VIDEO: 1,000 employees at Kelowna airport face mandatory vaccination

Get double vaccinated or quit.

Those are the choices facing employees that work in secure areas at the Kelowna Airport and other transportation workers across the country.

A federal announcement about the vaccine mandate comes a day after YLW announced voluntary rapid testing was now available for workers.

But will it all be enough to convince federal officials to re-open the airport to international flights?

Senior Airport Manager Phillip Elchitz said they are working hard behind the scenes to get Kelowna's international status back.

"It is frustrating at this point," said Elchitz. There are 10 airports in Canada that now offer international flights and Kelowna's passenger volumes should put it in that group, but so far there has been no movement.

"We've been working with the federal government both politically and at the staffing level."

He suggested that Kelowna is close to getting there.

It was just yesterday that the airport announced that volunteer rapid testing was now available for all employees and contractors.

It's hoped that might help in their lobbying efforts.

"What we're learning now," he said, "is that in order for us to get this over the finish line we really need to work closer with Health Canada."

Meanwhile, YLW is preparing for a shake-up after Transport Canada announced an employee vaccination mandate which will affect 1000 workers at the Kelowna Airport.

"By the end of October, staff working inside the restricted area of the airport will have to declare whether they're vaccinated or not," explained Elchitz.

Those who don't comply will be placed on unpaid leave, according to Transport Canada.

That is expected to create some problems for airports like Kelowna's.

"I think it puts the entire industry in a bit of a pinch," he said.

"Because there are people who are simply going to decide to not be vaccinated."

But Elchitz said it's not a surprise and the administration at the airport has been putting together a contingency plan on how they're going to operate.

"We have those plans now in place."

Meanwhile the airline industry seems to have confidence that these things will work themselves out.

They are booking international flights for the Christmas season, for instance, based on the assumption that direct flights out of Kelowna will have resumed by then.