American Airlines subsidiary Piedmont Airlines discouraged pilots from getting COVID vaccines last weekend “because of high demand” to fly, according to a memo obtained by CBS News.
In the memo sent on Wednesday, Piedmont Airlines lead pilot John Pursell told the regional airline’s 500 pilots: “Due to high demand, Piemonte will not be able to release additional pilots for COVID vaccination for the weekend of March 19-21. . “
Travel demand soared in March, reaching a pandemic peak of more than 1.5 million passenger screens at TSA checkpoints on Sunday.
Pursell told pilots they should “try to schedule later in the month” so that the airline could maintain “operational reliability”.
Piedmont is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines with bases in Charlotte, North Carolina and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The regional airline operates Embraer E-145 airliners with 50 seats.
A source at the airline told CBS News that several pilots had been given time off last weekend to receive a COVID vaccine due to a lack of enough backup pilots to cover their services. The source added that while workers are happy, the airline is busy again, “pilots must be protected … without retaliation.”
The FAA does not allow pilots to fly for 48 hours after receiving a COVID-19 vaccination, a regulation that could undermine the airline’s ability to keep up with increasing travel demand, making the airline ‘almost was operating on aircraft capacity as well as available crews, “according to the memo.
“We fully recognize the desire to get vaccinated as soon as possible,” said another memo entitled “COVID-19 Vaccination Policy” sent to all pilots in Piemonte on March 11 and obtained by CBS News. “While we encourage every pilot to be vaccinated, the requirement to wait 48 hours before returning to flight duty raises serious concerns about crew coverage.”
The memo says the airline will provide “ maximum scheduling flexibility, ” but told pilots they should “ make every effort to schedule their one-time vaccination or the first injection of a dual vaccine during their rest time and when the required 48-hour post period. will not disrupt their flight schedule. “
Vaccine agreements in many states remain scarce.
The airline said last weekend there was a vaccination clinic at Charlotte airport for airport workers, including those working for Piemonte. The airline has a crew base at Charlotte Douglas International Airport and says it has authorized as many pilots as possible without canceling flights, following the March 17 email.
“Piemonte strongly encourages all our team members to get vaccinated and provides an incentive to do so,” Crystal Byrd, Piemonte’s director of corporate communications, said in a statement. “Due to our pilots’ FAA requirements to remain unemployed after vaccination, we are doing our best to provide flexibility while meeting the needs of our customers.”
Byrd said pilots “are encouraged to work with their leadership team to have the necessary time off to receive their vaccine.”
The airline believes that a similar situation with a major vaccination event at a hub airport is unlikely to recur during a busy travel weekend.