I had a misdemeanor on my record. It was the lowest form in the state in which it occured in 1997(is was 18) At the time of the hearing, the judge told me to not get into any trouble for a year since I was a first time offender, and come back to court to file for an expungement. I did, and I asked the judge what I should say to a potential employer if they asked to question if I had ever been arrested or convicted of a misdemeanor since I wanted join the military after college. His answer to that was say NO. Since it was expunged, he said it was no longer on my record, I applied to the Navy as an officer, told them I had never been arrested, and nothing ever came of it. So based on that, I would have to agree that if your misdemeanor is expunged, it is no longer on any record, and I think that the Navy does a more thorough background check than any airline, due to the fact that you have to potential to know about classified and top secret info.