The stories you want. The opinions that matter.
No, thanks
Tag: american airlines
With Over 62,000 Dead, Abbott Outlaws Vaccine Mandates In Texas

With Over 62,000 Dead, Abbott Outlaws Vaccine Mandates In Texas

Republicans are celebrating a new executive order from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, which bans all private companies in the state from requiring that their employees or customers receive the COVID-19 vaccine — even if the company has already implemented vaccine requirements.

"Texas continues to be the FREEST state in the country," Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), who served as the White House physician under multiple presidents before being elected to Congress, tweeted in response to Abbott's order. "God Bless the GREAT State of Texas!"

Other Republicans echoed Jackson's sentiments."It is so important that Texas do this," Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) tweeted of Abbott's order. "Hey #TXLege [Texas Legislature] - you must stand with @GovAbbott and with Texans who are having their livelihoods threatened by corporate and federal government tyrants. #DoNotComply#FreedomNotMandates#HealthcareFreedom."

"Governor Abbott did what he had to do in order to protect Texas businesses," Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) said on Fox News Tuesday morning.

Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio implored his own Republican governor to issue the same ban, tweeting, "This is the sort of leadership Ohio needs. Good governments defend freedom."

Abbott announced the vaccine mandate ban even though his state's department of health is urging residents to get the vaccine, which data shows is safe and effective at preventing COVID-19 transmission, hospitalization, and death.

Abbott said in his executive order that while the COVID-19 vaccine is "strongly encouraged," mandates are "yet another instance of federal overreach."

According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, Texas public schools already require that all students be vaccinated against polio; measles, mumps, and rubella; diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis; hepatitis A and B; varicella; and meningococcal disease.

Just 52 percent of Texas residents are fully vaccinated, a percentage that lags far behind those of highly vaccinated states in the Northeast and on the West Coast. And the state just experienced another deadly wave of the virus, bringing the total number of people who have died of COVID-19 in Texas to 68,057, according to data from the New York Times.

Major companies based in Texas have already mandated the COVID-19 vaccine for their employees. They include American Airlines, which is headquartered in the Lone Star State and is one of the largest employers in Texas, as well as many large hospital systems.

A federal judge in Texas ruled in June that the Houston Methodist hospital system in Texas could require its employees to be vaccinated, after some workers sued to block the vaccination rule. Houston Methodist said it was the first hospital system in the country to require the vaccine and that getting vaccinated was part of the "duty as health care professionals to do no harm and protect the safety of all of us — our colleagues, our patients and our society."

Experts say Abbott's ban on vaccine mandates likely violates the supremacy clause in Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution, which says that federal law trumps state law.

The Biden administration already announced vaccine mandates for health care workers whose employers receive Medicare or Medicaid reimbursements, as well as for any contractors that do business with the federal government.

It's unclear whether Abbott's order will be quickly challenged in court.

But opposing vaccine mandates has become the cause du jour for GOP politicians.

Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a similar executive order in Florida. But after a cruise line sued to be able to require passengers to provide proof of vaccination, a federal judge granted a temporary injunction halting enforcement of the order.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.

Major Companies Lash Out At New Texas Laws, Including Abortion Ban

Major Companies Lash Out At New Texas Laws, Including Abortion Ban

By Tina Bellon and Jessica DiNapoli

AUSTIN, Texas/NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. companies including Lyft Inc, American Airlines Group Inc and Silicon Laboratories Inc voiced their displeasure on Friday at new Texas laws on abortion, handguns, and voting limitations, a fresh sign of increased efforts by some firms to signal their commitment to social responsibility.

Lyft and Uber Technologies Inc said they will cover all legal fees for the ride-hail companies' drivers sued under a law that puts in place a near-total ban on abortion.

Lyft will also donate $1 million to women's health provider Planned Parenthood, chief executive Logan Green said on Twitter.

"This is an attack on women's access to healthcare and on their right to choose," Green said of the new Texas law.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi tweeted in response to Green's announcement that his company would cover drivers' legal fees in the same way, thanking Green for taking the initiative.

The ban, which took effect Wednesday, leaves enforcement up to individual citizens, enabling them to sue anyone who provides or "aids or abets" an abortion after six weeks. This potentially includes drivers who unknowingly take women to clinics for abortion procedures.

