Originally Posted by hummingbear

Not claiming to know any specifics but flying under the influence is so wholly devastating to an airline pilot’s career that when this does happen I tend to assume we’re not dealing with someone for whom it was a simple matter of knowing when to have that last drink. More like knowing how.

For most of us, saying something like “I just don’t drink at all on short overnights” is a pretty simple & straightforward decision. But alcoholism is a real disease that involves- among other things- a lot of self-deception. That doesn’t forgive or justify putting people’s lives in danger; but judging an alcoholic’s decisions from the lens of someone who can have a drink now & then and not even think about it the rest of the time is kind of pointless.