Will COVID-19 mandates cause another holiday season nightmare?

Get ready for a robust holiday travel season.

While some airlines have demanded their employees take the jab, there are other airlines such as American Airlines and Southwest Airlines still supposedly reminding the powers that be that the United States is “suppose” to be a free country of choice.

As a frequent traveler myself having clocked more than two-million miles and having visited 107 countries overall many more than once, the travel industry continually keeps me fascinated.

Last week on a trip to South Africa while, we had to sit every other seat in the airport lobby and socially distance in Dallas/Fort Worth; Doha, Qatar and Cape Town, South Africa - and wear a mask, once on the plane it was, as usual, a free for all with people sitting on top of each other just like in pre-COVID-19 times.

Yes, we had masks on for the 15.5 hour flight, but there are still so many questions one can only say “travel at your own risk.”

Many people believe those vaccinated are also the problem since often the vaxed are led to believe they are exempt from COVID-19 because they have been vaccinated.

While that is a discussion for another time, it was recently reported that the union for the pilots for American Airlines said the company “could face a staffing shortage ahead of the busy holiday travel season if it implements a stringent COVID-19 vaccine mandate.”

The Allied Pilots Association was said to have suggested American Airlines find “alternate means of compliance with the Executive Order be made available for professional pilots” so mass firings and unpaid leave would not cause a holiday season nightmare.

In the last few weeks countless Southwest Airlines fights were also cancelled. It was reported to be due to bad weather, but some tweets reported otherwise.

An Oct. 10 tweet said the Southwest Airlines cancellations were due to pilot walkouts in protest of a COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

“Countless Southwest Airlines employees have walked out of their jobs to oppose the vaccine mandate, causing operations to effectively shut down,” was one Oct. 10 tweet.

Another on Instagram read, “Southwest is canceling fights blaming the weather because their employees are saying NO to the authoritarian vaccine mandate.”

Also reported was “as of Wednesday, the APA was hopeful that it is using their sick time before they are terminated on Nov. 24 due to the (vaccine) mandate,” said a post on Facebook.

Even so, a report indicated American Airlines has said it will enforce the mandate of employees being forced to be vaccinated and the deadline is the day before Thanksgiving, Nov. 24.

While facts are harder to determine these days than the actual COVID-19 related deaths that leave human life at stake, one thing is confirmed.

The Southwest Airlines’ pilot union asked a court on Friday to temporarily block the airline’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

A few days later the airline canceled more than 1,000 of its fights and said it was related to cancellations and delays due to bad weather and air traffic control issues.

Over at American Airlines, my hometown airline carrier (said with a smirk) that airline has delayed every fight I have been on in late 2020 and in 2021 so one can only wonder what will happen if the airline pilots really are standing up for their rights.

American Airlines President Robert Isom said the company “won’t bow to the pilots’ union request to allow for “alternatives” to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees.”

American Airlines Capt. Eric Ferguson, the American Airlines Pilots Union president said, “they had proposed alternative means of compliance to the vaccine mandate, such as weekly testing and allowing those previously infected with Covid to continue to work.”

He added, “This would ensure the same level of safety while preventing the destabilization of our industry on the eve of the upcoming holiday season.”

For now, one can only speculate what the holiday travel season will look like as gas prices continue to rise too.

What is the message, each person needs to research their own facts since it is important right now that every person in the world understand what is happening around the globe.