Commercial Pilots and Alcohol limits.

[y_p_w]

Yes, federal law still applies for those in the transportation industry.

Many airlines had to fire a whole bunch of their employees in Colorado, for example, when those employees tested positive for marijuana after Colorado enacted their law.

Airlines are very careful to explain to employees that while controlled substances like marijuana may be legal to consume in the state of Colorado, federal law applies to their job, that they can be tested at any time, and testing positive for marijuana will result in immediate termination.

I’m not aware of any pilots who were in this position, but certainly it applied to many ramp workers, as well as flight attendants.

The people working at airport concessions all have badges, so they're not supposed to consume alcohol 8 hours before duty. I suppose even people working at airport bars serving alcohol. There's irony for ya.

 

[RedSpider]

I was never a part of it but when I worked at one certain airline which ran its own airport out in the middle of nowhere which flew almost every one of its flights in the overnight hours, it was well known that in the early and late evenings you could drive into the small town nearby and find certain pilots, scheduled to fly that night, out of uniform drinking in the local bars on a regular basis. And the mechanics would talk about smelling alcohol on some of the pilots' breath if they were in the cockpits with or near them soon before they were scheduled to takeoff. I knew a girl who was dating one of the pilots there and she talked about it as well. I found that astonishing but whatever, they had their union, I wasnt in it, I wanted to keep my job and my life so I and the rest of the A&P's kept our mouths shut.

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

I was never a part of it but when I worked at one certain airline which ran its own airport out in the middle of nowhere which flew almost every one of its flights in the overnight hours, it was well known that in the early and late evenings you could drive into the small town nearby and find certain pilots, scheduled to fly that night, out of uniform drinking in the local bars on a regular basis. And the mechanics would talk about smelling alcohol on some of the pilots' breath if they were in the cockpits with or near them soon before they were scheduled to takeoff. I knew a girl who was dating one of the pilots there and she talked about it as well. I found that astonishing but whatever, they had their union, I wasnt in it, I wanted to keep my job and my life so I and the rest of the A&P's kept our mouths shut.

In 40 years of flying, I have never seen a pilot drinking in the uniform or smelling alcohol on their breath, never, not once. Never even heard of it from another employee group. Even when flying in the subarctic, or high arctic.

This is my 11th flying job.

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

If some overly keen airport security person comes up too close to me wanting to smell me, I am going to reciprocate the same with them in an obvious way.

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

I was never a part of it but when I worked at one certain airline which ran its own airport out in the middle of nowhere which flew almost every one of its flights in the overnight hours, it was well known that in the early and late evenings you could drive into the small town nearby and find certain pilots, scheduled to fly that night, out of uniform drinking in the local bars on a regular basis. And the mechanics would talk about smelling alcohol on some of the pilots' breath if they were in the cockpits with or near them soon before they were scheduled to takeoff. I knew a girl who was dating one of the pilots there and she talked about it as well. I found that astonishing but whatever, they had their union, I wasnt in it, I wanted to keep my job and my life so I and the rest of the A&P's kept our mouths shut.

Nobody would lose their job reporting a pilot who was drinking. Same with any pilot who reported a mechanic with alcohol on their breath.

Anyone fired for doing this would be able to sue for damages and get their job back.

So, complaining about pilots drinking but everyone was too scared to do the right thing and report them is also gross negligence if the story is true.

If I see another pilot breaking the rules but do not report it, I will get fired.

 

[RedSpider]

I personally didnt say anything because everything I "knew" about it was all hearsay. I never witnessed it myself. I only heard about from others. I didnt have reason to doubt any of them. I dont know why they never reported it.... if it was even true. I mostly worked 1st or 2nd shift, my interactions with pilots was minimal, I only worked the 3rd shift a few weeks and thats when most of the flights were happening.

Never knew any of the mechanics there using anything while on the job. Or off the job for that matter. It was pretty well known if you screwed something up on a plane, the first thing that happens is they took you into town and you were immediately drug and alcohol tested. Saw it several times, I was pulled off the line more than once for a random check myself, most of us were eventually. A couple of the leads would walk into the hangar mid-shift, point at people and say "You.. come with us." They would round up 5-6 people, load them into the company van, and drive into town to the medical center for testing. Never once heard of anyone failing.

Where I work now, the subject is so taboo I cant imagine anyone daring to even think about drinking on the job, or using drugs...ever. These guys are as straight laced as humans can be.

 

[WobblyElvis]

I worked for an airline in the 80's, we had a contract to turn around some British Airways flights. Charter Division. Upon shutting down the aircraft, the crew would often have a drink so that they could not be called to fill in for someone leaving on the next flight who might be sick. Drug testing for ground crew was unheard of.
I saw some video about working on aircraft today. They were all tethered to the aircraft wearing a safety harness so they couldn't fall off the wings. We didn't need no stinkin safety harness. Used to jump of the wings onto the top of the engines if needed. times change.

 

[4WD]

I worked for an airline in the 80's, we had a contract to turn around some British Airways flights. Charter Division. Upon shutting down the aircraft, the crew would often have a drink so that they could not be called to fill in for someone leaving on the next flight who might be sick. Drug testing for ground crew was unheard of.
I saw some video about working on aircraft today. They were all tethered to the aircraft wearing a safety harness so they couldn't fall off the wings. We didn't need no stinkin safety harness. Used to jump of the wings onto the top of the engines if needed. times change.

Many industries today require fall protection above 2m …

 

[john_pifer]

It’s all about the money.

Injured employees can be one of the biggest costs to an employer. In a few different ways (fines from OSHA and lack of funding from the mother ship in Brazil for us). In addition to workers comp payouts.

It’s become a big, big, big deal where I work (an MRO doing C-checks on ERJs).

Not that it shouldn’t be a big deal. But many of us who have been doing this for a while believe that some measures have gone too far (a mandate has come out now that will force all of us to wear “bump caps” all the time if around the aircraft).

But common sense isn’t so common anymore.