In the past, you could get hired with a DUI. Factors that will help...
- If you were very young. If you were 30+, they will assume that you should have known better and will never learn.
- The more time that has passed since the incident, the better. Probably at least 5 years.
- Your honesty and attitude towards the incident.
- High pilot hiring demand. DUI's will not get hired when things are slow because they have so many equally qualified pilots who do not have DUI's. They prefer not to hire DUI's because even if you are a completely changed person, if you are ever involved in an accident the fact that you had a DUI will look bad in the media and during the lawsuit.
On a down note...the Colgan accident REALLY put the spotlight on pilot qualifications. I suspect that airlines will be loathe to hire anyone with any significant blackmarks on their record for a long time to come, maybe forever.
If you have a DUI and are considering investing in flight training, that is probably not a good idea. It might be much harder to overcome that history from here on out. Nobody can say for sure, but it's a lot of time and money to invest with that kind of uncertainty.
Last edited by rickair7777; 09-08-2009 at 08:35 AM.