When Porter Airlines restarts service on 08SEP, its employees must be fully vaccinated or present a negative COVID-19 test administered within 72 hours of the start of their shift.
It’s the first airline to make that definitive statement since, as Open Jaw reported, the federal government announced last week that federally-regulated industries such as airlines and rail travel will require vaccination. Although Ottawa indicated it wanted the new policy implemented as quickly as possible, and identified the end of OCT as a target, no official date had been set.
Porter’s early SEP relaunch with fully-vaccinated staff will set a precedent for the industry, which has been supportive of the proposal to keep transportation staff as well as pax safer from the transmission of the COVID-19 virus and its new variants.
The airline also supports the government’s push for all airline pax to be vaccinated.
“We have a responsibility to ensure a safe workplace. With vaccines readily available for everyone in Canada and the U.S., and their proven effectiveness, requiring vaccination or regular testing is a critical measure to protect the health of our team members,” said Michael Deluce, president and CEO, Porter Airlines in a press release.
“We are providing a testing option to ensure that personal circumstances are accommodated.”
It is unclear in the airline’s initial statement what the ‘personal circumstances’ are and how they might be addressed.
“This policy is another layer of reassurance for our passengers. In addition to our Healthy Flights program, now every team member passengers come in contact with will either be fully vaccinated or recently tested. Working and flying with Porter will be a safer experience for everyone,” added Deluce.
For more information, visit the airline’s site.
