2 Air Transat pilots charged with being impaired

[Meatservo]

Fair enough. I guess that is the moral high ground for sure.

[TFTMB heavy]

Someone on PPrune is claiming that they were fired....

http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/5817 ... ost9485103

Completely false.

[pelmet]

It kind of sounds to me like Glasgow might be a place where you might want to have water with dinner and go straight to your room afterwards- certainly not my idea of a fun layover.

Why. Are you incapable of having fun without alcohol? Ever thought of touring the the town and visiting places?

[DanWEC]

I'll dive into a scotchfest with you any day Meat, at the risk of missing rousing times at the Stationary Museum, or being regaled by a tour guide waxing poetic about the world's wettest rock.

We can laugh and toast as we bask in the sanctimonious condemnation of those on soap boxes who sound a little like walking fanny packs.

Sláinte!

[AuxBatOn]

It kind of sounds to me like Glasgow might be a place where you might want to have water with dinner and go straight to your room afterwards- certainly not my idea of a fun layover.

Why. Are you incapable of having fun without alcohol? Ever thought of touring the the town and visiting places?

Agreed. While I encourage fun while on work duties, nobody, while on a work trip, should prioritize fun at the expense of work. If it means you don't drink on a layover, so be it. Your company doesn't pay you to drink on a layover: they pay you to operate an aircraft.

In Air Transat's case, even if they were not drunk at the gate, their behaviour triggered people to be concerned or at the very least to question the professionalism of the crew and by extension, Air Transat.

[single_swine_herder]

A few years ago when I confronted a staff member about having been seen in a bar drinking "adult beverages" the night before, his reply indicated a "has no clue" about the concept of propriety and responsibility .... his seriously supplied answer was ..... "Whats the big deal, I wasn't drunk."

[Meatservo]

It kind of sounds to me like Glasgow might be a place where you might want to have water with dinner and go straight to your room afterwards- certainly not my idea of a fun layover.

Why. Are you incapable of having fun without alcohol? Ever thought of touring the the town and visiting places?

Oh honestly, Pelmet, that entire post you've quoted a part of was meant to be sarcastic. Will you not read it again, and see if you are able to pick up on the snarky, sarcastic tone ("Dewar's seagull"? I mean honestly.) Or am I losing my edge? You and AuxBatOn are usually pretty dialled-in, but this time you are both being a little pedantic. Anyway, I'm from Glasgow. Can't you tell by my accent?

Also, the museum IS pretty good Dan, don't write it off just because it sounds dull. It's not!

[pelmet]

It kind of sounds to me like Glasgow might be a place where you might want to have water with dinner and go straight to your room afterwards- certainly not my idea of a fun layover.

Why. Are you incapable of having fun without alcohol? Ever thought of touring the the town and visiting places?

Oh honestly, Pelmet, that entire post you've quoted a part of was meant to be sarcastic.

Also, the museum IS pretty good Dan, don't write it off just because it sounds dull. It's not!

Well gee, I guess I was being sarcastic as well. See you at the stationary museum....or another station to bail out Dan.

[Meatservo]

I wish you guys would stop making fun of the Stationary Museum. My Uncle works there. It's a lot more fun than it sounds. So is the Calvinist centre for Parsimony.

http://collections.glasgowmuseums.com/c ... cid=533740

[DanWEC]

Was he the bloke who gave the riveting albiet idiosyncratic seminar on paper cuts during the revered Foolscap exhibit of '96? Legendary. If there was ever a "Where were you when" moment....

[North Shore]

Pilots are cleared, after key evidence was destroyed..
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-gla ... t-43907466

[tps8903]

Pilots are cleared, after key evidence was destroyed..
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-gla ... t-43907466

Show of hands....who is excited to ride in the back of a plane with these guys again????? Anyone?????

Glad to see that Scotland's legal system is as much a circus as Canada's.

[fish4life]

To be fair did you actually see how much alcohol they had in their systems? Although I would agree that a BAC of zero is the only thing a pilot should have these guys were not showing up for work drunk. They both were under 0.05 which wouldn't even give a 24 hour license suspension here for driving a car.

Again they shouldn't have had anything in their system but I bet a lot of people that shut it down before the 8-12 hours (Transport to company policies) will have a trace in their system the next day.

[CpnCrunch]

"They were also accused of acting in a threatening manner and fighting at the Hilton Hotel in the city on the same day."

