Every Delta passenger onboard Delta flight 205 from Stockholm to New York JFK today is entitled to $705 (600 euros) in cash compensation, after one of the pilots was arrested this morning for failing a breathalyzer test as the plane was “about to take off” and the flight was cancelled.
A police operation took place at Arlanda Airport on Tuesday morning. At 09.15, a pilot was arrested by the police during a check on board an aircraft.
…According to the police, the plane was about to take off from Arlanda when the arrest took place. …According to Aftonbladet, it is a female pilot from the United States.
With 198 seats onboard, that’s $139,590 that Delta is obligated to pay out to passengers under European Union rule EU261, given the length of delayed arrival and distance of the flight. And that doesn’t include the cost of lodging and meals, and disruption to follow-on flights that would have been operated by the aircraft.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency mandates random alcohol testing for flight and cabin crew operating out of EU member states under regulation 2018/1042.
In the fall, two Delta flight attendants working the same Amsterdam departure were arrested after failing a breathalyzer.
Pilot drinking, though, is a challenge all airlines (and regulators) have to grapple with. There was a Delta flight cancelled when the captain was arrested for intoxication in 2023. This happens infrequently, but isn’t unheard of. Earlier this year a Southwest pilot was arrested smelling of booze at security before a flight.
Last year, a Japan Airlines pilot had a big night out in Dallas where he drank with other crewmembers starting around 6 p.m., continued drinking in the hotel lounge, and later in his room. Layover hotel guests were complaining about noise in his room, and police were called at 2 a.m.
In 2019 United pilots flying out of Glasgow to Newark were arrested on intoxication charges and a fully-boarded Delta flight from Minneapolis was cancelled due to an intoxicated pilot. Of course United flight from London was also once delayed to remove a drunk air marshal.
In the U.S., commercial airline pilots have to go at least 8 hours from their last drink prior to flying (“8 hours bottle-to-throttle”) and their blood alcohol limit is .04. A JetBlue pilot was arrested in 2022 for blowing a .17. The only thing you’re prepared to drive at .17 is the porcelain bus. JetBlue’s priority of course is safety. This pilot’s priority may have been getting so tanked he thought he was Gary Busey trying to explain who really killed Bruce Lee.
Once, though, a pilot drank 17 rum and cokes before actually flying from Fargo to Minneapolis (he “fell on the floor before leaving the bar”) while “two other crew members shared seven pitchers of beer.”
Drinking by pilots is a very sensitive subject. American Airlines was even forced to apologize when their outsource inflight magazine depicted pilots mixing cocktails.
Air travel can be a difficult career and drinking and other substance problems get hidden. Pilots with substance abuse problems are often wary of speaking up and seeking help, for fear of being sidelined, despite programs designed to encourage them to do so.
Pilots hide not just alcohol abuse but mental health conditions and that points to a fundamental conundrum: you want pilots to be open and seek help in order to promote safety, but once they’re open they’re a clearly identified risk and get removed from the cockpit. So the consequences of being open discourage that openness. Or at least that’s the fear many pilots have, not trusting the commitments that are in place to help rather than punish.
Pilots that can’t control their alcohol consumption is mind boggling. Eventually they’re going to lose their job and career, or worst cause an accident. I don’t get the decision making.
@George Romey – you don’t get a lot of things, as evidenced by your comments both here and on One Mile at a Time. Your comments are bereft of empathy and you lack understanding of the fundamentals of our modern world. You reject wokeness, mental health wellness, and many things on which the newer generations of enlightened human beings have focused for the betterment of society at large. You’re a dinosaur.
Alcohol is a drug. It has addictive potential. The pilot in this situation needs help and deserves our sympathy.
Folks, this is EU261 in-action! Finally! Now, imagine every time your flight is delayed 2-3+ hours by the airline, and you get $200-700 compensation. We can do this. FAA/DOT/Congress can legislate this. We deserve better.
No excuses. The rules are clear. They are to be fit and responsible for work. Can’t managed that? Step aside your career is over.
