Dear Flight Attendants,
The 3rd Annual Flight Attendant Drug and Alcohol Program (FADAP) Conference was held last week at the Maritime Institute Conference Center in Linthicum Heights, MD. From the FADAP homepage: “FADAP is a substance-abuse prevention program, created and promoted for and by the flight attendant profession and funded by the FAA.” The conference was well-attended by AFA at Alaska Airlines, including several members of the Master Executive Council (MEC), the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Wings of Sobriety facilitators and Flight Attendant Recovery Peers. We are also very proud that Vice President of Inflight Services Andy Schneider and Rick Archuleta from Human Resources were there representing Alaska Airlines management.
As Flight Attendants well know, our profession is strictly regulated by the Department of Transportation (DOT) in terms of drug and alcohol use. What you may not know is that the DOT does not automatically require a Flight Attendant’s certification to be pulled and her or his employment terminated based upon failure of a single alcohol or drug test. The “zero tolerance” policy is a Company policy.
AFA at Alaska supports “zero tolerance” but with options for continued employment. AFA is not advocating for compromising our safety—quite the contrary! We do, however, recognize chemical dependency is a complex medical condition that has serious implications for those affected—including peers, family and friends. Due to the safety-sensitive nature of our work, it is in the best interest of our entire profession that we optimize opportunities to identify chemical abuse and intervene as early as possible. AFA strongly believes that with management’s support, a robust “return to cabin” program for Flight Attendants based on rigorously structured treatment and monitored recovery is an effective means to this end.
AFA is hopeful that management seems willing to review the current policy not just for Flight Attendants but for all employees. We sincerely thank Andy and Rick for their support at the conference and for their work as the “advance team” in regards to this effort!
In solidarity,
Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Terry Taylor, Yvette Gesch, Melanie Buker, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn and Sandra Morrow
“Five Bases, One Voice”
Resources:
Flight Attendant Drug and Alcohol Program (FADAP): http://www.fadap.org/
