FAA SAP Program

FAA testing requirements apply to employees who perform designated safety-sensitive functions for covered aviation employers.

Those functions include:

• Flight crewmember duties
• Flight attendant duties
• Flight instruction duties
• Aircraft dispatcher duties
• Aircraft maintenance and preventive maintenance
• Ground security coordinator duties
• Aviation screening duties
• Air traffic control duties
• Operations control specialist duties

FAA drug and alcohol testing rules apply based on the safety-sensitive duties you perform.

For example, pilots who only fly under 14 CFR Part 91, which covers general aviation and private flying, are usually not subject to the FAA drug and alcohol testing rules in 14 CFR Part 120.

However, if you conduct commercial air tours under 14 CFR § 91.147, Part 120 does apply, and you must follow the FAA’s drug and alcohol testing requirements for safety-sensitive employees.

You may still need to follow FAA drug and alcohol testing rules, whether you work full-time, part-time, temporarily, on an intermittent schedule, or as a contractor, as long as you perform covered safety-sensitive duties.

Under 14 CFR Part 120, the FAA considers several drug and alcohol-related situations to be violations. These can include:

• A verified positive DOT drug test
• An alcohol concentration of 0.04 or greater
• Refusing a required drug or alcohol test
• Using alcohol while performing safety-sensitive duties
• Using alcohol during the prohibited period before duty
• Using alcohol within eight hours after an accident when FAA rules prohibit it, except when the employee has been given a post-accident test or the employer has determined the employee’s performance could not have contributed to the accident

For drug-related violations, 14 CFR § 120.33 prohibits you from performing covered safety-sensitive duties if you have a prohibited drug in your system, receive a verified positive drug test, or refuse a required drug test before completing the required return-to-duty steps.

For most covered aviation employees, 14 CFR § 120.37 sets the rules related to alcohol use. You cannot report for or remain on safety-sensitive duty with an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or higher, use alcohol while on duty, or refuse a required alcohol test. Pilots and flight attendants cannot perform covered duties within eight hours of drinking, while most other covered employees have a four-hour restriction. The same section also restricts alcohol use for eight hours after certain accidents, except when you’ve been given a post-accident alcohol test or your employer has determined that your actions could not have contributed to the accident.

If you work in covered air traffic control duties, similar alcohol restrictions apply under 14 CFR § 120.19, including the eight-hour pre-duty restriction.

If you commit one of these violations, your employer must remove you from safety-sensitive work. 14 CFR § 120.221(e) requires employees who engage in prohibited alcohol-related conduct to meet the DOT return-to-duty requirements in 49 CFR Part 40 before returning to covered duties.

The FAA can also suspend or revoke your certificate following a violation for Part 61 certificate holders.

Under 49 CFR § 40.285, once you commit a DOT drug or alcohol violation, you cannot perform DOT-regulated safety-sensitive duties for any employer until you successfully complete the required SAP evaluation, all recommended education and/or treatment, and return-to-duty process.

Your employer must immediately remove you from safety-sensitive duties.

Completing the SAP process does not guarantee that your employer will rehire or reinstate you. Once you meet the federal return-to-duty requirements, the final employment decision remains with the employer.

Under 14 CFR § 120.109 and 14 CFR § 120.217, FAA-covered safety-sensitive employees may be subject to several types of federal drug and alcohol testing, including:

• Pre-employment drug testing
• Random drug and alcohol testing
• Post-accident testing
• Reasonable cause or reasonable suspicion testing
• Return-to-duty testing
• Follow-up testing

Before you start a safety-sensitive aviation job, you must pass a DOT drug test. The FAA does not require an alcohol test before employment, but your employer can choose to give you one as long as they follow federal testing rules.

Under 14 CFR § 120.109(b) for drug testing and 14 CFR § 120.217(c) for alcohol testing, the FAA sets minimum annual random testing rates for covered safety-sensitive aviation employees.

For calendar year 2026, the FAA kept those minimum rates at:

• 25% for random drug testing
• 10% for random alcohol testing

These percentages apply to the employer’s pool of covered safety-sensitive employees. They do not mean that you personally will be tested a certain number of times. Each covered employee must have an equal chance of selection whenever the employer makes a random draw.

FAA-regulated employees do not use the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse unless they are separately subject to FMCSA testing requirements as CDL drivers.

