Did United Airlines Just Confirm Vaccine Passports Are Coming To U.S. Air Travel?

Every mandate implemented by the Biden administration paves the way for another down the road.

We mentioned yesterday that all signs point to an interstate vaccine passport mandate.

Now, the Biden administration has its eyes on the sky.

A vaccine passport mandate may quickly be coming to a U.S. airline near you.

Citing concerns over holiday travel, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced the U.S. Air Travel Public Safety Act last Wednesday.

This bill will restrict air travel on domestic flights to the fully vaccinated or those with a negative covid test.

We can’t allow upcoming holiday air travel to contribute to another surge in COVID cases. Today I introduced legislation requiring passengers on domestic flights to be vaccinated, test negative or be fully recovered from a previous COVID illness.https://t.co/vVRHM5OiuV

— Senator Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) September 29, 2021

Apparently, ‘recovery documentation’ proves an individual recovered from Covid-19, and is an acceptable form of compliance. 

Is this move about protecting Americans’ health?

Or another power grab to usurp our freedom and force the unvaccinated to comply?

Here is more on the bill from Senator Feinstein’s website:

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today introduced the U.S. Air Travel Public Safety Act, a bill that would require all passengers on domestic airline flights to either be fully vaccinated, have recently tested negative for COVID-19 or have fully recovered from COVID-19.

The bill would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Federal Aviation Administration, to develop national vaccination standards and procedures related to COVID-19 and domestic air travel in order to prevent future outbreaks of the disease.

The bill would also require the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to make recommendations for COVID-19 vaccine use in health care settings and among health care personnel in other settings. 

The legislation builds on a current CDC requirement that all air passengers traveling to the United States from a foreign country must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test result or documentation of recovery from COVID-19. Last week, the Biden administration announced it will work with airlines to implement additional protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on international flights.

“We know that air travel during the 2020 holiday season contributed to last winter’s devastating COVID-19 surge. We simply cannot allow that to happen again,” Feinstein said.

“Ensuring that air travelers protect themselves and their destination communities from this disease is critical to prevent the next surge, particularly if we confront new, more virulent variants of COVID-19. This bill complements similar travel requirements already in place for all air passengers – including Americans – who fly to the United States from foreign countries. This includes flights from foreign countries with lower COVID-19 rates than many U.S. states.

“It only makes sense that we also ensure the millions of airline passengers that crisscross our country aren’t contributing to further transmission, especially as young children remain ineligible to be vaccinated.”

The bill is supported by the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the American Public Health Association.

Dr. Barbara D. Alexander, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and professor of medicine and pathology at Duke University School of Medicine said: “Vaccination is a critical strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic, and vaccination requirements in multiple settings are an important mechanism to boost vaccination rates, prevent infections and hospitalizations and save lives. The Infectious Diseases Society of America supports Senator Feinstein’s legislation to require vaccination for domestic air travel as part of our nation’s broader COVID-19 vaccination strategy.”

Background

• According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID-19 vaccines continued to offer strong protection after the Delta variant became predominant over the summer. People who were fully vaccinated were five times less likely to be infected and more than 10 times less likely to be admitted to the hospital or die compared to those who were unvaccinated.  

• According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the United States is seeing its highest weekly totals of pediatric COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began. The CDC also found that in August, emergency department visits and hospital admissions among children were higher in states with lower vaccine rates and lower in states with higher vaccine rates. 

• According to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, people traveling to other counties or states last year contributed to higher COVID-19 case numbers in their destination communities. Authors of the study later observed that this was especially true during the 2020 summer and winter holidays.

• According to a Mayo Clinic Proceedings study, COVID-19 testing requirements for airline passengers could have a meaningful effect on detecting active infections either immediately before or after a flight. 

• According to a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, about three in 10 people surveyed who were waiting to be vaccinated said they would be more likely to get vaccinated if airlines required passengers to be vaccinated. This number increased to about four in 10 among unvaccinated individuals who said they would only get the vaccine if required.

By the sound of the bill, it seems the Senator is hopeful this mandate will push the unvaccinated to get vaccinated.

As though the unvaccinated haven’t made their decision already!

At the same time, unvaccinated airline employees are beginning to feel the heat for saying no to the jab.

United Airlines reports having fired 593 people for not complying with the vaccine mandate.

United Airlines fires 593 people for not complying with COVID vaccine mandate https://t.co/ST8NGaeyHz

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) September 29, 2021

The Biden administration and the airlines have been discussing the timing of the mandates for employees.

Newsmax reports that the White House told U.S. Airlines to mandate Covid vaccines for employees by December 8.

Once all the airline employees are vaccinated, mandates on travelers are justified.

Here is more from Newsmax:

The White House is pressing major U.S. airlines to mandate vaccines for employees by Dec. 8, four sources told Reuters on Friday.

White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeffrey Zients spoke to the chief executives of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines on Thursday to ensure they were working expeditiously to develop and enforce vaccine requirements ahead of a Dec. 8 deadline for federal contractors, the sources said.

Some airline officials had asked the White House to push back the requirements, signed by President Joe Biden last month, until after the busy holiday travel season.

Zients urged the airlines “to act sooner than later to ensure as smooth of an implementation process as possible,” one source said, and urged them to look at United Airlines vaccine requirement that was announced in August.

The three airlines separately confirmed the calls took place but declined to discuss the specifics. Zients did not respond to a request for comment on the calls.

The Biden administration notified carriers on Thursday it would seek a modification of those CRAF contracts to require vaccinations of airline employees.

Vaccine mandates are bad for us, and they’re bad for business.

The airlines know the vaccine mandates are harmful to their bottom line, yet they continue to follow Resident Biden’s orders, quietly selling their shares in the night.

Nasdaq issued a ‘trade alert’ on Friday for insider stock traders at United Airlines.

Shareholders of the company noted that President Brett Hart sold $3.5 million worth of stock at $45.14 per share.

“Some United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) shareholders…concerned to see that the President, Brett Hart, recently sold a substantial US$3.5m worth of stock at a price of US$45.14 per share…most concerning element…disposal amounted to 69% of their entire holding.” https://t.co/JyxTpRXgsG

— danielle hatfield (@dhatfield) October 1, 2021

So the CEO of United Airlines has just SOLD 69% of His STOCK in HIS OWN COMPANY, because BUTT WIPE BIDEN is going to Issue STATE TO STATE TRAVEL VACCINE PASSPORTS…Can you SAY CRASH THE ECONOMY? https://t.co/IBlUU5tfe0

— Wacokid (@Wacokid4) October 1, 2021

Others point out how United Airlines’ stock continues to plummet the more mandates are enforced.

United Airlines stock is down today $47.52 at this current time. Let’s all keep track together and see how the Vaccine mandate for it’s workers pans out for them. pic.twitter.com/YKHodsY2ZK

— Paul (@BeerNascarGuns) September 30, 2021

United Airlines' stock is down 50% in the last few years. Maybe management needs a new set of priorities.https://t.co/9lZn340fps

— Jeff Cassman (@JeffCassman) September 29, 2021

Could this be indicative that vaccine mandates for air travel are imminent?

Furthermore, if vaccine mandates are bad for Americans and our economy, the question remains: why are they being enforced?