Regional/Major hiring for Unlucky Misdemeanor
 

Hello All,

Ive posted on this forum a few times and long story short, I was planning on enlisting but I have put that to the side for now and want to pursue my ATP.

My question is before I start training, I would like to know if I am hirable
by the regionals or majors for a midemeanor I received 8 years ago.

So basically when it happened I just turned 20. I was With my friends playing basketball and one of my friends got into a fight with another fellow and the cops showed up. The cop was being really agressive and eventually sent me to jail for delay of the investigation thus I received a resisting arrest misemeanor and 1 night in jail.

I got community service for it but i wasnt able to finish it in time (I know, I used to procrastinate like crazy back then).
So I went before the judge and He gave me 90 days in jail. I served 24 hours and was released for overbooking.
Fast forward 8 years and I have only gotten 1 speeding ticket.

That whole experience has left me tramautized with the police and law.
I wouldnt dare cross the police.

Would i still be hirable by the airlines?
My plan is to get all my licenses, cfi for a bit, regionals, finish my degree, then major.
Im trying to go the whole way.

Brutal honesty would be greatly appreciated!

That's not "unlucky," nor is it a matter of luck.

Ownership of the arrest is first before you can worry about how it may affect you. Guaranteed that attempts to dismiss or excuse it can accomplish only one thing: paint you in a bad light. Don't do that.

Poor choices, yes. Luck? No.

I'm sorry if I wrote it in a wrong way but I would like you to know that I do take ownership of what I did and learned a great deal from it.
I have no intention of hiding what I did and am willing to accept the consequences.
I just wanted to know if it would be a problem with hiring by airlines before I start spending a great deal of money on training.

I wrote unlucky because I was at the wrong place at the wrong time during the incident.

Mikey, You will be just fine so don’t worry too much about it. This happened in your “young adulthood” timeframe. Be honest and humble about it when asked during the interview. There are pilots with much more serious offenses at major airlines right now - DUI’s for example.

I won't say "you'll be fine".
I have one black mark, a suspended driver's license when I was 17 for speeding.
I have many thousands of hours, international experience, advanced degree, great GPA, etc, etc. I've been an active volunteer in my community for over a decade.
To date, I've received ZERO calls from the big 6 (and Spirit).
I've been to six job fairs, and have two professional app reviews.
And I am but one of MANY MANY MANY like me trying to get on. I'm no one special with these qualifications.

Food for thought. It's incredibly competitive, even in this robust hiring environment.

Yes, you could make it. Personally, I believe chances are you won't. ATI, Southern, some other MIA outfit, yeah, sure.

And I agree with JohnB, own it. Even though you say you do and it was misstated, the tone of your post suggests otherwise. You made one mistake of being in the wrong place, wrong time, but then YOU didn't do your civic duty of community service. It's only been seven years since then. You'll need to seriously prove you're a difference person by going above and beyond most pilots. And most pilots are already doing quite a bit.

Yes, I fully intend to be honest and humble if and when I get an interview. Honestly I learned a lot from that experience. Such as following rules and regulations, not procrastinating.

To be truthful, at the time I procrastinated because I did not believe I did anything wrong( throughout the years I learned that you have to take care of things no matter how minor).

Im sorry if the tone of my post was not sincere or that of rebuke of my behavior.

I know its only been 8 years but I can truthfully say I am in absolutely no way the same person I was then (good or bad). Regardless I have learned from my mistakes and showed no pattern in this behavior whatsoever.

You said that chances are I would not make it. Is this because of the misdemeanor or jail time? Regional airlines included?

Thank you for your honesty and critique. And dont feel discouraged, I know you will get a call!

If you are completely on the hook for training expenses, don't try to be a pilot. You will never recoup unless you make the majors early in life. Most of your competition is VERY well sponsored and will get that opportunity long before you will! The big money is at the top so the last guys to get picked never see it.

I say if you want to fly go for it. Will you get on at a major, who knows. You will for sure get on at a regional, and I’m sure you would have no problems in Corprate either. Return on investment doesn’t take as long in the corprate world either. 4 years out of flight school and I was clearing 15K a month some months.

Regionals won't care. Find a wholly owned with flow. But don't make another screw up of any kind, not a DUI, not a public argument with a significant other, ....nothing.

OH, and it wasn't unlucky, it was stupid, but that's OK, sort if. Being young enough, you will probably get some slack about your stupidity, everybody does stupid things when they are young. But you aren't young anymore.