Originally Posted by rickair7777

You could check with an attorney, but the problem with airlines is that federal background check. The FBI (and other organizations) take snapshots of state records and retain them...the state may delete or seal some records, but there is no guarantee that certain agencies will not retain their copy (I'll just say you had better assume they do, and leave it at that). It seems to be a grey area as to how normal labor laws (which usually require only felonies to be disclosed) interact with the federal disclosure rules for transportation workers.

Generally I would advise folks to disclose everything (airlines like honesty) even if they are unsure as to whether the airline will find out...almost every large airline ground school has one or two folks removed halfway through for failure to disclose something.

In your case, your record might pose a serious enough obstacle that your only chance of getting hired might be to not disclose it, IF you can legally do so. You would have to talk to a lawyer, maybe you could find one who has experience with airline pilots (contact ALPA, they must have a few names).

Note: Make sure your crimes are NOT on the federal transportation worker list (download this from airline web pages sites). If you cannot meet those requirements, you are 100% no-go.