Originally Posted by
rickair7777
Yes, the OP can almost certainly get certified and it probably won't be very hard.
But there's some risk involved in pursuing a career with a condition like this. Unlike some other conditions, your eyesight will not likely remain static as you age, and you're already starting out at a disadvantage. So there's some risk that the other eye might drop below limits later in life.
I would ask the AME what happens if the other eye drops below limits too, ie can you get a waiver with both eyes worse than 20/20, and up to what point?
For folks who are already established as career pilots it's a no-brainer to get a waiver and keep on pressing on. But for someone starting out, I'd get some professional advice about the stability of your vision. Also look into laser surgery... they can do some pretty amazing things these days and if your problem is a bad refractive error they might be able to fix that. If you do surgery use an actual ophthalmologist with EXTENSIVE lasik experience... DO NOT go cheap on this.
Bottom line, get some professional advice from an eye doc and AME so you understand the long-term stability and certification issues before you make a career decision.
Actually, the amblyopia ex anopsia likely WILL remain static, at least through age 65. But non static conditions - keratoconus for instance - are a different matter. Those will predictably deteriorate and while the FAA may give you a SODA now, it will be time limited and subject to continual retesting and potentially downgradable by class as you get older. All things you need to consider.
But truthfully, all of us may be only our next physical away from being grounded. It is, as Stoic the Vast once said, "an occupational hazard."