Not necessarily about alcoholism, but more so on crew communication and mental health: Nathan Fielder has a fascinating approach to CRM in The Rehearsal season 2 on HBO.
@erect sorry you have to show responsibility to earn sympathy. There is too much at risk for second chances. The first chance to was to choose not drink. Millions make that choice every day.
Which is older…the Scotch consumed by the intoxicated Delta pilot or the 26+ year old 767-300 aircraft (N176DZ)?
On a more serious note, I hope the pilot gets the professional help she clearly needs.
I think a lot of pilots get away with this for a long time. To the point where they don’t even think about it.
Then they get caught, always by someone at the airport, not their colleagues on the flight deck.
@Captain Freedom — Them’s fightin’ words (on the 763 comment) to our pal @Tim Dunn! Don’t worry, DL’s swapping ’em out for 787s, soon enough…
@1990. Be careful what you wish for. Wonder why airlines are so proactive canceling flights nowadays?
@Coffee Please — Are you referring to the recent AA 789 issue? If so, let’s say you booked LHR-ORD, UK261 is in effect for that flight. If they canceled within 14 days of departure, you may be entitled to that compensation, in addition to the choice of refund, or alternative itinerary, if interested/available.
Or, were you making some broader conclusion about the economy? And, like, that airlines are going bankrupt, or something. Well, that isn’t happening yet, except Silver Airways, which ceased all operations on June 11. (Recall that Spirit successfully emerged from Chapter 11 in March). Oh, and such regulations (like EU/UK 261) do not bankrupt airlines or increase airfare, see Ryanair which is both profitable (€820 million in Q1) and offers dirt cheap airfare all over Europe and elsewhere (think £10 from London to Oslo, but, keep in mind, you get what you pay for.) So, yeah, a failed flight with Ryanair can net you a juicy profit, personally if they mess up.
@Captain
I hope she gets the JAIL time she clearly needs.
@CHRIS — Not sure what they do in Sweden, but in the USA, pilots do get arrested, and the FAA does revoke licenses for pilots who are caught attempting to ‘fly impaired.’
Has no one seen the fictional film ‘Flight’ where Denzel Washington plays an ‘alcoholic airline pilot who miraculously crash-lands his plane after a mechanical failure, saving nearly everyone on board. Although (initially) hailed a hero, an investigation soon begins to cast the captain in a different light (when his alcoholism is exposed).’ It was a great performance. Also, kind of a sad premise.
I realize this would be costly and would be a huge undertaking to implement. However, maybe every airplane should have Ignition Interlock Devices and the flight cannot operate if the pilots fail the Breathalyzer.
@XYZ — I just saw you ‘go off’ on the other post, calling the flight attendant ‘stupid waitress,’ which was not cool. Is this yet another name for the guy behind @Erect, @Un, @Unintimidated, @Jack Mehoff, @E. Jack Youlater, etc. I just assume it might be because ‘XYZ’ is the initials for ‘examine your zipper’ and that fellow seems to enjoy somewhat perverse names. What would confirm it is your stance on the CCP. So, here’s the test: Taiwan remains a free and independent country.
Taiwan is not free and independent. Taiwan is an island province of the People’s Republic of China.
Taiwan is not free or independent. Taiwan is an island province of the People’s Republic of China.
Taiwan is neither free nor independent. Taiwan is an island province of the People’s Republic of China.
The risk is significant enough that it makes sense for all pilots to have to blow into a breathalyzer before flying. I know pilots won’t be happy about this and the vast majority really have no need to be tested but better safe than sorry.
No one chooses become dependent on something, be it alcohol, drugs, sex, shopping, gambling, the internet…whatever. If this pilot has a substance use issue they are deserving of our empathy and support to get the help they need…while they deal with the regrettable circumstances of the situation.
The people on here who cannot muster up an ounce of understanding that there is context here deserve our pity. It must be exhausting to be so absolute and unforgiving in everything.
