QUESTION
Hi Rod:

I am a part time flight instructor and recently a good, long-time friend has started training for his private license with me. I have known him for almost 30 years. I did have initial reservations about teaching a friend, but we are both professionals and I figured I would give it a shot. We both enjoy our soda pops after work, boating, golfing etc. but over the past few years he is getting pretty bad with his drinking. Another friend and I, his brother and his wife have tried to talk to him, but met total resistance. He gets out of work and picks up beer for his ride home. I made it very clear when he started flying that there is absolutely no way alcohol is tolerated while flying and he seems to be abiding, as I have never smelled anything on him before a lesson.

I teach at a small private airport where frequently the owner and several pilots are in the flight office or the main hangar having a beer after work and sharing stories. I am guilty of it also. However I wait until after hours when there are no students around. I just don’t think it’s professional being an instructor sitting there with beer in hand during business hours.

I’m not running for sainthood, or trying to lead a temperance movement. I realize this conduct would be easily condemned by most aviation buffs, but this is a small, private, very sociable airport. We have frequent gatherings, bonfires, picnics, breakfast/dinner flights etc. That is just how thing are there, it will never change and I don't want it to. I enjoy it. There is considerable camaraderie that you don’t find at most airports. Everyone knows everyone.

My concern is my friend, who obviously has a problem, sees this, and figures this is the way aviation is and it's another place to drink. When the lesson is complete he heads to his car, grabs several beers, and brings them into the office to drink while we are doing the paperwork. No one else does that. He is the only one.

My friend has offered me a beverage, but I always decline while in the office unless it's after hours. I have explained my position to him, trying to possibly pass on some restraint, to no avail.

I wouldn't be writing if I didn't have genuine concerns. My friend swears to me he would never get into an aircraft under the influence and I have recently considered telling him that with his problem I think it would be best if he didn’t fly. I don’t know what that would do to our friendship and I probably shouldn't even consider that aspect. I realize what he is doing in the car is illegal and extremely dangerous, but I don t wear a badge. He has a problem and it is getting worse. Should I be the one pulling the plug on his aviation dream? Thanks for your input in advance.

No Name Please.

ANSWER
Greetings NNP:

Alcoholism is a terrible problem for the drinker and those around him. Not fun. Here's my take.

The distinction to be made here is one between public and private behavior. When you're having a beer with friends at the school, it's private behavior because it's after hours (which, I hope, means the school is completely closed for business). This is no one's business but yours and your friends’.

Drinking while the flight school is still servicing students, however, is public behavior, meaning it's everyone's business. It’s completely unreasonable for anyone to have a beer while the flight lesson is in progress, and the postflight debriefing is still part of the lesson. I personally wouldn't permit this. It's public behavior because the flight school is still doing business.

If, on the other hand, your student wants to wait around until the flight school stops the day's work, then having a beer is his private business. Therefore, it's not unreasonable for you to ask your student not to drink while you are conducting a lesson or at the flight school during business hours.

Now, onto the subject of alcoholism. I've known a few alcoholics in my life and these are always sad situations. There are so many different definitions of alcoholism that it's confusing when you try to pin one down. As I see it, if a person can't be "happy" in an activity or situation without alcohol, then he or she most likely has an alcohol dependency problem.

For instance, suppose a person is headed to a friend's house for dinner and finds out that alcohol will not be served. If this person decides not to go or goes and refuses to enjoy himself without alcohol, this is a pretty good sign that he has a drinking problem. If your student can't enjoy the activity of flying without alcohol being involved after each lesson, then he most likely has a problem.

I have very little tolerance for people with alcohol problems. My impression is that the more feedback this person receives, the sooner he or she will be able to turn his life around. While your friend may indeed be telling what he believes is the truth about never flying under the influence of alcohol, you must understand that this is the rational person talking. If your friend is indeed an alcoholic, then you can't count on him being rational when he has been drinking...and he will most certainly be drinking, right? That's what alcoholics do.

Your friend says that he doesn't have a problem with drinking a beer while driving home, so why should you believe that he will be rational about his flying choices once he gets a beer in him?

These situations are always tough to deal with, but understand this. Three people think your friend has a problem and he doesn't. Your side wins, in my opinion. He's apparently not open to discussing it and that's a big concern. As I see it, if he were my student, the least I would do is request that he not drink at the airport during business hours. Now, that's the least I would do, because I still believe that people should be able to make their own choices, at least until those choices begin to affect the well-being of others.

On the other hand, you might do your friend a good service (but lose a friend in the process) by stopping his flight training until he gets help with his problem. Common sense says that he's likely to abuse alcohol and aviation at the same time. So the question to ask yourself is, "If I were to imagine a probable tragic outcome as a result of this person's drinking (i.e., crash, crash with family on board, crash where he injures someone on the ground...) can I live with that outcome knowing that I might have prevented it?" Let the answer to that question be your guide in deciding how to handle this situation.

I hope this helps. This is a tough problem, but tough problems often require tough choices.