Southwest CEO said employees won’t be fired over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate

As U.S. airlines tell their employees to get vaccinated against the coronavirus or risk getting fired, one company says it won’t terminate its unvaccinated workers, according to a Facebook post.

The post is an image of text claiming Southwest Airlines "will no longer terminate employees over the mandate.""

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

But in this case, the post is accurate.

Most major airlines in the United States are requiring employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. The moves followed President Joe Biden’s announcement in July that federal government employees and contractors would be required to verify their vaccination status. Many airlines are considered federal contractors, and Southwest has worked with the government to fly military personnel and mail for the U.S. Postal Service.

Southwest announced on Oct. 4 that it would follow Biden's vaccine directive, saying in a statement that employees "must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, or be approved for a religious, medical or disability accommodation, by Dec. 8, 2021, to continue employment with the airline."

Eight days later, in an interview with "Good Morning America," Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said the company will follow Biden’s order, but won’t terminate any of its employees if they choose not to get vaccinated.

"We’re not going to fire any employees over this. We are urging all of our employees to get vaccinated," Kelly said. "If they can’t get vaccinated, we are urging them to seek an accommodation."

The company said in a statement to PolitiFact that it "does not want anyone to lose their job over this mandate." Employees have until Nov. 24 to submit proof that they are fully vaccinated or else request a religious or medical exemption. But according to comments Kelly made Oct. 21 in the company’s third-quarter earnings call, neither that deadline nor the federal government’s Dec. 8 deadline for contractors will result in Southwest workers losing their jobs.

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"We're not going to fire anybody who doesn't get vaccinated," Kelly said. "Nobody is going to lose their job on December the 9th if we're not perfectly in compliance."

Brandy King, a Southwest spokeswoman, told NPR it wanted to give "adequate time" for employees whose exemptions weren't granted after the deadline passes to get fully vaccinated. 

Under Biden's order, unvaccinated individuals can continue to work as long as they wear a face-covering, physically distance themselves from other employees and customers, and undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.

Meanwhile, United Airlines announced Oct. 13 that it was terminating 232 employees who refused to get vaccinated or seek an exemption by the company’s Sept. 28 deadline.

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A Facebook post claims that Southwest Airlines will no longer fire its employees who choose to remain unvaccinated against COVID-19.

The company announced in early October that employees must be vaccinated or seek an exemption from the vaccine to continue employment.

However, the company’s CEO later said that no one will be fired over the vaccine mandate, and that the airline will encourage unvaccinated workers to seek an "accommodation."  Employees whose exemptions have not been processed or approved by Dec. 8 will remain employed, and the company will adhere to COVID-19 safety protocols as it encourages its unvaccinated workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the company’s spokesperson and its CEO.

We rate this claim True.