General Response - from a recovering alcoholic
I haven't figured out how to box the quotes (help!) so I've cut/pasted them in bold.
First, I AM an alcoholic (recovering with nearly 21 yrs of sobriety). I've worked in the treatment field and participated in dozens of workshops with medical professionals in the field of alcoholism. I've also worked with all the major airlines in the US. This does NOT make me an authority but I do have a little insight into this area.
I'll comment on a couple of things but will not rehash my posts of 2006/2007 on this very same topic for another pilot.
There are two very simple and separate issues:
1. The act that's committed and the consequences that follow (and I don't see much variance in opinions here about that part) and...
2. The issue of alcoholism if the person is so afflicted.
There seems to be too much tolerance in this thread - almost as if there is a collusion that we all know it goes on, and this poor guy got caught. His sentence is not for his disease - which is quite irrelevant - but for his unprofessional conduct.
I don 't know about the "tolerance" comment but the writer is correct about the conduct observation. Choices/actions/behavior are punishable without regard to the disease question - and that's as it should be. Alcoholism does NOT provide an excuse for or immunity from anything in terms of consequences.
I was not fired and sent to prison for being an alcoholic; I was fired and sent to prison for what I did - and it was fair and appropriate.
Next, what about the question of alcoholism...? As an alcoholic who was terminated for flying drunk (and appropriately so), I have no RIGHT to reinstatement; that is an option my employer may wish to consider if I address my disease - or perhaps he won't. My job is to get sober. What happens after that is NOT in my hands.
In my case, I was put back to work by the Pres/CEO of Northwest Airlines...who made a personal decision to bring me back. Given the statistical percentage of alcoholics who relapse (70%), that was an act of courage that defies explanation. And I told him at one of our meetings that if I'd been "officer in charge of risk assessment" I would not have done it. He would call me in about once a year and we'd talk. I never knew when the meeting would be or what he'd want to talk about but I thoroughly enjoyed our get togethers. I had nothing to hide and nothing to fear.
I'm sure some will want to jump on this next statement but I'm speaking from facts and not from an emotional or visceral position: every study I'm familiar with, regardless of what facet of business or industry, shows that returning alcoholic employees (recovering) become the best employees on the property. They're more loyal, grateful, productive, absent less, and are strong assets to the work place. Alcoholism is a living hell - and when we recover from it, we have a view of life that's unparalleled..and it spills over into everything - family, friends, workplace, and the world at large.
More than 4,000 recovering pilots have been put back in the cockpits since the '70s (that was the last data I had and I'm sure there are more by now). So recovery works.
Any pilot who does NOT wish to recover or will NOT comply with the requirements to do so SHOULD NOT be allowed to return - period; they should find another line of work. The airline programs, peer monitors, EAPs, monitoring doctors, random tests, etc., do a good job of policing this policy. There's a three-year monitoring program (minimum) for returning alcoholic pilots and there are a LOT of requirements. The success rate in the pilot group averages 90-95%, more than twice the average norm. But there ARE those who don't make it.
No one I've ever met has chosen to be an alcoholic anymore than someone who smokes hopes (or believes) they will die of lung cancer. There was a semi-question about "degrees of alcoholism" and it's very much like being a diabetic - you either are or you aren't. There are, however, stages of alcoholism - early, middle, and late.
If someone comes up with the old, tired "self-inflicted" nonsense, then I'll address it.
Alcoholics first use, then abuse, then slide into the disease; it's a process and not an overnight event. It's often difficult to discern abusers from potential alcoholics.
Interesting info in the US is that 7 out of every 10 people drink. Of the 7, only TWO are true, actual, "social drinkers." The other 5 abuse to some degree, maybe a little and maybe a lot. If you've ever driven home or done other things when you shouldn't have when you were drinking, then you have abused alcohol. Of the 5 abusers ONE will become alcoholic. So it's a 10% general factor overall. And higher in some ethnic populations.
As I've said before, my alcoholism does not grant me immunity from anything I DO - nor should it. But I can tell you, I live a totally different life NOW than I did when I was drinking and that's been true for nearly 21 years. I can look anyone in the eye today and I hide from nothing; that's a wonderful freedom that many non-drinkers don't even have!
Blue skies,
Lyle Prouse