.
'You know, the fact that we could get to 99.7 per cent in less than eight weeks, I think [it] proves you can make a vaccine mandate work as long your open, honest, and transparent on why you're doing it.'
Several airlines have followed in United footsteps, including Texas-based companies American and Southwest Airlines who have both claimed they will ignore Governor Abbott mandate ban.
Kirby said he wished the company had achieved 100 per cent vaccination, but believed mandates worked and being 'open, honest, and transparent' was the key to getting employees onboard
Abbott's order mean American and Southwest could face a $1,000 fine for forcing employees to receive a vaccine because employees could lose their livelihoods.
The order is set to protect employees from 'losing their livelihoods' by not being forced to get vaccinated or lose their jobs, according to the Washington Post.
Georgia-based airline Delta has not mandated vaccines for employees, but is imposing a $200 monthly surcharge against unvaccinated members and requires them to be tested weekly.
Delta has reported that 90 per cent of its workforce is vaccinated, according to the Hill.
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