Define "get back home". Is it a 6-9 month deployment? A 4-day trip? For the most part we are all adults here and make pretty good decisions. I don't think having a couple beers responsibly with the crew is gonna hurt anyone. There's also nothing wrong with having a thread about it IMHO. It's better than most of the threads on this site that go on and on about nothing IMHO.

When in the name of Moroni did .02 qualify as "drunk"?!!!

And I'm sure we're all impressed with your "previous union experience", but I am a former rep, and what you describe is illegal under the RLA (DFR) and could get the union and rep sued for damages. So your baseless accusation that only friends and insiders are helped is idiotic at best and defamatory at worst.

If the job is that bad that you have to drink every day you do it, you need to find a new job. I'd go on to say that pilots don't just drink, they are brought up in environments where people drink out of control and binge-drink, and they think it's normal because they spend so much time around this and these people. Many come from the military where drinking and activities centering around alcohol were the norm, and they keep thinking that the norm is to drink every day, whether in excess or not. Sure, very few are drinking to the extent that Denzel's character was, but far more think it's normal to drink at every dinner meal. I enjoy a good beer, a nice scotch, and so on, but on a trip? Not worth it. Never worth it.

Gonna go out on a limb and suggest you probably listen to NPR, read the New York Times, voted for the current White House occupant and think that people are incapable of making decisions for themselves?

You must be an absolute joy to fly with. Cheers.

Maybe I haven't been at the airlines long enough, but I rarely meet a crew who wants to go out drinking at all let alone excessively. I don't think pilots drink half as much as people think they do out on trips at least at my airline. 90% of crews just slam click.

Don't listen to NPR, don't read newspapers or any one particular news source, wasn't able to vote due to rules that prevented me from doing it by mail, but thanks for paying the assumption game.

I think it does vary highly from airline to airline, regional to major, etc. It's just that in many places there's an ingrained culture of drinking. I know, I did it for a while too.

I couldn't find the part where ACe said (s)he drank every day because the job was so bad. My experience is crews drink because they are happy or had a rough day. My take was that (s)he's doing what most crews do after a long day....unwind with a couple cold ones, responsibly. There are folks in the business that drink in excess like any other job, I wouldn't assume that "Many" are "out of control and binge-drink". I've flown in the military and now civilian, the one constant remains, you have a small minority that abuse alcohol. Their actions usually catch up with them and careers are ended. That doesn't mean the rest of us should have to pay the price for a few irresponsible folks.

OBTW, the Denzel comparison is not a good one. That Hollywood movie was about an alcoholic/drug attic who just happened to be a pilot (gotta have drama) which by no means represents the norm. If you don't drink on a trip, that's fine and I respect your position, but please don't pass judgement on the rest of us that enjoy a frosty beverage.

When an employer wrote it into the rules I guess.

This thread reminds me of a joke I heard a while back.

"How can you pick out an airline pilot in a bar?"

Its easy, he will be the first one to tell you.

What a stupid comment. It's simple, if you have to use a calculator to figure weight (yours) and balance (your alcohol consumption) vs. show time then you probably just shouldn't do it. I realize most of you think that everybody wants to drink and party, but maybe they don't. And it's not your crews' responsibility to keep you entertained. I know some people enjoy a drink here and there, but I see guys doing it because they think it's cool. Shows the mentality we have, no wonder we're in the state were in when all we care about is that flashy plane, a cool (impressive yet) uniform, and having a cocktail in our hands whenever possible. You never know who is watching you...