Driving the porcelain bus lolololololol
Well then… that just about confirms it. Any other names that I’m missing?
Here we go again, PRC (the mainland, communists) vs. ROC (Taiwan, the free, independent capitalist island country nearby). I certainly prefer the ROC, because its people actually choose their own leaders and enjoy the freedom of being able to question their own government, unlike those under the CCP’s dictatorship nearby, who get murdered like at Tiananmen, Tibet, and the Uyghurs.
As one of our fellow commenters pointed out recently, good luck using a visa to the PRC when visiting the ROC. Also, isn’t it ‘fun’ how China Airlines is based in Taiwan.
Uh oh… That’s what Xi said…
Why does everybody assume the pilot is suffering from addiction and deserves sympathy. Odds are they made a piss poor decision and will pay for it with their career. I’ve seen it happen several times during my career.
@H2oman — Ah, so someone did see the ending of movie ‘Flight’ after all… (Whitaker, after initially trying to conceal his alcoholism, ultimately confessing to his actions at the NTSB hearing. He is then imprisoned, serving a five-year sentence, but finds a sense of freedom in sobriety and reconnects with his son. The final scene shows his son visiting him in prison, revealing a newfound understanding and respect for his father.) Aww.
Delta only uses Premium Drunk Pilots.
@Alan — As occasional commenter @Matt would say, for an airline whose pilot is ‘top shelf,’ please consider Delta. @L737 (eh, not great… not terrible.)
Random testing in the morning can result in false positives from the alcohol in mouthwash.
It would be better to draw conclusions from a blood draw than assumptions from a false positive prone breathalyzer.
In the event alcohol had been consumed even burping within 20 minutes of a breathalyzer test will yield inaccurate results.
A limit of 0.04 would allow most average sized men to consume two twelve ounce beers an hour before takeoff. (Based on actual blood alcohol level, not the readings from a breathalyzer)
The pilots are paid a lot. Have her pay docked to cover the EU261 costs if she stays with Delta.
Guess DL didn’t have a pilot in AMS, FRA, LHR or CDG that they could ‘steal’ for the ARN flight instead of an all out cancellation and delaying it a day ? It might make more sense to XL a AMS, LHR or CDG flight where there are more alternates/options for pax …. Maybe cancellation would be cheaper than paying hotel & meals for pax…. believe the European 261 compensation would apply nor matter what …
All US States .08 BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) is the level that will get you a trip to the Jail. Sweden, .02 BAC. Before the Mothers Against Drunk Drivers arrived in the 80’s it was .16. BAC depends on gender, weight, how long since last drink, etc. It takes time for alcohol to be metabolized, if you’ve been stopped just after you left the bar it’ll likely go higher by the time you get to the breath test. Here’s an example used in Texas: if you had just consumed three drinks and you were a 100-pound woman, your BAC would be 0.14%. But if you were a 180 pound man, your BAC after three drinks would be 0.06%. Depending on how much the pilot drank 8+ hours ago, she could still have .02 in her system. And one heck of a headache!
Just ask yourselves, would you want a ” slightly drunk ” person driving your family? Raise your comments if you’re good with that. Now multiply that by 100.
…that blows. :-p
> Taiwan is not free and independent. Taiwan is an island province of the People’s Republic of China.
Bwahahahaha!!! Imagine if you had no sense of humor.
China is a nothing burger on its steep rise to its steep decline.
Taiwan is a hub of technological advance.
But hey, if it makes you happy to post 3 times under 3 usernames you go, girl.
@1990 — Not bad! Much better than what I came up with
@Ehud Gavron — Burgers! You just “GAV,E” me an idea for what to cook tomorrow, thank you
I’ll add an additional thought: law school in the mid-70’s, Prof told us to rethink Alcohol: abuse isn’t a moral failure, it’s a disease.
“That’s what Xi said…”
Priceless. I can’t fathom how long you’ve been keeping that in the wings just in case.
Well played.
… and I’m stealing that.