Instead, the FAA has its own reporting rules based on the type of certificate you hold.

An employer or Medical Review Officer (MRO) generally must report certain violations to the FAA within two working days.

These include:

• Verified positive drug tests and drug test refusals involving people who hold, or are required to hold, a Part 67 medical certificate
• Alcohol misuse violations involving people who hold a Part 67 medical certificate
• Drug or alcohol test refusals involving people who hold airman certificates under Part 61, Part 63, or Part 65

These reporting requirements are covered under 14 CFR § 120.111(d), 14 CFR § 120.113(d), and 14 CFR § 120.221(c)–(d). The FAA also provides a full overview of its drug and alcohol reporting requirements.

If you work as a pilot, your employer must also enter applicable drug or alcohol violations into the FAA’s Pilot Records Database (PRD) in accordance with 14 CFR § 111.220.

For an employee whose duties require an FAA medical certificate, completing the SAP return-to-duty process may not be the only requirement.

If you hold a medical certificate under 14 CFR Part 67 and want to return to duties that require that certificate, you must also meet any requirements set by your Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) or Regional Flight Surgeon.

For Part 67 medical certificate holders who violate the drug rules, 14 CFR 120.113(d)(2) and (d)(4) apply. The SAP must ask you if you hold a Part 67 certificate.

If you do or would be required to obtain one for the work you perform, you must get a new certificate after the date of your positive drug test before the SAP can recommend your return to a safety-sensitive job.

Part 67 medical certificate holders who violate the alcohol rules fall under 14 CFR 120.221(c).

As a Part 67 medical certificate holder, your employer can’t return you to duty until the Federal Air Surgeon has recommended it and you meet Part 40 return-to-duty requirements.

You must also obtain an airman medical certificate issued by the Federal Air Surgeon and dated after the date of your violation.

Your FAA medical certification process is separate from the SAP return-to-duty requirements under 49 CFR Part 40, Subpart O. If your job requires an FAA medical certificate, you may need to complete both processes before you can return to those duties.

Under 14 CFR § 120.111(e)(1)-(2), using a prohibited drug while performing a safety-sensitive function will permanently disqualify you from performing that function. You will also be permanently disqualified when you have two verified positive drug tests that occurred after Sept. 19, 1994.

For alcohol violations, 14 CFR § 120.221(b) states that on-duty use of alcohol while performing a safety-sensitive function under 14 CFR § 120.19(c) or § 120.37 will permanently disqualify you from performing the duties you held before the violation.

If you had a previous alcohol violation under § 120.19 or § 120.37 (other than on-duty use, which is permanently disqualifying upon a first violation), a second violation will permanently disqualify you.

The FAA also explains these consequences in its guidance for safety-sensitive employees.

Because permanent disqualification depends on the type and history of the violation, review the FAA rules that apply to your situation and seek professional or legal guidance when necessary.

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State marijuana laws do not change federal FAA/DOT drug testing requirements.

Even if recreational or medical marijuana use is legal in your state, a positive result for marijuana on your DOT/FAA test will not change to a negative result simply because your use was allowed under state law.

Following President Donald Trump’s Executive Order, the US Department of Justice moved FDA-approved marijuana products and state-approved marijuana products subject to a medical marijuana license from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), as it announced on April 23, 2026.

However, the DOJ and the DEA actions to reclassify marijuana under the CSA have no effect on how the US Department of Transportation treats it under 49 CFR Part 40.

The DOT has answered the question about whether the reclassification of certain marijuana products has changed its drug and alcohol testing rules and said it hasn’t.

According to the DOT, state-licensed marijuana products are not FDA-approved drugs. As such, an MRO can’t find that a laboratory-confirmed marijuana positive drug test is negative based on an employee’s assertion that the result occurred because of their use of a state-licensed medical marijuana product.

Since state-licensed medical marijuana can’t be prescribed as an FDA-approved drug, it doesn’t meet Part 40’s requirement for a legitimate medical explanation.

Under 14 CFR § 120.33, you cannot perform a covered safety-sensitive function while a prohibited drug, including marijuana or its metabolites, is in your system.

Even if you use marijuana legally under your state’s medical marijuana program, the DOT still treats a positive test as a violation under 49 CFR § 40.137.