IHateYou,

Clearly, we're not going to agree on much but I would like to respond.


"You just read it that way because you're a boozer and thought I was accusing you as well. Insecure much? Estrogen a bit high? My post doesn't apply to responsible drinkers, only to those who push it and do drugs.

So, I'm "a boozer" and felt accused by you? No. Your post applied to all drinkers from the sound of it. You wrote "Risky, but most pilots do it anyway" Most. If that's not a broad brush, what is? Because I choose to imbibe I'm a boozer? Are "most pilots" who drink also boozers?

Oh, if your retirement memories are only gonna be of the hotel bars, you're a sad soul. There's way more to this career and life than a hotel bar.

You assume that I spend all my time in bars on overnights. Nice. I have great memories of sitting outside last summer at a cafe in Paris. Watching the oh so lovely Parisian ladies walk by. With a delightful Caprese salad and a glass or two of Bordeaux. I didn't realize that I was also putting my fellow crewmembers and pax at risk. I'll now hang my head in shame as I realize what a threat I was to my fellow pilots and pax.

Then you doubled down with -
If drinking is what makes you fun then you must suck otherwise.

and -

"Thanks! I will enjoy my life knowing I don’t have to watch the clock on an overnight. Or ever make the news because of alcohol. Or ever show up to the plane putting another crew member in a horrible position for them to have to call me out on my condition"

Watching the clock , making the news, jeopardizing another crew member...

Do what you want on an overnight also, but don't show up to the plane with alcohol in your system in any amount and put the lives of passengers at risk and put your fellow crew members in an awful position to have to call you out on it. Are you truly defending this kind of behavior?


Judgemental and preachy. No one is defending showing up intoxicated. But it sounds as though you're assuming that because I (and any other pilot who is not a temperance advocate) might have a few on an overnight we're showing up for work impaired and risking passengers lives and making front page news. Nice.

I have lost enthusiasm to continue. You see, I woke up in a pool of my own vomit and urine and I'm too hammered to continue. I also desperately need a shower.

Or what if I just got in a big blowout with my wife before my trip and am way too stressed to be IMSAFE, but okay to non-rev? I’ve never understood this mentality from airline management. Does anyone know if this situation has ever been escalated up the ladder and if so the outcome?

I’d think it’d be pretty cut and dry in arbitration/court. Too sick to fly does not necessarily equate to too sick to fly standby. We really need to push back wrt management questioning our fitness for duty and how we self-assess.

Agreed. Him and Tripson... Hope it is real hot down there.

The shocking thing is actually how many AREN’T in the program. You fly with those guys, too.....

You can Non rev while sick here

Last year while working under the United Express flag, I was a non-rev from EZE to EWR. Flight was oversold by 35, but you never know, you never lose hope. Anyway, some random gentleman started chatting with me about flying standby. He had paid $2000 for one year of passes from one of the ticket agents who was working that day. I had a SA5X- status, he had a buddy pass. When all hope was lost, he was called and given a boarding pass. As a looked in disbelief, I asked the station chief why he was given a boarding pass.... she said "Mr Martinez has a higher priority than everyone else- granted the station chief did not know that I had talked to Mr Martinez and knew the exact back door deal he had. Just my 0.02c

Who did you report it to?

So did you actually attempt to fix the problem? Or just use it as a fun story?

I was working for Republic, as a United Express pilot. This was last February (2018), but I still have all the pertinent information. Flight number, date, Station Chief's name, Name of the "Buddy"... I did not want to rough any feathers, as this was one the carriers that took me home to see my daughters.