Airline Pilot Central Forums

Airline Pilot Central Forums (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/)
-   Alaska (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/alaska/)
-   -   Cheek swab after interview (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/alaska/137641-cheek-swab-after-interview.html)

chihuahua 05-11-2022 03:52 PM

Have they targeted fast food eaters yet?

Excargodog 05-11-2022 04:42 PM


Originally Posted by rickair7777 (Post 3420772)
Do they really still test for it?

It's not medical testing, it's testing for use of an unhealthy addictive substance.

They're not testing for anything genetic. Could they? Not legally. Could they do it illegally? Hypothetically. But they could also collect DNA from coffee cups in new-hire ground school, and then flunk anybody in sim if they have genetic predisposition to health issues. Adjust your tinfoil, it's on a little crooked.

I don't quite think tobacco should be illegal, but only because it's a so well-established in human society. If somebody created or discovered it today and tried to mass market it by leveraging it's addictive qualities the FDA would probably shoot it down in a heart-beat. It doesn't hold up very well to 21st century light.

I also think it's reasonable that an employer would prefer to hire folks who don't use it. But it's not really binding... they can't fire you after the fact, and you can always just quit smoking for a couple months to pass if your really want to work there. If you *can't* quit for a couple months, maybe that's telling you something...

As I said, non smoker here - your sanctimonious anti smoking diatribe is totally wasted on me.

And I know that this is legal in Washington State, but it would not be legal in almost half the other states, including California.

https://www.calpublicagencylaborempl...ea-or-illegal/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5726320/

But it’s not tinfoil beanie stuff to wonder where companies are going with this. As the Sutton case demonstrated, UAL was ready to fight all the way to the Supreme Court (and back then win) for their desire to impose a stricter physical standard on their candidates than the FAA believed was justified. Delta temporarily imposed an insurance surtax on people not getting immunized against COVID. So what happens if they do decide they want to do a swab on incoming candidates to check for non clinical conditions that may be costly in the future? Do you think that is a good idea? Clearly, finding out that someone was BRCA positive represents a huge potential insurance liability. Certainly more so than someone this age group simply refusing to get COVID immunization.

And should ALPA be preemptively getting involved with Congress to avoid the possibility of this happening? Why aren’t the FAA medical standards sufficient?

nene 05-11-2022 04:43 PM


Originally Posted by rickair7777 (Post 3420772)
Do they really still test for it?


I don't quite think tobacco should be illegal, but only because it's a so well-established in human society. If somebody created or discovered it today and tried to mass market it by leveraging it's addictive qualities the FDA would probably shoot it down in a heart-beat. It doesn't hold up very well to 21st century light.

g...

Ive been in a couple of "coffee shops" in Amsterdam (actually the only place in public where you can legally light up a joint of MJ or hashish at least at that time) and there were signs that said, NO CIGARETTE SMOKING ALLOWED!

mart83648 05-11-2022 05:34 PM

Alaska's so woke you'll be denied employment for nicotine. You'll be their dream candidate if you shoot heroin/meth, and cut your gibblets off?

rickair7777 05-11-2022 05:45 PM


Originally Posted by Excargodog (Post 3420808)
As I said, non smoker here - your sanctimonious anti smoking diatribe is totally wasted on me.

I'm not anti-smoking, I even light up the odd stogie. Just stating the obvious that it's a very bad habit on a regular basis :confused:


Originally Posted by Excargodog (Post 3420808)
And I know that this is legal in Washington State, but it would not be legal in almost half the other states, including California.

But SEA is in WA. So legal.


Originally Posted by Excargodog (Post 3420808)
But it’s not tinfoil beanie stuff to wonder where companies are going with this. As the Sutton case demonstrated, UAL was ready to fight all the way to the Supreme Court (and back then win) for their desire to impose a stricter physical standard on their candidates than the FAA believed was justified. Delta temporarily imposed an insurance surtax on people not getting immunized against COVID. So what happens if they do decide they want to do a swab on incoming candidates to check for non clinical conditions that may be costly in the future? Do you think that is a good idea? Clearly, finding out that someone was BRCA positive represents a huge potential insurance liability. Certainly more so than someone this age group simply refusing to get COVID immunization.

It's tinfoil to insinuate that a fortune 500-ish company is using tobacco screening as a smokescreen (pun intended) to genetically test and weed out weak gazelles. In blatant violation of federal law.




Originally Posted by Excargodog (Post 3420808)
And should ALPA be preemptively getting involved with Congress to avoid the possibility of this happening? Why aren’t the FAA medical standards sufficient?

FAA regs do not address vaccination, it's not in their wheelhouse. You can be vaccinated, or not, and you're still fit to fly (after 48 hours). Not FAA's problem. And unlike most workers WE can prevent employer vaccine mandates via CBA (although force majeure would obviously apply if the destination requires it). Funny that nobody thought of that before covid.

If pilots want ALPA to fight invasive MEDICAL screening by employers, that sounds like a good idea and not just for ALPA but all unions. Actually federal law covers that already:

https://www.eeoc.gov/pre-employment-...s-examinations

And maybe the reason they're not worried about genetic testing is because federal law covers that too ;)

https://www.eeoc.gov/genetic-information-discrimination

KnockKnock 05-11-2022 05:53 PM

You guys can relax with all the tinfoil hat nonsense. AS does a nicotine test purely for insurance purposes. Lowers costs. Once you pass the initial test, you will never be tested again. You can smoke till you drop once employed. They even had employee smoking areas a few years ago.

NotTellin 05-11-2022 07:30 PM

A cheek swab? Hell I remember when you had to send a stool sample to get a job at American.

Myfingershurt 05-11-2022 07:38 PM


Originally Posted by NotTellin (Post 3420923)
A cheek swab? Hell I remember when you had to send a stool sample to get a job at American.

That’s a different kind of cheek swab.

ImperialxRat 05-11-2022 08:24 PM


Originally Posted by nene (Post 3420743)
Do cigars affect this test? Asking for a friend....

Cigars will make you fail a nicotine test, as will a vape, if you had one within about a week prior to the test. I was a pack a day smoker and bought the little nicotine test strips from CVS and was testing clear after 7 days. It was a urine test which I think was even a little more strict than a cheek swap. If they did a hair test (too expensive) they would wipe out too many people from their application pool... it can test back pretty far.

rickair7777 05-12-2022 03:54 AM


Originally Posted by ImperialxRat (Post 3420940)
If they did a hair test (too expensive) they would wipe out too many people from their application pool... it can test back pretty far.

I beg to differ...

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/wHUAA...w1/s-l1600.jpg


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 01:10 AM.


Website Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands