I'm currently training for my private license and am contemplating to go farther and having a career change to airline pilot. I got a DUI when I was in college in 2017. I blew the legal limit, cop still wasn't with it, and he arrested me (no jail though). I got it reduced to reckless, which is a traffic conviction. Aside from that, I've had two speeding tickets since I started driving in 2011.

How will this affect me if I want to interview for an airline pilot position? Should I just keep working in my current field?

 

If you have no training issues or additional problems along the way, none of that would be disqualifying. You can't afford to highlight yourself in a negative way going forward though.

I'm assuming the FAA is already aware of your DUI reduced to reckless driving?

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org...DA_Initial.pdf

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org...tion_Table.pdf

 

The "cop wasn't with it?"

Were you drinking and driving or not?

 

Yes, I'm aware that alcohol-related incidents need to be reported to the FAA. I'm more worried about this issue at a potential future interview for an airline. This is why I am trying to ask about this before I decide to go for all the ratings and practice hours required. It would take me a few years before I actually get to the point.

 

It’ll depend on the labor market, as it exists, when you are applying. In times past, it would have been either a “killer”or merely colorful adolescent behavior. There was a time 0.08 wasn’t even a eyebrow raiser (.10) was the limit for years and the FAA didn’t even start asking until relative recently, 30 years ago maybe. Nowadays, survivable.

GF

 

Thanks for the reply. Do you think I can go for the training soon or I should wait to give this incident a little more time to clear out? I learned that in the end, it's up to the cop's discretion if he's going to arrest you or not. So I don't even drive after just one drink anymore. In my case, the cop performed my sobriety tests off dash camera and just said I failed all of them in the police report.

 

If you want to stick with the story, “it’s not my fault, the cop picked on me”; I’d consider another form of employment, say, selling used cars.

GF

 

I don't see any reason to delay training...assuming the legalities have been resolved (sounds like they have been) and you can get a class 1 medical, etc. The biggest thing will be just putting time between the situation and when you get your major airline interview.

I think what some of the other posters are getting at is that it sounds like you're rationalizing. Obviously I don't know you and maybe you did get a raw deal but doesn't really matter, you just have to own it and move on. Ideally, when you interview for a legacy 10 years from now (or however long) you can say something like this, "Just after college, I was arrested for drinking and driving. It made me realize how irresponsible I was and how much worse this could've been (etc.). I learned X, Y, Z and changed my behavior (as you described above). It's been over a decade since that time and I haven't so much as gotten a speeding ticket." If you can say some like this then I'd say it's a non-issue. Now you can probably get a few traffic tickets or whatever but if you get another alcohol related arrest I'd say you're probably done with top tier airlines.

FWIW, I know two people flying the airlines with previous DUIs in their younger years...one has been at a legacy for awhile now. Good luck!

 

That's actually my side hustle. Just picked up an X5 stick shift, just one of six currently being sold in the country. Manual BMW SUV's are extremely rare, so it'll be flipped for a nice profit.

 

Thanks for the insightful input. I do own up to it. It may sound like I don't, but I'm well aware of the repercussions if I don't. I actually had to write a paper about what I learned from it for a special background check already. I tried becoming an army helicopter pilot and passed everything except my eyesight. Otherwise they would've accepted me. I know I did something wrong and will not break anymore laws, especially if I go into more training.