I am planning on starting ATP flight school here in about another month, I posted on the forum a couple months ago because i was stresses out about not recieving my first class medical do to a couple of arrest from a couple of years ago. I am 21 right now, well i recieved my medical and now I am stressed about another thing actually getting hired by an airline. The two arrest were the first was running from the police at a lake because i was a minor, and the second was having a fake id in a bar is this going to be a major issue for me in my future?
Chances of being hired by airline?
- Thread starter Phoenix12
- Start date
Ayork62493
GBR
First off..
Do you actually have any certificates?
Do you actually have any certificates?
CoffeeIcePapers
Well-Hung Member
I think as long as you don't have any failures on your record, you will be fine.
ckthepilot
Well-Known Member
Depends on the failures. 1 or 2 checkride failures aren't the end of the world. Some of the best pilots have some type of failure and some of the worst have a clean training record. But in OPs case, he does not have much room to move.
block30
Well-Known Member
I don't think airlines are in your immediate future anyways...given the 1500 hour law. Instruct, fly survey, fly sky divers, fly freight. Then think of the next step. The industry is going to be in a different situation by the time you get to that point in your flying. You aren't the only one who has something on their record.
Be honest about EVERYTHING.Believe me, I'm the LAST person on the planet I thought would clear a TS (Yankee White) background check. I told my CoC (Chain of Command) to find someone else, I'd never pass it. They said, "Be honest about EVERY SINGLE THING pertinent to the application, and you'll be fine." I did. And then some. The process was long, and no fun, but, it worked out. So... I'll say to you.
BE HONEST ABOUT EVERYTHING ON AN APPLICATION, AND IN THE INTERVIEWS.
If they want you, and you're the guy, you'll get the job. Lie, or omit anything, and you're cooked.
BE HONEST ABOUT EVERYTHING ON AN APPLICATION, AND IN THE INTERVIEWS.
If they want you, and you're the guy, you'll get the job. Lie, or omit anything, and you're cooked.
Inverted25
Well-Known Member
So what happened with your medical. Did they just give it to you after you sent in the paperwork?
Tommay85
Well-Known Member
A few, not all, only care about the person you are TODAY. Air Wisconsin and Skywest don't really care(depending on what it is of course) as far as the regionals go. I'm not sure any major/national would take you for a very very long time and even your driving record better be clean.
Aside from not being able to enter Canada for a certain period of time, it's all about your attitude. No one's perfect, and no one's immune from doing something dumb and spending a night in jail or getting a citation. Personally, if it came down to deciding between two people who I'd rather fly with, a convicted felon who is an upstanding guy after the fact or a D-bag with a spotless record, I'll take the felon. Yes, most are upstanding who also have clean records, but my second point still stands.
Aside from not being able to enter Canada for a certain period of time, it's all about your attitude. No one's perfect, and no one's immune from doing something dumb and spending a night in jail or getting a citation. Personally, if it came down to deciding between two people who I'd rather fly with, a convicted felon who is an upstanding guy after the fact or a D-bag with a spotless record, I'll take the felon. Yes, most are upstanding who also have clean records, but my second point still stands.
Inverted25
Well-Known Member
Canada won't be a issue for the underages. It's not a disqualifying offense. I know from experience. Just keep your nose clean and find ways to set yourself apart from others. Get some extra ratings and do some community service to show your an upstanding person now. It may limit your chances with some places but not all
Tommay85
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I've got one of those as well(oops
) and it's not been an issue for me at all getting into Canada, and as far as employment goes, never has raised an eyebrow. I was referring the the using of a fake ID. That could be disqualifying, but I imagine that after the 5 year "cooling off" period, he could apply for rehabilitated status and be good to go. Which would work out perfectly to about the time he's going to an air carrier.
JDean3204
Well-Known Member
I am worried about the same thing. A few wrong decisions when I was a young single sailor and now I have to live with those blemishes on my record. I just focus on the person I am today, to be the best person I can be professionally and personally. I am sure if you are honest they will cut you some slack knowing it was a young and dumb decision. A good thing about all of this is you can explain how you learned from the situation, took a positive outlook on the circumstance and made some changes with your behavior to better yourself after the fact.
Tommay85
Well-Known Member
Knowing now what's out there, the kind of people in charge, and what it's like to work at various operations. You don't want to work for someone that's that uptight about past indiscretions. If you don't get a job at a company because of THAT, you're much better off. At the entry level, the regionals and freight airlines that scoff at such things are some of the worst companies on the planet. I've found that the people that take the "higher than thou" approach can't run a business and pilots with this attitude are HORRIBLE to fly with.
The criminal justice system was put in place to make corrections, minor and major. After the correction is made, that's the end of it if said person has the right attitude.(a lot do) But that's not the world we live in. We've come to a point where we believe that a past mistake seems to imply that further mistakes will be made or that a person is fundamentally flawed.
