Pilots from two major U.S. airlines should keep mask and vaccine mandate distractions on the ground, their unions warned in recent statements.
Airlines are subject to a federal mandate President Joe Biden announced last month that calls for federal contractors to be vaccinated by Dec. 8, said USA Today. This is because they operate charter flights, carry government employees and U.S. mail.
Both American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have pushed back Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s legal efforts to ban vaccine and mask mandates in an effort to comply with the federal government, said The Washington Post. However, they are also allowing employees to apply for exemptions.
“We must not allow ourselves to reduce our safety margins due to the many vaccine-related distractions we face,” said a statement issued Oct. 12 by Allied Pilots Association President Eric Ferguson. “Please keep personal politics and medical opinions out of the flight deck and focus foremost on the well-being of your crew and the safety of our operation.”
Founded in 1963, the Fort Worth, Texas-based union serves as the certified collective bargaining agent for American Airlines’ 15,000 professional pilots.
In addition to the public statement, USA Today reported this week that a memo was sent to Allied Pilots Association members Tuesday with the subject line “Distractions cannot affect safety.”
“We are seeing distractions in the flight deck that can create dangerous situations,” the memo said.
Union spokesperson Dennis Tajer said the number of pilots self-reporting vaccine mandate issues and concerns to the Federal Aviation Administration as a distraction on the job has increased, according to USA Today.
He called the spike a “big, big deal.”
Another flight feedback system that uses input from inflight auditors under a separate program also found an increase, said the union.
Tajer said some distractions are to be expected due to the changing conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. He said some pilots fear losing their jobs if they don’t get vaccinated.
“It’s not a scolding message, it’s a reminder message,” he said of the memo. “I hear you, I hear you on that (vaccine mandates), but let's get back to the (flight) checklist.”
Dallas-headquartered Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, which is the sole bargaining unit for the almost 10,000 Southwest Airlines pilots, also issued an alert to pilots on Oct. 9, said USA Today. The next day, the union issued a message about its operational meltdown and canceled flights.
“We are not here to debate the merits of the vaccine mandate. We are here to emphasize that the focus of each SWAPA pilot must be on operating the aircraft at the highest levels of safety in the industry,” the memo to pilots said. “There is absolutely nothing more important or sacred.”
Southwest's union also said there has been an increase in the ASAP reports to the FAA from their pilots.
“Recent ASAP reports have shown that distractions have entered the cockpit, impeded performance, and become contributing factors to many error chains,” the memo said. “These distractions must be mitigated.”
Apart from the unions, the FAA is also keeping an eye on the matter.
“We take all reports seriously and will follow up through our well-established safety programs,” said the FAA in a statement to USA Today.
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