Chief People Officer Cole Brown and Chief Operating Officer David Seymour share an update on the CDC’s new guidance on quarantining and how we’re adjusting our policies accordingly.

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Dear team,

Thank you for all of your hard work in recent weeks during the holiday travel period. Whether you’re on the frontline or supporting our frontline team, serving our customers depends on your diligence and commitment, and we are grateful. As many of you know, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released new guidance for isolation after a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 and quarantining after exposure to someone confirmed to have COVID-19.

As important as our operation is, an even greater priority is the health and safety of our team. It’s why we continue to advocate for all team members who can be vaccinated to do so and for those who have already been vaccinated to be boosted. We also continue to ask you to do your part by wearing masks properly and as required, practicing social distancing, and not coming to work when ill.

We consulted with several medical experts and discussed across all our workgroups the many nuances of the CDC guidelines to decide which path forward was best for our team.

As other airlines have already done, we plan to align our policies with the new CDC guidance and believe it continues to care for our team, our customers and our operation. At this time, the omicron variant is the most prevalent variant of COVID-19 in the United States, and as the science appears to show, its symptoms are milder, especially for those who have been vaccinated. Per the CDC, “the majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs early in the course of illness, generally in the 1-2 days prior to onset of symptoms and the 2-3 days after.” So, most people will no longer be contagious five days after first developing symptoms.

We informed our union partners about this policy change earlier today. Our Flight and Flight Services policies are guided by the Federal Aviation Administration’s Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO), which is expected to be revised in the coming days, and we will update our protocols for those teams accordingly.

In the meantime, we wanted to share with you the updates we are making to our policies for U.S.-based Management and Support Staff and Ground team members.

 

Your medical situation	Updated policy
If you are symptomatic and need testing	Stay home. Take a COVID-19 test prescribed by a medical professional.
If you test positive	Isolate for five days from the date when symptoms began or the date test was taken, whichever is first. Return to work on the sixth day, provided you are asymptomatic or your symptoms are resolving, including having no fever. If symptoms persist, stay home and get medical advice. Upon returning to work, a well-fitting mask should be properly worn at all times for an additional five days, regardless if social distancing can be maintained.
If you are exposed to a confirmed COVID-19 case	If you are asymptomatic: You can continue coming to work. A well-fitting mask must be properly worn at all times for 10 days from date of exposure, regardless if social distancing can be maintained. If you are symptomatic, stay home and take a COVID-19 test prescribed by a medical professional.
Pandemic leave pay available	Team members may be eligible for a maximum of five days of pandemic leave with the appropriate documentation. If symptoms persist, an additional two days will be available with medical substantiation.

 

As a reminder, team members will continue to only qualify for pandemic leave if:

• They are vaccinated or have been approved for an accommodation because of a medical disability or sincerely held religious belief.
• They test positive for COVID-19 or are symptomatic while awaiting test results (we will cover leave for testing for five days).
• They have a doctor’s note substantiating their need for pandemic leave.

These policy changes for Ground and Management and Support Staff team members take effect today. Over the next few days, we will be updating all of our policies to align with this new guidance. You will be able to find these updated policies in the coronavirus space on Jetnet. Leaders will also find updates in the COVID-19 Manager Toolkit.

In the meantime, if you have questions, please connect with a member of our Global People Partners team.

We know this is a challenging time and ask that you do all you can to take care of yourselves and your families. Thank you also for all you do to keep each other and our customers safe.

Best regards,