Sri Lanka pilots start union action over booze tests

Sri Lanka pilots Friday started industrial action against random breathalyser tests, as the island's national carrier warned passengers to expect delays.

Sri Lankan airlines began randomly testing its crew after a captain was found to be drunk last month, holding up hundreds of passengers at Frankfurt for 15 hours until a replacement could be found.

It also suspended a captain for allegedly refusing a breathalyser test at Colombo’s main international airport.

Sri Lanka's pilots' union says its members will continue with their industrial action - no overtime and no stepping in for absent colleagues - as part of a work-to-rule campaign until the suspended captain is reinstated.

The airline said Sujith Jayasekera's refusal to be tested was "tantamount to a positive reading".

But Jayasekera said he only questioned the lack of qualified medical staff available to carry out the test.

"They allowed me to fly that Airbus with 144 passengers to Bangkok," he told AFP. "If I had refused the test, they should not have allowed me to fly."

The disruption comes as the cash-strapped carrier seeks an international partner to manage it after an accumulated $1-billion loss.