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Ban on HIV-positive pilots to end

by Tim Gibson

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has confirmed this week that they would finally make efforts to remove the ban on people living with HIV becoming pilots. People wishing to become pilots must be able to obtain a Class 1 medical certificate. Certain medical conditions, like HIV, prevent that from happening. The law is an archaic hangover from the AIDS crisis when we had little understanding about how the disease worked and how it infected people.

This recent push for reform comes after an HIV-positive Glasgow man was told he could not become a pilot when he was accepted into the EasyJet training course. The case has been taken up personally by Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister, who sent a letter to the CAA urging them to update the policy.

The CAA regulates all forms of civil aviation in the UK, although is itself limited by the European Aviation Safety Agency. The most they can do until Europe reforms its laws is grant HIV-positive pilots a medical certificate to fly multi-pilot operations. Andrew Haines, CAA Chief Executive, has confirmed that the “UK Civil Authority is committed to being one of the most progressive aviation authorities in the world… (We) have been promoting the need for changes to the current regulations in relation to the restrictions applicable to pilots with certain medical conditions, including HIV.”

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