Bliss, TimmWalker, Sherry L.2024-07-182024-07-182024-05https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14446/344879To airline passengers, the health of their pilot is primary. During the coronavirus (CV) pandemic, pilots across the U.S., either willingly or due to corporate and/or government mandates, took the EUA vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, and J&J). The normally vigorous drug approval process for pilots was abandoned, in an effort to get passengers back flying and save the industry. The safety systems that protect these pilots and the National Airspace System—the Federal Aviation Administration, their employers, and their unions—disengaged leaving these pilots with few choices: be vaccinated, be terminated or navigate the onerous exemption process. Although choice advocacy and grass-roots organizations sprung up across the industry pushing back against the mandates, it is estimated, similar to the general population, at least 80% of commercial pilots are vaccinated, which the CDC defines as having at least one dose of any of the three EUA approved CV-19 vaccines. This research examines the adverse effects of those vaccines in the U.S. pilot population. Through an anonymous, online, cross-sectional survey, civilian pilots from all major airlines, many charter, fractional, and corporate operators, and military pilots across the services disclosed their medical maladies, vaccine details, personal narratives, and opinions about oversight, safety, and the future. 1622 pilots responded which was further reduced to an 1132 airline pilot only sample size. Over 23% of respondents report suffering adverse effects from the vaccines. Yet, few are willing to disclose this information for fear of losing their careers. Pericarditis and myocarditis proved to be a statistically significant problem among this population (p=.0158739, SI.05). However, little, if any, research has been conducted on this population. Congressional oversight is one of the many recommendations that resulted from this research as 78% of airline pilot participants stated that they believe “safety risks exist due to the CV-19 vaccines.”application/pdfCopyright is held by the author who has granted the Oklahoma State University Library the non-exclusive right to share this material in its institutional repository. Contact Digital Library Services at lib-dls@okstate.edu or 405-744-9161 for the permission policy on the use, reproduction or distribution of this material.DissertationairlineCOVID-19FAApilotssafetyvaccine