First off your not getting licensed by any airline when hired. A type rating is not what the law is referring to in any manner. The law is referring to any applications for state or local agency licenses such as the California state bar or a California real estate license and so on.

A quick search of the exact verbiage of the CA misdemeanor expungement law shows this (after the expungement is granted the following applies):

"It is ordered that the plea, verdict, or finding of guilt in the above entitled action be set aside and vacated and a plea of not guilty be entered and that the complaint be, and is hereby, dismissed."

It goes on to state:

"If the order to expunge is granted under the provisions of either penal code section 1203.4 or 1203.4a, the defendant is released from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the offense."

An airline pilot job is in the private sector even though its a safety sensitive position, which is applicable to the conviction reporting laws governing post conviction relief. By reading the above, the vast majority of lawyers and justices agree that you can legally and justifiably answer "NO" to the question of "have you ever been CONVICTED of a crime" on private sector jobs.

This is the whole design purpose of post conviction relief, to release the defendant from ALL penalties and disabilities resulting from the offense and subsequent finding of guilt.

In regards to having a misdemeanor expunged, yes it is true that your arrest and trial, along with disposition and sentencing are still available in public record. But an individual or entity must file a release of public records with the convicting authority. It just does not appear during background checks. The only way to have your records not public is to get them sealed which is hard to do and varies state by state. For the most part it is a waste of money and time to even get records sealed after expungement unless your running for public office or other public eye positions.