On Wednesday, Tinder-owner Match Group's CEO and rival dating platform Bumble Inc said they were setting up funds to help Texas-based employees seeking abortion care outside the state.

Website hosting service GoDaddy Inc on Friday, meanwhile, shut down a Texas anti-abortion website that allowed people to report suspected abortions.

The reaction to the law change in Texas comes at a time when many companies are seeking to burnish their corporate and environmental governance credentials with consumers.

Companies also reacted to the Texas legislature this week passing the final version of a bill that outlaws drive-through and 24-hour voting locations and gives poll watchers more power, widely seen as restricting voting access.

"We hoped for a different outcome for this legislation, and we're disappointed by this result," an American Airlines spokesperson said in an email.

A spokesperson for Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co, based in Texas, said, "As a global company of 60,000 team members, HPE encourages our team members to engage in the political process where they live and work and make their voices heard through advocacy and at the voting booth."

Meanwhile, a law allowing people to carry concealed handguns without any permit went into effect in Texas on Wednesday.

"Looking at the abortion law, or the gun law, or the voting law, it's a form of vigilante justice, where you're empowering individuals to enforce the law," said Tyson Tuttle, the CEO of Austin-based Silicon Laboratories. "It's been a rough week in Texas and a harbinger of what's to come across the country."

(Reporting by Tina Bellon in Austin, Texas and Jessica DiNapoli in New York; Editing by Richard Chang and Rosalba O'Brien)

'Horrifying': Sen. Cruz Flew Without Mask From Houston To Dallas

'Horrifying': Sen. Cruz Flew Without Mask From Houston To Dallas

Reprinted with permission from AlterNet

Although Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has recently encouraged mask wearing in response to the coronavirus pandemic, some far-right Republicans are still reluctant to wear face masks in public. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, according to AmericaBlog reporter John Aravosis, wasn't wearing a mask at all during an American Airlines flight from Houston to Dallas on Sunday, July 12 — which is a violation of the airline's rules.

Aravosis tweeted, "I just confirmed that Ted Cruz went the entire one-hour-eight-minute flight from Houston to Dallas and never put on his mask. So he wasn't just drinking coffee for a minute."

Cruz' defenders have argued that the senator was photographed on the flight when he was drinking coffee. But Twitter user @hossehenad explained, "For those trying to argue that he was drinking, it's not hard to have a mask on and undo one side to take a sip then put it back on. Most people take their time drinking coffee."

Twitter



Texas is among the Sun Belt states that is suffering a troubling surge in COVID-19 infections, and Cruz is being lambasted on social media for not wearing a mask during the flight. Marc Perrone, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, tweeted, "Horrifying disregard of the lives of others by both Texas US Senator Ted Cruz and @AmericanAir."



Airline On-Time Rates Fell In May

Airline On-Time Rates Fell In May

By Gregory Karp, Chicago Tribune

U.S. airlines posted worse on-time rates in May, and Chicago airports ranked last for on-time departures.

U.S. airlines were on time 76.9 percent of the time, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Transportation. That’s down from 79.4 percent last May and 79.6 percent in April. Just 0.6 percent of flights were delayed because of weather. Late-arriving aircraft, carrier delays and aviation system delays were the biggest factors, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report.

United Airlines posted a rate of 76.4 percent.

American Airlines posted a rate of 79.1 percent buoyed by its merger partner US Airways, which posted 82.1 percent.

On-time problems continued for Southwest Airlines in May. It was on time 72.7 percent of the time, worst among large carriers. Southwest flights from Chicago to New York-area airports, Newark and LaGuardia were chronic problems, according to the report. Its performance no doubt contributed to the 60.2 percent departure rate at Midway during May, by far the worst among large airports.

Southwest also ranked lowest among large carriers for mishandling luggage, losing nearly four bags per 1,000 passengers. Southwest is one of the few airlines that does not charge for checked bags.

Most punctual airlines were Hawaiian Airlines, 93.2 percent; Alaska Airlines, 89.7 percent; and Delta Air Lines, 84.4 percent.

Carriers reported canceling 1.9 percent of their scheduled domestic flights in May, up from 1.1 percent in both May 2013 and in April 2014.

United and American airlines both rated poorly for consumer complaint rates. Only Frontier Airlines ranked worse among the dozen airlines included in the report.

Photo: Shyb via Flickr