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Virgin Galactic Says FAA has cleared it for further flights; AT&T on mass vaccination drive

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Virgin Galactic said on Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration has cleared it to resume launches after an investigation into why its spaceship veered off course while descending during a July flight with founder Richard Branson aboard.

The company said it was advised by the FAA that corrective actions proposed by Virgin Galactic have been accepted.

A larger area will be designated as protected airspace to ensure there is room for “a variety of possible flight trajectories during spaceflight missions,” a company statement said.

Virgin Galactic said it will incorporate additional steps in its flight procedures to ensure real-time mission notifications to FAA air traffic control.

CEO Michael Colglazier said the company is committed to safety and appreciated the FAA’s review.

“The updates to our airspace and real-time mission notification protocols will strengthen our preparations as we move closer to the commercial launch of our spaceflight experience,” he said.

During the July 11 incident, the rocketship carrying Branson and five Virgin Galactic employees deviated outside the air traffic control clearance area during descent to a runway in New Mexico. The FAA imposed a halt on flights pending the investigation.

Virgin Galactic has said high-altitude wind caused the change in the flight path and insisted the two pilots responded appropriately. The company said the ship did not travel over population centers or cause a hazard to the public.

Meanwhile, AT&T has become one of the largest employers in the U.S. to mandate vaccines for a significant number of frontline workers.

The telecom company has said that its employees in the Communications Workers of America union will be required to be fully vaccinated by Feb. 1, “unless they get an approved job accommodation.”

CWA represents about 90,000 AT&T workers, the union said. It is the largest union at the company, which had about 230,000 employees as of the end of January.

The company said it is extending a vaccination policy that it set for managers in August that required them to be vaccinated by Oct. 11. Unlike the federal government’s vaccine mandate for large employers, AT&T is not offering employees the option to take a weekly test instead of getting inoculated.

The federal mandate, an effort to push more Americans to get vaccinated, will cover as many as 100 million people. About 77% of U.S. adults have had at least one vaccine dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CWA workers at AT&T can request an exemption for religious or medical reasons, and employees who are not vaccinated by Feb. 1 get a 60-day unpaid “reconsideration period” to change their minds, said union spokesperson Beth Allen.

The policy applies to employees who work in stores, customers’ homes, and other worksites as well as people who are temporarily working from home.

AT&T’s union employees include workers at cellphone stores, call centers, and technicians.

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