United Airlines Becomes First Major Airline To Mandate Vaccines For All U.S. Employees

United Airlines has decided to be the trendsetters when it comes to the health and safety of their employees and the public.

The airline will require its 67,000 employees to get vaccinated no later than October 25, 2021, or risk termination. This demand deeming them the first for U.S. carriers. Hours after the Friday announcement, Frontier Airlines reportedly followed suit stating their employees must either frequently be tested for COVID-19 or be vaccinated by October 1, 2021.

“We know some of you will disagree with this decision to require the vaccine for all United employees,” United CEO Scott Kirby and President Brett Hart said Friday in an employee note. “But, we have no greater responsibility to you and your colleagues than to ensure your safety when you’re at work, and the facts are crystal clear: everyone is safer when everyone is vaccinated.”

United Airlines employees must reportedly upload proof that they received two doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or one dose of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose five weeks after federal officials give full approval to them or by October 25, 2021; whichever is first.

United’s requirement is one of the strictest vaccine mandates from a U.S. company with face-to-face interaction. The mandate does not apply to regional airlines that fly shorter routes for United.