A divided US appeals court has rebuffed a request by six employees to block United Airlines (UAL.O) from enforcing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for workers that imposes unpaid leave on those who are granted religious or medical exceptions. A panel of the New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 on Monday night to reject the emergency request for an injunction blocking the mandate while the employees appeal a November ruling by a federal judge in favor of the airline. The case is one of many legal battles over vaccine requirements imposed by companies and governments. United was the first major air carrier to issue a vaccine requirement and others followed. United has granted around 2,000 religious and medical exemptions to employees in roles including pilots, flight attendants and customer service agents. A United spokesperson declined to comment on the 5th Circuit decision. The dissenting member of the three-judge panel, Judge James Ho, sharply criticized the decision, writing that "vaccine mandates like the one United is attempting to impose here present a crisis of conscience for many people of faith." "To hypothesize that the earthly reward of monetary damages could compensate for these profound challenges of faith is to misunderstand the entire nature of religious conviction at its most foundational level. And that is so whether the mandate comes from D.C. or the C-Suite," added Ho, who was appointed to the bench by Republican former President Donald Trump. The 5th Circuit panel's majority issued a two-sentence order rebuffing the plaintiffs, citing the rationale made by U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Texas last month.<br/>
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United said Tuesday it expects to fly more passengers each day during the year-end holidays than Thanksgiving, a sign demand is holding up despite increased cases of the omicron variant. The Chicago-based carrier forecast it will fly an average of 420,000 passengers a day from Dec. 16 through Jan. 3, up from an average of 400,000 a day over Thanksgiving, bringing it to about 87% of the number of travelers it flew in 2019, before the pandemic. CEO Scott Kirby told reporters earlier this month that the airline had registered an increase in cancellations after the emergence of the omicron variant. Concerns over the variant sparked stricter rules for international travelers including the new U.S. requirement that all inbound passengers need to show proof of a negative Covid test taken within one day of departure, regardless of vaccination status. Kirby said that cancellations were not as severe as during the delta variant of Covid in the summer.<br/>