CHICAGO (WGN) – United Airlines says its unvaccinated pilots are costing the company nearly $1.5 million every two weeks.
Bloomberg reports the airline was forced to put the pilots on paid leave because colleagues refused “to risk their safety” by flying with unvaccinated coworkers.
Last Friday, United asked a federal judge in Texas not to extend a temporary ban on the vaccine mandate the airline announced in August. The Fort Worth judge declined, extending an interim order on Monday that banned the airline from placing unvaccinated workers with a religious or medical exemption to the company’s mandate on unpaid leave.
The ban took effect last month, but the report suggests that unvaccinated pilots cost the Chicago-based airline about $1.4 million every two weeks. The airline is unlikely to recoup the lost funds, Bloomberg reports.
In late September, the airline announced that 99% of its workers were vaccinated, per its mandate. Nearly 600 unvaccinated workers were slated to be fired, although United confirmed hundreds more complied.