Originally Posted by
plasticpi
I'd even go so far as to say that it's ok to limit the crews to smoking only before and after their duty time. But I don't think anyone needs to tell anyone else what they can do in their own time, that is unless they decide that nicotine in your system poses a serious safety of flight issue, and I think that should be up to the FAA to decide.
I think the issue, though, is safety. If you had to limit someone to not smoking during their duty day, imagine the kind of withdrawal symptoms that person may be having on short final. I don't smoke, nor have I really ever known someone who has tried to quit, but I could imagine that blocking someone from smoking for 10-14 hours at a time could be very bad thing.
I'm not saying I agree with them, but it does make sense from a business and safety standpoint.