Alcohol testing for cabin crew: the bottle to throttle rules by regulator, random and post incident testing and what a positive test actually means

SAS, and the alcohol threads on here are about the layover rules and the social side. This is the regulatory side, because the rules differ by country and the consequences are the same everywhere: the end of the job.

The regulators

EASA (Europe): a limit of 0.2 grams per litre of blood alcohol for crew, effectively zero, and a minimum period before duty (8 hours in the regulation, typically 10 to 12 hours in the airline's own rules). Random testing of crew was introduced in Europe some years ago and the national authorities and the airlines conduct it. Scandinavian airlines have their own stricter culture on top.

The FAA (US): 0.04 percent blood alcohol limit, 8 hours bottle to throttle in the regulation and more in the airline's rules, and the DOT random testing programme that the Delta thread describes. Positive tests are reported and the return to duty process is long.

The Gulf regulators: strict limits, airline rules of 12 hours or more, testing on suspicion and randomly, and the additional context of local law on alcohol.

The Asian regulators: strict, with the airlines' own rules stricter still, and in some countries the testing at sign on is routine with a breathalyser for every crew member every duty.

What testing looks like

Random: a notification at sign on or at the destination, a breathalyser or a blood or urine test, back to duty if negative. Post incident: after an accident or a serious incident, mandatory for the crew involved. On suspicion: when a colleague or a manager reports a concern, which is a duty at most airlines, not a betrayal.

What a positive test means

At almost every airline, dismissal, and in most jurisdictions a report to the regulator that can affect the licence or the right to work as crew. In some countries it is a criminal matter. The crew who think a positive test is a warning are wrong everywhere.

The bottle to throttle maths

The body clears roughly one unit an hour, slower for some people, and a heavy night ends at a blood alcohol that is still above the limit at a 6am sign on twelve hours later. The 8 hour regulatory minimum is a floor that assumes moderate drinking, and the airlines' 10 to 12 hour rules assume the same. The crew who are caught are usually the ones who were within the hours and above the units. The Scandinavian rule of thumb: nothing after 8pm on the night before an early, and nothing at all on the layover if the sign on is before noon.

The colleague who is drinking

The reporting duty exists because a crew member above the limit is a safety risk to everyone on the aircraft. The threads on here about seeing a colleague drink on a layover are hard and the answer at every airline is the same: the report is required and the airline's process is designed to catch it before the flight, not to punish after.

The honest culture point

The layover drinking culture that the crew room jokes about is the thing the regulators are testing for. The generation of crew who flew before random testing tell stories. The generation flying now is tested. Know your regulator's number, know your airline's hours, and treat the layover glass of wine as the thing that could end a career, because at the wrong hour it can.