Hey guys...first time poster so please don’t bite too hard. I have been involved in the HIMS program (needless to say I’ve dropped a few coins) and now waiting for my special issuance medical certificate. I have turned my eyes to the possibility of getting hired at a Regional Airline. I have ATP minimums (over 1500 hours). I do however have some concerns from a few stupid decisions I made in my wayward youth...

1) I have a misdemeanor DUI conviction hence the HIMS program.
2) A misdemeanor reckless driving charge
3) A criminal mischief misdemeanor charge (dismissed in court)

All from from over 4 years ago. Is there a chance I’m hirable by a Regional airline or should I be looking at private options?

Thanks for serious responses.

 

Might have trouble with the Majors, but there are plenty of people getting into regionals with similar or worse. I would assume you should be very prepared to answer questions on how you learned from your mistakes etc

 

Do these all stem from the same event. Or were these three totally separate instances? If the former maybe doable. If the latter, it would imply a pattern of bad judgement which would be more of an issue.

 

Unfortunately, three separate occurrences all in the same year.

 

Which ones were actually convictions? If it's one DUI conviction and a couple of dismissed charges, that's pretty straightforward. If you've done HIMS and have a medical, should be fine for regionals. Shoot for an AA wholly-owned so you can flow to AA without further interviews. Even if you have to interview for majors, by the time you get there this should be old history. You'll be at a competitive disadvantage as far as getting an interview call, but if you can get a call you'll probably be able to overcome this at the interview.

If you have multiple convictions, that's getting a little tougher but assuming you were pretty young, you can probably convince someone that you've got your act together. You'll need to keep a very clean record going forward, and try real hard not to fail any aviation training events either.

It's getting hard for civilian employers to ask about arrests which did not result in a conviction. If they don't (can't?) ask, don't tell them.

If they ask open ended questions like "is there anything else we should know about?", talk about your passion for aviation, or charity volunteer work, or something positive. An interview is not confessional, don't answer questions they didn't ask. That's partly why they ask questions like that, hoping you'll answer questions they're not allowed to ask.

 

Thank you for your response. I only have two actual misdemeanor convictions: 1) The misdemeanor DUI and 2) a wreckless driving. Good to know the regionals “could” still be an option. An airline career has always been my dream. I definitely plan on keeping my nose clean from here on out! Is it worth applying to all regionals or should I stick to applying at some of the lower profile carriers? As I said all that happened when I was frankly young and dumb. I feel that if I could get a face to face interview and the chance to elaborate on those offenses a little I would be deemed hirable. However I’m afraid that if my application comes across say a Skywest recruiter’s desk it might end up right in the trash as I don’t look as good on paper as some of the more law abiding applicants. ��

 

Thank you for the responses. I only have two actual convictions. Misdemeanors for 1) DUI and 2) Reckless driving. It’s good to know that the regionals “could” still be an option. It has always been my dream to work for an airline. As I said both of those things happened years ago years ago when I was frankly young and dumb. I feel that if I could secure a face to face interview and had the option to elaborate on these offenses a little I would be deemed hirable. My question is this: Should I be applying to the lower profile carriers? My fear is that if my application comes across for instance an Endeavor recruiters desk, it will promptly find it’s way to the closest trash recptical as I don’t look as good on paper as some of the more shall we say law abiding applicants.

 

I wouldn't worry about how I measured up against other applicants when applying for any regional job. Apply and see what happens. I've personally known pilots getting hired at different regionals with misdemeanor convictions. I would also advise setting up a consultation with an attorney in the state where these events happened to see about getting your record sealed/expunged, especially with regard to the dismissed criminal mischief charge and the reckless conviction.

 

No no, you cannot just sit back and see what happens, and, in this case, you really need to be proactive. First off, a DUI is a felony conviction in Canada, no bueno. You absolutely will not be allowed into the country. You will need to enroll in their rehabilitation process, which is both lengthy, and expensive.

Second, in many states such as FL, you cannot seal/expunge a conviction, so after the rehabilitation process, you'll need to carry around paperwork, just in case CABP wants to see it. I've seen too many cases like this, even most 135 operators will show you the door, as they can't accept this type of liability.

 

Canada allows you in after five years, so he should be pretty close. He will have to pay off the canucks to get "rehabilitated" though.