Arbitration of Employee Drug Abuse Cases - Some Special Issues Peculiar to Air Carrier Pilots (From Arbitration Promise and Performance, P 90-100, 1984, James L Stern and Barbara D Dennis, ed. - See NCJ-94688)

• NCJ Number: 94692
• Author(s): R L Masters; K B Cooper
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 20 pages
• Sale Source: Bureau of National Affairs
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This review of special issues peculiar to air carrier pilots and confined to those represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) focuses on the regulatory framework (dispute resolution mechanisms, enforcement of medical standards, and rules regarding consumption of alcohol and drugs); air carrier rules and regulations on consumption and use of alcohol and drugs; occupational programs; and the resolution of problems.

Abstract

The 1959 FAA regulations, in effect until mid-1982, permanently disqualified from flying persons with an established clinical diagnosis or history of alcoholism or drug addiction. The current rule allows certification for air carrier pilots successfully demonstrating their rehabilitation, with special proviso that all such 'exemptees' submit to monthly monitoring by company and union officials and periodic reevaluations by aftercare programs of treatment centers and specially designated psychiatrists and/or psychologists. The Human Intervention and Motivation Study, established by ALPA in cooperation with the FAA and the carriers, developed, applied, and refined a model for early detection, prevention, intervention, and treatment and rehabilitation. The program's long-term recovery rate is 85 percent.