You need to accept the following

1. You got yourself arrested

2. You didn’t do your Community Service, and got yourself sentenced to 90 days in jail

Now you can start down the career path, striving to set yourself apart from your peers.....right now, the above facts set you apart in a negative way.... you’ve gotta flip the script. Don’t give anyone any more reasons to Not Hire you (speeding tickets, dui arrests, failed checkrides, etc)

You can achieve your goals, but might have to work harder than the guys who don’t have to check the YES box after “have you been arrested”

Yes! I'm willing to work harder than everyone else. If it's a matter of working hard, then I can definetly give it my all.

Nothing prevents an airline from asking. While PRIA may exist for a period of time prior to hiring, the employer can ask a lot more, and a lot of employers ask very open ended questions without a limit attached; have you ever been arrested, etc.

Criminal history as obtained in an NCIC III check goes back to juvenile status; in some cases it's listed, in others, not. It's all there. I've run a lot of them personally, and any jurisdiction that reports to and shares with the NCIC will have that information.

Previous employers outside the PRIA limits become "safe" once outside those limits, but the same is not true of criminal history.

One will always do well to obtain one's own records first, to see what will be found. Additionally, some employers use private services that run backgrounds on applicants for a small fee, and it's quite illuminating what can be had with a few simple internet searches, today.

State laws are tending towards limits on how long an applicants criminal history can be considered, especially for non felonies. They can't ask, and aren't supposed to research it or consider it in making decisions in many cases.

The rules vary by state, and the state where the HQ is located is probably controlling.

There is of course no way to know if they do their own research, and use that to make a decision. But violating the law in a wholesale manner like that would be risky, and would eventually come to light most likely.

So no guarantees, but the way things are trending, it should not be a show stopper industry wide (might be for certain specific airlines).

Brutal honesty I don’t believe you have a chance at the majors. But that’s not to say I’m wrong, the hiring environment is supposed to change in the up coming years. If you are willing to work at a regional, and maybe a LCC like spirit then I say that is very likely. Shoot for the majors and see what happens.

Also look into how having a charge on your record effects going internationally. Guys with DUIs have a hard time getting hired because of strict rules in other countries, therefore the us airline can’t/won’t hire them.

Wait, Spirit isn't a major??

It’s a misdemeanor not a DUI, pretty big difference. I had a misdemeanor arrest, have had TS/SCI clearance in the AF and it wasn’t an issue at my airline. However you might be right about him not having a chance, mainly in my opinion due to him blowing off the community service.

Fair enough I just didn't know if it would effect anything internationally. Thanks for clearing it up. I honestly didn't know that's why I put it out there

By the time Im even qualified for a major, it would be at least 15 years after the fact. Considering im at a regional for 5 years.
Would the majors hold that against me for something that happened 15 years ago when I was 20?

I have absolutely no problem being at a regional for x amount of years. I just want to be able to move up to a major afterwards.

What can I do in the next few years to show that I am a changed person? Im going to be training for licenses, finishing my degree, flight instructing and whatnot but what can I do on the side?

Read post 31. To sum it up, AGAIN;

You screwed up at an early age, that cool. Many of of did.

You thumbed your nose at the system, that's not so cool.

This can be interpreted as having judgment, respect for authority, accountability, and integrity issues.

As mentioned, you have to "flip the script".

Don't screw up AGAIN is the best place to start. Demonstrate that you learned the error of you ways.

Try to start volunteering in the community. Try to become a big brother, or any other program that tried to mentor youth and keep them on the right path.

When you start CFI'ing, try to move up as fast as you can and taking on additional duties or management tasks. When you get hired at a regional, try to take on a volunteer position and try to become an instructor as fast as you can.

Granted, the above is what's "in" right now in the brave new world of HR centric/targeted selection hiring process.

What's the "in" thing by the time you get experience may have completely changed by then......