Archive · 18 Aug 2026
FIP Urges DGCA to Adopt Rapid Saliva-Based Pilot Drug Testing
People who fly planes work very hard and take care of everyone on board, so it is very important that they are healthy and not taking drugs.
Right now, India checks only a small number of them using a test with urine, and that test has been the same for about ten years.
A group called the Federation of Indian Pilots thinks this is not enough because flying has grown so much in India.
They wrote a letter asking the government's airplane safety office to check more people and do it more often.
They want to use a new kind of test that checks spit from the mouth instead.
This spit test is much faster and can be done right where the plane is parked.
They say it can save about two-thirds of the time it takes for the old test.
This faster test means more pilots can be checked.
The pilots' group also says other countries like Australia, America, and the UAE already use this kind of test.
That is why they think India should try it too.
The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has written to India's aviation regulator DGCA demanding faster and more frequent drug tests for pilots and aviation workers.
FIP argues India's aviation sector has grown too fast for the decade-old benchmark of testing 10% of employees via urine samples to provide meaningful results.
The federation says saliva tests can be done on the spot, even at ground stops, cutting sample collection time by roughly two-thirds.
FIP pointed to aviation authorities in Australia, the US, and the UAE, which already run oral-fluid testing programs for workers alongside urine tests.
The demand centers on adopting saliva testing as a supplement or improvement over the current urine-based testing system.
- Who
- The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India's aviation regulator.
- What
- FIP formally requested DGCA to implement faster, more frequent drug testing using largely on-the-spot saliva tests, arguing the current decade-old benchmark of testing 10% of workers via urine is insufficient.
- When
- The demand was made in a recent written communication from FIP to DGCA (specific date not stated in the article).
- Where
- India, concerning its aviation sector and its regulator DGCA.
- Why
- FIP says India's aviation sector has grown too quickly for the existing testing benchmark to provide meaningful safety results, and saliva testing would cut collection time by roughly two-thirds.
- Demanding Body
- Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP)
- Addressed To
- Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)
- Current Testing Benchmark
- Decade-old benchmark testing 10% of aviation workers via urine samples
- Proposed Change
- On-the-spot saliva (oral-fluid) testing, including at ground stops
- Time Savings Claimed
- Roughly two-thirds reduction in sample collection time
- International Precedents Cited
- Australia, the United States, and the UAE, which already run oral-fluid testing alongside urine tests
- Core Concern
- India's fast-growing aviation sector makes existing urine-testing levels insufficient for meaningful results