The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that United Airlines Holdings Inc will enable workers who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 for religious or medical reasons to return by the end of the month.
According to the article, the decision allows workers with exemptions from the carrier's vaccination mandate for U.S. employees to return from unpaid leave or non-customer-facing duties they were permitted to apply for as a substitute for their normal jobs.
When approached by Reuters, United Airlines denied to comment on the matter.
A US appeals court ordered a further review of a decision not to stop United Airlines from implementing a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for employees last month.
United Airlines, located in Chicago, was the first major airline to enforce vaccinations, and its CEO, Scott Kirby, justified the policy, saying: "We did it for the sake of safety. It may have saved lives, according to us."
About 200 of the company's 67,000 employees were fired after refusing to be vaccinated, according to Kirby.
According to the WSJ article, the 200 employees will not be brought back, and newly recruited personnel would still be required to get vaccinated.
(Inputs from Reuters)
