Smoking
 

Is it true that BA are considering placing a non smokers only rule on their TEP scheme?

There's going to be some worried people about.

Smokers remember::

It's disgusting
It causes early hypoxia
You smell.

Well done BA if this is true

[This message has been edited by 1.32 Vmd (edited 28 May 2001).]

I'll second that!

I suppose it's possible but I would not get too worried if you are a smoker yet.....sounds like another rumour to me.

From one point of view it would make sense as BA could say that the long term health effects of smoking could be a threat to their investment. Anyone know any more about this?

One thing I do know is that a lot of pilots smoke........

Especially Greek & Russian pilots ;)

(...or so my father once told me.... :) )

Cough, cough,
AJ

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Good Morning Buenos Aires

What a load of rubbish.

Nothing beats a 'lung dart' at the completion of a stressful flight. Don't want to make a habit of it though. ;)

Actually, in my experience very few pilots smoke these days. 20 years ago, probably 40 - 50% of pilots smoked; now, maybe less than 10% do - and most of those are either just about to retire (and have smoked all their lives) or have just left full time education (and are still smoking because it's 'cool'). The rest of us have decided that life is a little more valuable than a tab or two at the end of a stressful trip.
If BA are insisting on non-smoking pilots, I'd be very surprised - there are probably 'human rights' (yuk!) issues here - but I'd love to think it was true!

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Scroggs
Wannabe Forum Moderator
[email protected]

These are just my personal thoughts, and I'm just another wannabe, not an expert in Aviation medical:

If you think about it, airlines like BA can justify not employing smokers. Because many airlines operate no-smoking flights. And obviously this includes the crew. Smoker's anxiety builds up when they haven't had a fag for ages, and no airline want high levels of anxiety in the cockpit during a Long-haul flight. This could cause safety issues.

Again, let me reiterate that these are MY thoughts.

Cheers

BTW

Not siding with smokers or non-smokers..... but how could they tell anyway !?!? Whilst obviously not condoning lying to the Dr's, surely people would just stop admitting it during medical time that they chuff fags !?!? Unless they've chuffed 100 a day for ten years it's unlikely to show up on a lung function test. (I don't smoke by the way !)

They could find out who's a smoker by giving each person a kiss. It's always been obvious to me.

http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/tongue.gif

regards

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Half man, Half jalfrezi.

Good point.... I suppose after a good fondle of your plums a kiss is nothing.

Speaking of kinky medicals, Newbloke has just made me piss myself :)

BTW, try thinking before exposing us to your thoughts.

Fight! Fight! Can I hold your coat??

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Half man, Half jalfrezi.

That must certainly be a big pile of rubish. Cause in this case they'll have to get rid of people who drink too !!! I'm not talking about alcoholics but "social drinkers", and I'm sure there are more than a couple of them in BA !

JGG

Try thinking before speaking!!!

Just a thought

BTW

PS These forums are for DISCUSSIONS, so eveyone is entitled to an opinion. So unless you have a constructive opinion p*ss off!!!

There's a very accurate and cheap test that insurance companies use that can tell if you smoke and if you have ever smoked.

If BA really wanted to find out they could.

This is a subject worthy of some moderately serious debate. If you turn it into a slanging match,I shall close it.
For my thruppence worth, it is arguable that the health risks posed to smokers by their addiction could be considered unacceptable by an employer. The employer would have to successfully argue that the annual medical is insufficient to detect the health degradation caused by smoking, and demonstrate that there have been a number of actual, or potential, incidents caused by the fact of an individual's smoking habit. Whether such a position could survive examination in a court is, at the very least, debatable.
Alchohol was mentioned as a similar candidate for disqualification from employment, but I would counter that many recent medical studies suggest that moderate consumption of alchohol is actually good for one's health. However, an addiction to alchohol is neither good for the individual nor their passengers, and is not tolerated by any airline.

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Scroggs
Wannabe Forum Moderator
[email protected]

BTW

I agree, everybody is entitled to their opinion, unfortunately opinions which appear to based on ignorance achieve very little other than antagonism.

Your argument that nicotine deprivation can cause anxiety is fair, but the anxiety caused will vary from person to person. As an ex smoker I can say that it is quite easy to go long periods without a fag and not be adversely affected.

Further, nicotine can be supplied through alternative products that are inoffensive, i.e. chewing gum, patches, inhalators. The greatest problem for those giving up smoking is breaking the habit and not the addiction because of the above products.

Anxiety can be caused by many other things, your argument fails to acknowledge this. Do you stop people flying because their partner, spouse, child, parent etc. is ill? Do you stop somebody flying because they are going through a divorce? Just two examples of situations which can cause anxiety.

So p*ss off and, as I said, try thinking before exposing us to your thoughts.

As for the health risks, a medical should be able to pick any major risks. It is widely accepted that smoking can lead to lung disease and heart disease, but it does not automatically do so. Many people who have never smoked suffer unexpected heart attacks, the purpose of a medical is to ensure fitness to fly - if a smoker is fit to fly then their employer has no right to stop them because they don't like smokers, they can stop them smoking in company time but not in their own time - it is legal after all.


[This message has been edited by jollygreengiant (edited 30 May 2001).]

[This message has been edited by jollygreengiant (edited 30 May 2001).]

Well I think this would be a damn good thing. Smoking is frankly disgusting, and BA is obviously taking the moral lead in this case. Why should smokers be allowed on the TPS, eh? In the event of a depressurisation they're unnecessarily endangering the lives of their passengers and colleagues. If they were really committed to being an airline pilot they'd be happy to quit on joining anyway.

What *really* annoys me though is these "social" smokers that only have a ciggy when they go out of an evening. They don't even have the excuse that they're addicted! At least some old hack on 40-a-day can claim he doesn't have the willpower or moral fibre to stand up to his problem, but these wet-behind-the-ears smoking wannabes can't even say that. Pathetic.

Hooray for BA, I say.

Blimey...... sounds like you could do with a fag....

Well my 2d's worth says that if you want to fly for a living, give up smoking.

I did, and I'd recomend it too.

Am I the only one who thinks that these views are a bit extreme?

I hope that all of the people who have said that pilots should not smoke are tee totallers, run 5 miles a day, and eat rabbit food. What a credit to British Airways!

As you're not allowed to smoke on the flightdeck, non smoking flight crew are unaffected.

If you can pass your Class 1 while smoking like a proverbial chimney - good luck, it's your life, and you're fully aware of the consequences.

Right, back to the Gitanes...

Right,

There are too many posts already for me to wade through each one but here are my thoughts:

I'm sure its just a rumour; I don't think even BA are quite ready to ban smokers from their ranks.

This is a complete fuss over nothing and I fail to see how a nicotine addiction could pose a threat to the safety of a flight. To get onto an airline flight deck, a pilot will have spent a lot of time in the air. You can't smoke whilst flying an aircraft. If they hadn't learnt to hold the urge whilst functioning normally as a commander then they wouldn't make it there in the first place.

Yes it is a disgusting habit but we smokers do our best to stop it upsetting you non's as much as possible. Whoever said you had to choose between smoking or flying was talking out of their tailpipe. Just use a bit of common sense. Cut down if you have to.

Happy flying,

:) :) BAW22 :) :)