Frontier Airlines will require employees to get vaccinated or regularly take Covid tests

KEY POINTS

• The measure follows United Airlines' announcement earlier Friday to require its U.S. staff to be vaccinated no later than Oct. 25.
• Frontier said workers will have until Oct. 1 to show proof that they received a Covid-19 vaccine, or regularly test negative.
• The airline said its decision was due to the rapid rise in delta-variant Covid cases.

Frontier Airlines planes.

Robert Alexander | Getty Images

Frontier Airlines on Friday said it will require employees to get vaccinated against Covid-19 or regularly provide proof of negative tests.

The announcement from the low-cost carrier came hours after United Airlines said all of its 67,000 U.S. employees must show proof of vaccination no later than Oct. 25, becoming the country's first major carrier and one of the largest companies to take that step.

"As we continue to watch the rapid increase of new COVID-19 cases across the United States caused by the Delta variant, I am concerned for the well-being of our team members, their families and friends," Frontier's CEO Barry Biffle said in a news release.

Frontier said the majority of the airline's workers have already been vaccinated.

The Denver-based airline blamed the delta variant on a drop in bookings over the past week that prompted it to lower its forecast for the third quarter.