Rajesh Kumar Singh and David Shepardson

WASHINGTON/CHICAGO – The White House and two major U.S. airlines have said they are not concerned that the Biden administration’s executive order mandating federal contractors mandate employee vaccinations by December 8th will affect holiday travel, or cause employees to leave.

American Airlines (NASDAQ;) and Southwest Airlines, (NYSE:), announced this month that they will comply with the Dec. 8 mandate for employees unless there is a medical or religious exemption.

A few industry watchers and airline executives had originally feared an exodus by unvaccinated government workers or airlines just before Christmas. But airlines have since stated that it will not occur and quoted comments from the White House.

Gary Kelly, Southwest Airlines chief executive said Thursday that the company is not running a campaign for everyone to be vaccinated. He also stated that employees should know that they will not lose their jobs on December 9.

He stated, “We won’t fire anybody who hasn’t gotten vaccinated.” He stated that the vaccine issue won’t disrupt travel.

Jeff Zients, White House COVID-19 Coordinator, stated Wednesday that federal workers and contractors will not be affected by vaccines.

Zients explained that holiday travel will not be affected by vaccinations.

Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader, has raised concerns over the potential impact of the Transportation Security Administration on travel.

Federal workers and contractors are not required to disrupt government services, which people rely on. Zients stated that agencies have the ability to apply the mandate with minimal disruption of critical operations.

Zients stated that the goal is to prevent people from getting vaccinated and not punish them. So federal agencies won’t be taking employees out of service until they have completed a counseling and education process.

American Airlines CEO Doug Parker stated on Thursday that he doesn’t expect employees to quit because of the mandate for vaccines.

“We don’t believe anyone is going to leave America. Parker stated that he doesn’t believe anyone will want to leave America because they either choose to not get vaccinated, or don’t have any religious or medical exemptions.

Parker stated that the airline was “highly confident” it would have all passengers needed for its holiday schedule, even though some employees without exemptions are subject to new testing.

Parker stated that “we don’t expect any operational impacts.”

FedEx Corp is represented by the Cargo Airline Association (NYSE:). United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE:), along with other cargo carriers, wrote Monday to the White House that it was “practically impossible for 100% of our respective workers to be vaccinated by December 8th.” By moving this date to the first quarter of 2022, association members will be able to respond quickly and effectively during holiday season.

The letter, which was seen by Reuters in its entirety, had never been published before.

FedEx said Thursday that it had “engaged the relevant government agencies” in relation to the guidelines.