The CEO of Delta says employees who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 are costing the airline a fortune -- and now he's making unvaccinated workers cover the costs.
- Starting November 1st, the airline will begin charging unvaccinated employees $200 a month to help cover the extra costs, CEO Ed Bastian writes in a memo sent out Wednesday. The fee will be deducted directly from the employees' paychecks as part of their insurance premiums, he adds.
- “The average hospital stay for COVID-19 has cost Delta $50,000 per person,” Bastian writes. "This surcharge will be necessary to address the financial risk the decision to not vaccinate is creating for our company. In recent weeks since the rise of the B.1.617.2 variant, all Delta employees who have been hospitalized with COVID were not fully vaccinated.”
- Will this encourage more Delta employees to get vaccinated? Should more companies follow Delta's lead?
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