I've heard stories about the "hurricane parties". If the right people we're around to enforce things on those nights, we'd have 1000s of pilots sitting in jail right now. LOTs of lucky people out there. It used to be you'd only go to jail or get a citation for doing something that was annoying/dangerous to the public and get yelled at for the rest. Now if you fart in an elevator, you get charged with assault. I'm not even kidding.
MikeOH58
Well-Known Member
Dude, sometimes our biggest "mistakes" can be our greatest source of growth and learning. Trust me when I tell you that there are people with far worse records than you in good aviation positions. Go for the career. Yes, you will run across some holier than thou types, but the majority of this people in this industry understand we're all just human. Goodluck.
I_Money
Moderator
You have time to turn these blemishes into learning experiences - I would recommend mentoring at risk youth through an organization like Big Brothers or similar. It shows growth, taking responsibility for yourself and turning it into something positive. Your offenses are not major and being young at the time I would be surprised if they could not look passed them.
ChasenSFO
hen teaser
22.24841%.
But seriously, I'm also 21, private with close to 200 hours, working on Instrument. Mentally I look at myself as trying to get a job as a CFI, not an airline pilot. Because that job is far away from us right now, and things are changing so rapidly, all you can do is take it one step at a time and see what awaits you when you get there. Two things that don't matter to us are who is hiring now and who was hiring yesterday. Don't stress yourself out. If you have background check issues with an airline down the road, you'll still have plenty of other doors open to you as far as flying goes, and you might even make more money. Keep at it.
But seriously, I'm also 21, private with close to 200 hours, working on Instrument. Mentally I look at myself as trying to get a job as a CFI, not an airline pilot. Because that job is far away from us right now, and things are changing so rapidly, all you can do is take it one step at a time and see what awaits you when you get there. Two things that don't matter to us are who is hiring now and who was hiring yesterday. Don't stress yourself out. If you have background check issues with an airline down the road, you'll still have plenty of other doors open to you as far as flying goes, and you might even make more money. Keep at it.
grkero
fer yer health
This is a good point. I graduated in 2009 with a Commercial AMEL and said goodbye to aviation because the job market was the worst at the time. Now I just got my CFI after not flying for 3 years and getting back into it. I wish I had gotten my CFI back in 2009 because I would be in a much better position today. I was discouraged and felt I had to move on to another career to actually make money.
The CFI ticket is where its at. Pretty much the only thing you can do to move up, and the more you can forget about what happens AFTER the CFI, the easier it is to get through that period of an aviation career and to the next level.
ChasenSFO
hen teaser
Yep, being an airline pilot is a flying job. Not the end all be all. No matter what you get paid to fly and what you carry in your airplane, you're still a pilot who is getting paid to fly an airplane. Don't get caught up in public perception and let yourself be caught wiener measuring about the size of your plane and the stripes on your shoulders. In the end its not what you fly, but what you see and learn along the way that people want to hear about.
However, in the mean time, remember, it isn't a job yet. It's something you do because you enjoy it. Tunnel vision on one specific career goal can ruin all the fun along the way, just enjoy whatever flying your doing until its time to move on to the next goal, and you'll be happier than most. Don't forget to live a life outside of flying, it can be easy to put 100% of your focus on a dream, but you'll have a lifetime of dull conversations ahead if you don't expand your horizons.
To add, I'm tired and frankly embarrassed by all the complaining from my peers. May you bitch and moan for 1500 hours, or love your first 1500 hours, you're going to be spending the same amount of time flying. So instead of going onto professional pilot forums and whining about the "ladder that was pulled up from" you, stop counting down how many hours left until you get your holy ATP , and just start flying. Seriously. Then you'll likely be over 1500 hours before you even realize you're near it, and you'll learn a lot.
Just my perspective on being young and "so close but so far" with the way things are now.
However, in the mean time, remember, it isn't a job yet. It's something you do because you enjoy it. Tunnel vision on one specific career goal can ruin all the fun along the way, just enjoy whatever flying your doing until its time to move on to the next goal, and you'll be happier than most. Don't forget to live a life outside of flying, it can be easy to put 100% of your focus on a dream, but you'll have a lifetime of dull conversations ahead if you don't expand your horizons.
To add, I'm tired and frankly embarrassed by all the complaining from my peers. May you bitch and moan for 1500 hours, or love your first 1500 hours, you're going to be spending the same amount of time flying. So instead of going onto professional pilot forums and whining about the "ladder that was pulled up from" you, stop counting down how many hours left until you get your holy ATP , and just start flying. Seriously. Then you'll likely be over 1500 hours before you even realize you're near it, and you'll learn a lot.
Just my perspective on being young and "so close but so far" with the way things are now.
ljg
Well-Known Member
UAL, I see what you're saying, and I agree with your philosophy of hire the person and not the pilot. However, the reality is you've got to get past the HR recycle bin to show a company who you are as a person. I would recommend that the OP get involved with organizations and engage in activities that look good on paper. There's lots of time to get hired by an airline. All of us make mistakes that we should learn from, big and small. Put some time between you and the incident, make some positive contributions to society (way more important than flying airplanes anyway), and you'll be fine.