The pilots' union believes the alcohol-testing regime for its members and other workers in the airline industry, including engineers and baggage handlers, is sufficient because the rate of positive recordings is "infinitesimally low".
Australia's air-safety regulator also released figures today showing that only 45 people out of 51,000 tested for drugs and alcohol between late 2008 – when the regime was implemented – and March this year recorded positive readings.
The Civil Aviation and Safety Authority's random testing covers anyone who "touches an aircraft", including pilots, engineers, cabin crew and baggage handlers.
A spokesman for CASA, Peter Gibson, said that the regulator had pursued legal action against some of those who had recorded a positive reading.
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The Herald revealed today that Qantas has launched an investigation after one of its captains recorded a positive test for alcohol last week. She was removed from command of a Boeing 767-300 last Monday at Sydney Airport after cabin crew suspected she had been drinking before the flight.
Several industry insiders said today that the aviation industry had a "drink-driven culture".
But Richard Woodward, the vice-president of the Australian and International Pilots Association, said he did not believe that CASA's random drug and alcohol testing, as well as the airline's own programs, were in need of an overhaul because the rate of positive recordings in the industry was "infinitesimally low".
Although he conceded that social drinking was a "strong element" of the industry, he said that in the 25 years he had been an airline pilot "the populous has changed".
"The pilots as a body are healthier than they have ever been. Sure, they might meet in a bar for a drink before they go to dinner ... but I would put that in perspective," he said.
Mr Woodward, an A380 Qantas captain, cited statistics from the US showing the number of flights disrupted because of positive recordings for alcohol or drugs was about 100 over a five-year period, in a country in which 15,000 flights were made each day.
He described that rate as "not even a measurable statistic".
"The probability of someone testing positive in the States is infinitesimally low. We don't see any requirement to increase the testing [in Australia]," he said. "There is always targeted testing if there has been some information to lead authorities to believe an individual needs it."
Mr Woodward said the follow-up regime for those who recorded a positive alcohol reading was strict, and "if someone has a genuine issue they end up retiring from our profession".
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Pilot drinking breaches 'infinitesimally low': union