American Airlines to end pandemic leave for unvaccinated staff

American Airlines said Friday it would not provide special leave from next month to unvaccinated employees who have to quarantine due to COVID-19. Unvaccinated workers will have to use their sick time or medical leave if they miss work due to the disease, it said. "Given there is an FDA-approved vaccine, pandemic leave will only be offered to team members who are fully vaccinated and who provide their vaccination card to us," the carrier said in a memo to staff. Separately, Alaska Air said on Friday that it had stopped special pay for unvaccinated employee absences due to COVID-19 infection or exposure to a suspect. <br/>