Insurance Surcharge Boosts Delta Employee Vaccination Rates

ATLANTA — Delta Airlines’ vaccination employee rate has reached 82 percent.

The new benchmark was set Thursday, just over a week after President Joe Biden announce a federal vaccination mandate for companies with more than 100 employees. Still, Delta officials said they are pushing for 100 percent.

Delta’s Chief Health Officer Dr. Henry Ting on Thursday announced that the threat of a monthly $200 surcharge on company-sponsored health insurance has boosted employee vaccination rates from around 75 percent to 82 percent in just three weeks.

“We know how to keep our employees and our customers safe,” Ting said, noting that Delta is eschewing a vaccination mandate despite Biden's vaccination requirement.

The air carrier does have a mask mandate in place for all employees working in indoor spaces. The mandate aligns with federal masking requirements for all airline passengers.

Delta announced the surcharge — which will take effect on Nov. 1 — late last month in an effort to push to have all workers vaccinated.

“While we can be proud of our 75% vaccination rate, the aggressiveness of the (delta) variant means we need to get many more of our people vaccinated, and as close to 100% as possible,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement released when he announced the surcharge in August.

Bastian said the average hospital stay for COVID-19 has cost the air carrier $50,000 per person.