United Airlines to mandate COVID-19 vaccine for all US employees

United Airlines announced Friday that it will require all of its US employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by the fall, becoming the first major airline to do so.

The Chicago-based airline’s 67,000 US employees must be vaccinated by no later than Oct. 25 or risk termination, CEO Scott Kirby and President Brett Hart said in a letter to employees Friday. “We know some of you will disagree with this decision to require the vaccine for all United employees,” the executives wrote. “But, we have no greater responsibility to you and your colleagues than to ensure your safety when you’re at work, and the facts are crystal clear: everyone is safer when everyone is vaccinated.”