FAA Proposes Fine Against Avelo Over Alleged Drug, Alcohol Testing Violations

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed a US$65,000 civil penalty against Avelo Airlines (XP), alleging violations of federal drug and alcohol testing requirements for safety-sensitive aviation employees.

In a March 10 enforcement notice, the FAA stated that XP allegedly failed to meet several program and recordkeeping requirements, including maintaining testing records and ensuring proper documentation within its DOT/FAA-mandated framework.

Although the penalty amount is modest for an airline, drug and alcohol testing compliance is a key oversight area for the FAA and DOT, as it directly affects safety-sensitive roles such as pilots, mechanics, dispatchers, and other operational staff.

Enforcement actions like this remind the sector of the importance of maintaining a fully auditable compliance record rather than the financial penalty itself. XP can respond to the allegations and contest the proposed civil penalty, as is standard in FAA enforcement actions.

What airline drug & alcohol testing compliance typically includes

Airlines must run a DOT-regulated testing program for safety-sensitive employees (e.g., pilots, mechanics, dispatchers, certain ground/ops roles). Key components usually include:

• Random testing: Employees are selected through a random process at required annual rates, with testing spread across the year so it’s unpredictable.
• Pre-employment testing: New hires in safety-sensitive roles generally must test negative before performing covered duties.
• Reasonable suspicion testing: Triggered when trained supervisors observe specific behavior or signs consistent with impairment.
• Post-accident testing: Required after certain accidents/incidents, based on DOT criteria (severity and role), with time windows for alcohol and drug tests.
• Return-to-duty & follow-up testing: For employees who violated policy and are cleared to return, including a schedule of follow-up tests set by a substance-abuse professional process.
• Recordkeeping & audits: Airlines must maintain detailed documentation—test results, chain-of-custody, training records, vendor/collector credentials, and annual reporting—often with multi-year retention requirements.
• Vendor oversight: If a third party administers testing, the airline is still responsible for ensuring the vendor follows DOT procedures and that records are complete and accessible.