'Passengers Are Next,' Current, Former American Airlines Workers Protest COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Another medical freedom rally is taking place, this time at the the American Airlines Headquarters in Dallas on Oct. 22.
Current and former airline workers gathered in protest of COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
"We are leading the way in this fight because it doesn't end with us, passengers are next," an organizer of the event told CBS 11 News via email.
By the second week of October, the largest pilots association and most major carriers — United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines — confirmed they will follow President Biden's executive order requiring workers to get the COVID-19 vaccination.
Airlines are considered government contractors under Biden's federal vaccine plan.
The protest comes just five days after current and former Southwest Airlines workers gathered at the airline's headquarters in Dallas. Chopper 11 flew over the group on Monday of hundreds of people holding signs that said, "Terminate the mandate," "freedom not force" and "no jabs for jobs."
The SWA pilots union later told CBS 11 they were not involved in the protest.
There's also a push for all airline passengers to be vaccinated but airlines have so far resisted going that far.
As of October 30, those who want to fly in Canada must have at least one dose of the vaccine to do so, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced.
