United Airlines said it would terminate about 600 employees for refusing to comply with its vaccination requirement, putting the company at the forefront of the battle over vaccine mandates as the economy moves through a bumpy pandemic recovery. The airline also said that 99% of its US work force of 67,000 had been vaccinated, a sign that mandates can be an effective way for companies to prod their employees to get shots. More large companies have announced vaccine requirements as the government puts increasing pressure on them to help the country increase its inoculation rate. This month, President Biden mandated that all businesses with 100 or more workers require their staff to be vaccinated or face weekly testing, helping propel new corporate vaccination policies. Some companies are still trying to encourage their employees with a mix of incentives and deterrents, but many others have made vaccination compulsory as a condition of work. In August, United became the first US carrier and one of the first large corporations to mandate a vaccine for Covid-19. “This was an incredibly difficult decision but keeping our team safe has always been our first priority,” Scott Kirby, United’s CE, and Brett Hart, its president, said in a memo sent to the staff on Tuesday. On Wednesday, a spokeswoman confirmed that the company had already begun its process to terminate 593 US-based employees who declined to be vaccinated. “We will work with folks if during that process they decide to get vaccinated,” the spokeswoman said. United Airlines did not give a timeline for the termination process or a breakdown of the job categories of the fired workers.<br/>
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Chinese MRO provider Ameco and Collins Aerospace have expanded a long-term component support contract for Air China’s fleet. The expansion of the 10-year agreement — announced at Airshow China 2021 in Zhuhai — will see Collins’ integrated drive generator, as well as other generators, added to the support contract. Consequently, Collins will also extend its onsite inventory management services for all of Ameco’s generator capabilities. It will encompass Air China’s various aircraft platforms, including the Comac ARJ21 regional jet, as well as the Boeing 787 and Airbus A320neo family aircraft. <br/>
Tata Group will likely get the government’s nod to take control of money-losing Air India Ltd. considering the nation’s largest conglomerate is capable of pouring large sums into the flag carrier and revamping it. That’s according to former Air India director Jitender Bhargava, who said in a Bloomberg TV interview Wednesday that Tata Group has the funds and wherewithal to revive it. “Tatas have been very, very passionate about Air India,” Bhargava said. “J.R.D. Tata on record has said that this is his only creation, rest of the Tata companies came to him and he was only managing them. So there was a lot of passion, lot of emotional connection between Tatas and Air India, and that has made them bid for it.” Tata Sons Ltd., the group holding company that controls Jaguar Land Rover and owns a majority stake in AirAsia India, submitted a bid for Air India earlier this month. The other bidder is SpiceJet Ltd. owner Ajay Singh in his personal capacity. A recommendation on which party should be the victor is expected this week, possibly as soon as Wednesday. Air India, originally called Tata Airlines, was established in 1932 by the legendary industrialist and philanthropist J.R.D. Tata, who was also India’s first licensed pilot. It was nationalized around the time of India’s independence in 1947. The government shouldn’t hope for a large sum of money and must take a “pragmatic view” in selling Air India because keeping the ailing flag carrier would mean straining state finances year after year, Bhargava said. <br/>