American, Alaska Airlines and JetBlue add staff vaccine mandates

• The airlines provide government services including cargo hauling and special flights, which they say makes them contractors to the government so they fall under President Biden's mandatory vaccination directive, AP reports.

The big picture: American Airlines told staff on Friday that it would require all employees based in the U.S. and "certain international crew members" to be vaccinated, per a memo obtained by Reuters.

• The American memo gave no timeline. But JetBlue Airways and Alaska Airlines said Friday they'd implement a vaccine mandate as early as Dec. 8, AP notes. That's the deadline the White House has given for federal contractors to be inoculated, with limited exceptions.
• Delta said it's "still evaluating Biden's order," according to AP.