The CEO of Southwest Airlines said Tuesday that he never wanted to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for his employees and admitted his company will only violate the privacy and liberty of tens of thousands of workers because President Joe Biden forced his hand.
Gary Kelly told CNBC that any company mandate is all on the federal government.
“I’ve never been in favor of corporations imposing that kind of a mandate. I’m not in favor of that. Never have been,” Kelly said.
“But the executive order from President Biden mandates that all federal employees and then all federal contractors, which covers all the major airlines, have to have a mandate in place by Dec. 8, so we’re working through that.”
“My goal, obviously, is that no one loses their job. The objective here, obviously, is to improve health and safety, not for people to lose their jobs,” Kelly added.
Southwest CEO blames Biden for vax mandate: “I’m not in favor of that, never have been. But the executive order from President Biden mandates that all federal employees, and then all federal contractors, which covers all the major airlines, have to have a mandate.” pic.twitter.com/TQs21CEMoG
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 12, 2021
His appearance on CNBC came after his company canceled thousands of flights over the weekend. Many suspected that Southwest employees had called off work in droves in protest of the vaccine mandate.
Kelly told ABC News on Tuesday that the airline’s operations were nearly back to normal.
“I want to apologize to all of our customers. This is not what we want,” Kelly said. “Unfortunately, it just takes a couple of days to get things back on track.”
“I want to apologize to all of our customers. This is not what we want but unfortunately it just takes a couple of days to get things back on track."
Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly speaks out on cancellation chaos. https://t.co/bwAoBRTkWX pic.twitter.com/UCuh4vr3HR
— Good Morning America (@GMA) October 12, 2021
Southwest oddly blamed the mass flight cancellations on bad weather and traffic control staffing issues.
ATC issues and disruptive weather have resulted in a high volume of cancellations throughout the weekend while we work to recover our operation. We appreciate your patience as we accommodate affected Customers, and Customer Service wait times are longer than usual. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/o1scQJ5lLb
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) October 9, 2021
No other major airline experienced those issues on the same level, despite ferrying passengers across the country in the same airspace using the same control towers and personnel.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that “there had been no air traffic control shortages since Friday.”
“Some airlines continue to experience scheduling challenges due to aircraft and crews being out of place,” the FAA said.
The only thing out of place is Southwest folding to an unconstitutional mandate forcing Americans to choose between bodily autonomy and their jobs.
While many airlines were outspoken earlier this year on a number of issues — such as allowing people to vote without proving their identity — the same companies are now complying with actual government tyranny.
To Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, asking voters to show ID is tantamount to racism. Meanwhile, both airlines have punished their own employees who have chosen not to get vaccinated.
Last weekend, failing to stand up for medical freedom apparently caught up with Southwest. Kelly let his employees down, and many of them reportedly paid him back by showing the country just how dangerous Biden’s mandate could be.