COVID-19 vaccine holdouts could impact airline travel heading into holiday season

Vaccine holdout impacts airline travel

With one of the busiest seasons for airline travel less than a month away, FOX 5 is looking at how vaccine holdout is impacting the industry.

The countdown is on as travelers finalize their Thanksgiving holiday plans, but concerns are mounting that vaccine mandates for TSA and airline workers could cause even more cancellations and delays than experienced in recent weeks.

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Airlines across the country have a deadline of Nov. 24, the day before Thanksgiving, for employees to be vaccinated as a workforce shortage and crisis is creating problems industry-wide.

The deadline could cause massive cancellations, so should you get insurance if you’re planning to travel this Thanksgiving holiday?

"It doesn't really matter if it's a worker shortage issue or a weather-related issue," says Goose Insurance Co-founder Omar Kaywan. "It's an unforeseen event and there are benefits that are available to people because for all intents and purposes, it's outside of their control."

American Airlines most recently experienced labor shortages that caused booking complications and prompted the cancellation of more than 2,000 flights over the weekend.

Southwest and other airlines reportedly have thousands of employees unable to work due to their unvaccinated status or a negative COVID-19 test.

All this could mean travelers may get stuck this holiday attempting to get to their holiday destination.

Experts say to be sure to read the fine print when getting travel insurance to make sure coverage includes not just worker shortages, but weather events as well.