Not really impressed with Transat on this, and I'm sure most people aren't. I guess they're happy to let this dent their reputation rather than risk an unfair dismissal lawsuit. Which do you think will cost more? Or maybe everyone will forget about this after a while.

[Laser Tilt]

"They were also accused of acting in a threatening manner and fighting at the Hilton Hotel in the city on the same day."

Not really impressed with Transat on this, and I'm sure most people aren't. I guess they're happy to let this dent their reputation rather than risk an unfair dismissal lawsuit. Which do you think will cost more? Or maybe everyone will forget about this after a while.

In Ontario (and probably rest of Canada) you can fire anyone for any reason....as long as you are willing to pay out. I am amazed Air Transat would not fire them and then pay out 1 month for every year worked with min of 3 months. They could be more generous if they really want this to go away. This is almost impossible to challenge in court unlike dismissal with cause which is very hard to prove.

[sluggo]

This entire event has been unbelievably unfortunate right from the start. Equally unfortunate that the general public that otherwise quietly enjoys a very decent service will be swayed by the media. I just hope Transat will now be able to come up with an appropriate solution and be able to present it properly to the public. Not an easy task but the public deserves at least as much as both the company and the pilots.

[tps8903]

To be fair did you actually see how much alcohol they had in their systems? Although I would agree that a BAC of zero is the only thing a pilot should have these guys were not showing up for work drunk. They both were under 0.05 which wouldn't even give a 24 hour license suspension here for driving a car.

Again they shouldn't have had anything in their system but I bet a lot of people that shut it down before the 8-12 hours (Transport to company policies) will have a trace in their system the next day.

Yes, I did see actually how much their BAC is. And anything above zero is completely unacceptable of a professional airline pilot, period, full stop.

I have testified in over 100 impaired driving case in my life time, investigated hundreds more, was a qualified breath technician, am a designated expert in court for Drug Impairment, have bagged and tagged countless dead bodies and consoled victims families. I know the toll all to well, and I reiterate zero BAC is the accatable amount for a airline pilot.

There is very little in this world that burns me as bad as people operating Planes, Trains or Automobiles under the influence of impairing substances.

[Zaibatsu]

To be fair did you actually see how much alcohol they had in their systems? Although I would agree that a BAC of zero is the only thing a pilot should have these guys were not showing up for work drunk. They both were under 0.05 which wouldn't even give a 24 hour license suspension here for driving a car.

Again they shouldn't have had anything in their system but I bet a lot of people that shut it down before the 8-12 hours (Transport to company policies) will have a trace in their system the next day.

Yes, I did see actually how much their BAC is. And anything above zero is completely unacceptable of a professional airline pilot, period, full stop.

I have testified in over 100 impaired driving case in my life time, investigated hundreds more, was a qualified breath technician, am a designated expert in court for Drug Impairment, have bagged and tagged countless dead bodies and consoled victims families. I know the toll all to well, and I reiterate zero BAC is the accatable amount for a airline pilot.

There is very little in this world that burns me as bad as people operating Planes, Trains or Automobiles under the influence of impairing substances.

How many of those cases. How many of those dead people were as a result of someone who had a BAC under 0.05 because they had one or two drams of single malt?

I’m willing to bet zero.

Extended duty days are a far greater risk and produce cognitive impairment and delayed reactions equivalent to high BAC levels.

[rookiepilot]

Not really impressed with Transat on this, and I'm sure most people aren't. I guess they're happy to let this dent their reputation rather than risk an unfair dismissal lawsuit.

AT has proven on numerous occasions they couldn't care less about their reputation.

Hey whatever works -- (price) until it doesn't --

[confusedalot]

Looks like the stone throwers are out in force.

Their actual bac appears to have been very low but regardless, it still is a huge no no to show up for work like that. And they were incredibly lucky indeed to be let off the way they were, pretty much like winning the lottery. Lotteries do not make a difference between good or bad, deserved or not.

Since their names are now plastered over the internet forever, I would think that they will never work for anyone else, and that would include jobs outside of a cockpit or the flying industry, except for Air Transat. So if for any reason they are no longer there, they will in fact face a life of destitution with nowhere to go.

As much as it is a big mistake and as much as they were fortunate in the outcome, I can't bring myself to 100% skewer a person. Serious and nasty premeditated criminals even get a break eventually, and that, well I have a bit of a problem with. But if you make an alcohol related mistake, we're not talking piss drunk rolling down the aisle, ohmygosh....