A Qantas flight attendant was sacked after drinking 250ml of vodka and soda during a flight from Sydney to Johannesburg.
The woman, who had worked for the Australian flag-carrier for 31 years, tested positive for alcohol when she landed in South Africa.
Australia’s Fair Work Commission heard that the flight attendant admitted to drinking the alcohol quickly, in an effort to avoid detection, while alone at the front of the plane.
She also confessed to misleading the investigation by claiming to have brought her own alcohol onboard, which she said she bought at a duty-free store before boarding, according to a report by the Brisbane Times.
In reality, the cabin crew member drank onboard alcohol and said she was worried she would lose her job if she told the truth about where the vodka came from.
This was cited as a reason for her dismissal.
The Fair Work Commission has rejected her claim that she was unfairly dismissed.
The attendant argued that her years of good service with the company should have been considered when evaluating her conduct.
Deputy president Geoffrey Bull did not agree but acknowledged that her length of service was the “most compelling” of the evidence on offer.
Bull stated that her job was “a safety-sensitive position and for good reason was prohibited from consuming alcohol during a flight”, adding that Qantas policies offered its passengers “a degree of comfort that should an emergency arise, the aircraft crew will not be under the influence of alcohol in responding to an emergency”.
Qantas forbid staff from consuming alcohol while on duty and view the “unauthorised removal of property” as serious misconduct.
