The Qantas Group will require all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as part of the national carrier’s commitment to safety.
Frontline employees – cabin crew, pilots and airport workers – will need to be fully vaccinated by November 15, 2021 and the remainder of employees by March 31, 2022.
The airline said there would be exemptions for those who are unable, for documented medical reasons, to be vaccinated, which is expected to be very rare.
The policy follows consultation with Qantas and Jetstar employees including a survey sent to 22 000 people to seek their views on vaccination. The 12 000 responses received makes it one of the biggest single surveys on this topic in Australia. The results showed that, of those who responded:
* 89% had already been vaccinated or were planning to be.
* 4% were unwilling or unable to get the jab.
* Around three-quarters of employees think it should be a requirement for all employees to be vaccinated and would be concerned if other employees in the workplace weren’t vaccinated.
In an article on its website, the airline says thousands of aviation workers supporting international flights in New South Wales, South Australia and New Zealand are already required to be vaccinated by those jurisdictions. Multiple airlines around the world have also made it a requirement.
Qantas Group ceo, Alan Joyce, said: “One crew member can fly into multiple cities and come into contact with thousands of people in a single day. Making sure they are vaccinated, given the potential of this virus to spread, is so important and I think it’s the kind of safety leadership people would expect from us.
“We provide an essential service, so this will help guard against the disruptions that can be caused by just one positive COVID-case shutting down a freight facility or airport terminal,” he said.
“Since vaccines became available, we’ve strongly encouraged all our people to get the jab and are offering paid time off to get it done. We were really pleased to see from the survey that more than three-quarters of those who responded have already rolled up their sleeve at least once and 60 per cent have had both jabs.
“Many of our people said they would feel concerned about working with unvaccinated colleagues, which is something that many workplaces across the country are grappling with. We understand there will be a very small number of people who decide not to get the vaccine, and that’s their right, but it’s our responsibility to provide the safest possible environment for our employees and for our customers,” he added.
In a separate survey of more than 1 000 Qantas customers, 92% said they expected Qantas crew to be fully vaccinated.
