United Airlines asked a judge to lift a temporary restraining order on their company's coronavirus vaccine mandate as they claim keeping pilots home on paid sick leave is costing nearly $3million each month.
The air carrier claims it was 'forced' to the pilots on paid leave because some employees refused 'to risk their safety' by flying with their unvaccinated coworkers.
The restraining order - set to expire today - was put in place after six employees filed a lawsuit against United in a Texas federal court last month.
It alleges that the airline 'failed to provide reasonable accommodations' when their requests for religious or medical exemptions to the company vaccine mandate were only granted with unpaid leave.
The lawsuit was filed after more than 200 United workers faced termination for not receiving the COVID shot.
On Monday, US District Judge Mark Pittman extended the temporary ban until November 8, prohibiting United from moving the employees to unpaid leave or denying any exemption requests because they were filed past the company deadline.
United Airlines asked a judge to lift a temporary restraining order on their company's coronavirus vaccine mandate as they claim keeping pilots home on paid sick leave is costing nearly $3million each month
On Monday, US District Judge Mark Pittman extended the temporary ban until November 8, prohibiting United from moving the employees to unpaid leave or denying any exemption requests because they were filed past the company deadline
Pittman said the temporary restraining order will remain in effect until he decides whether to block the company's vaccine mandate for the remainder of the litigation, Bloomberg reported.
United, however, argued the order was 'unwarranted' because the pilots involved in the lawsuit would get 'money damages and retroactive seniority if they ultimately prevail on the merits.'
The Chicago-based air carrier claims the order is costing them $1.4million every two weeks, or about $100,000-a-day.
Analysts believe the company is 'unlikely' to recoup the lost funds.
The loss comes as the airline industry continues to struggle amid the pandemic, which nearly destroyed the business in 2020.
United, last year, saw a loss of nearly $7billion as people were not taking flights, although demand for air travel has surged to unprecedented levels as COVID-weary Americans take to the skies, with a further boom expected when the US reopens to international visitors from November 8.
The airline, on Monday, told Pittman it planned to start returning unvaccinated workers with exemptions back into customer-facing roles once the spread of COVID-19 subsides.
Company leaders claim flight crew members will return to work once nationwide daily case counts drop below 10,000 new cases per day for at least 21 consecutive days.
Meanwhile, the pilots who filed the suit argued that vaccinated pilots should 'not know whether they are flying with an unvaccinated pilot' and that 'United should be informing
