Pilots Say Alcohol-Related Violations Extremely Rare

When it comes to failed drug tests, the ones you hear about usually involve sports. But most airline passengers don't care if Baltimore Orioles slugger Rafael Palmeiro is clean. They only want to know about the people in the cockpit.

That question is even more pertinent after a Southwest Airlines pilot was arrested Sunday in Salt Lake City after allegedly boarding a plane with a blood-alcohol level above what the Federal Aviation Administration considers safe for flying.

Ed Thiel, a Salt Lake City-based Delta Air Lines pilot and member of the Air Line Pilots Association, says there's a reason you never hear about pilots flunking alcohol and drug tests. It's that rare. The numbers back him up.

From 1995 to 2005, only 106 pilots recorded a blood-alcohol content above the official FAA limit, or fewer than 10 per year. From 2000 to 2004, it was one out of every 743 pilots tested.

The reasons, according to pilots and airlines: The industry considers passenger safety its top priority. The consequences for violating FAA drug and alcohol regulations are severe. And there are several safeguards to detect and help pilots who may have a substance-abuse problem.

"By the time you get to a job at a major airline, you've passed through so many screenings in hiring and training and everyday flying, that it's very, very unusual to reach this position and have a problem," Thiel said. "Plus, these guys are professionals. They don't go out and do silly things."

Thiel's defense of the industry may sound like Bud Selig promoting the integrity of baseball on the heels of another steroids scandal. Then again, if athletes had to endure the monitoring and sanctions that pilots do, maybe Palmeiro, the former Baltimore Orioles player who tested positive for steroids two months after telling Congress he had never used the stuff, would have been spared the grilling.

All pilots are subject to random testing, and the recommended penalty for failing is license revocation. In addition, pilots are required to report DUI convictions or administrative actions on their medical certificate applications. Failure to do so carries penalties that could include jail time.

Delta and Southwest said they suspend employees suspected of drug or alcohol use until an investigation is complete. Disciplinary actions, however, depend on the circumstances.

"Anyone who reports for duty with alcohol in his or her system is subject to termination," said Delta spokesman Anthony Black. "But there are a lot of mitigating factors that must be considered."

Pilot unions do what they can to pressure members into compliance. The Air Line Pilots Association, for example, says members must report professional incompetence or conduct detrimental to the profession to the unions, "so that the weak member may be brought up to the standards demanded, or ALPA and the profession alike may be rid of one unworthy to share its rewards."

"The reason the union exists is to take care of each other and our profession," said ALPA spokesman Pete Janhunen.

And that extends to treatment. ALPA's Human Intervention and Motivation Study has rehabilitated and returned 3,500 pilots to the cockpit since it began some 32 years ago.

Still, in his 21 years in the business, Thiel says he's never had to caution a colleague or report them. Not that he would hesitate if the situation presented itself.

"No one wants to work with someone who's impaired," he said. "But we don't just treat them and forget them. We stick with them."

News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.