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Cathay allows pilot to fly despite his drink-driving
Simon Parry
Updated on Feb 21, 2010
A Cathay Pacific pilot has been allowed to continue flying for the airline despite being banned from the road for drink-driving.
The unnamed pilot was convicted of the offence in Britain and made to attend an alcohol misuse clinic by Britain's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The pilot's driving licence was suspended.
The Cathay Pacific officer was one of eight pilots, including cockpit crew with British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, convicted of drink-driving in Britain in 2008. Details of their convictions were made public this month by the CAA after requests were filed under Britain's Freedom of Information Act.
Drink-driving offences in Britain carry a mandatory minimum one-year driving ban.
The International Airline Passengers Association (IAPA) criticised Cathay Pacific's decision to allow the pilot to continue flying. It argues that pilots convicted of drink-driving should be stripped of their commercial flying licences.
However, Cathay Pacific said its action was in line with other airlines worldwide, while the main Cathay pilots' union insisted a drink-driving conviction had no effect on pilots' ability to do their job unless specific alcohol abuse problems existed.
IAPA spokesman Jonathan French said: "I've spoken to a lot of passengers about this issue and the majority view is that drink-driving is a serious offence which does relate to their jobs as pilots.
"When you are a commercial pilot, you have so many lives in your hands, so the standard of behaviour expected of you has to be very, very high. If a pilot breaks the law on drink-driving, there should be no second chance - they should lose their flying licences as well as their driving licences."
French said he understood the argument that driving and flying should be treated separately, "but if I turned up at the airport for a flight and found out the pilot had taken a taxi to the airport because he is banned from driving, I would be alarmed and I think most passengers would be alarmed too. There are enough people out there who want to fly for commercial airlines."
However, John Findlay, general secretary of the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association, said: "Drink-driving has nothing at all to do with a person's ability to be a pilot unless of course the pilot has an alcohol abuse problem, in which case it should be treated as an illness and they should go for a programme of rehabilitation.
"If a person has just had one drink too many and gets stopped for drink-driving, that is no different to a politician or a police officer being stopped for the same offence. It does not in any way affect the pilot's ability to do his or her job."
Asked about the pilot's conviction, a Cathay spokeswoman said: "The [Hong Kong] Civil Aviation Department requires all pilots to declare criminal convictions, including drink-driving convictions, at the time of their annual relicensing medical examination. This is in line with the practice of many overseas regulatory authorities. No Cathay Pacific pilots have had their flying licence suspended on grounds that they have been convicted of drink-driving."