Airline background checks?
03-12-2016, 01:19 AM
#1
New Hire
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Joined APC: Mar 2016
Posts: 2
Airline background checks?
I read posts here on occasion, but this is my first time joining and posting. So, hello!
My question is pretty simple...
I'm in my 30s and interested in pursuing a career in aviation. This is something I've always wanted to do and am now in a position, financially, to see it through. There's just one issue that's causing me hesitation.
I joined the US armed forces right out of high school and made it about 6 weeks into basic training before getting booted due to fraudulent enlistment. I had failed to disclose an asthma diagnosis upon entry and ended up with this uncharacterized discharge. I don't think it's something I can fix, as I understand, and basically just have to live with that mistake.
It's never been an issue as I've never attempted to get a job where military service has come into question (i.e. law enforcement, federal job, etc.). I've never stated on an application that I served in the military -- I'm not even clear on whether or not I should put this down. Probably a question for an attorney, I suppose. Anyway, I've had criminal, driving and credit background checks performed for various jobs, all of which are clean, but the issue of service has never come up.
Further, military service or none, is just the fact that I had childhood asthma a problem in and of itself for a pilot? I've never had an asthma attack, just the diagnosis.
I'm wondering if this will be a roadblock should I attempt to get hired at a regional or larger airline. If so, would it still be worth pursuing this goal knowing that an airline job is out of the question? Maybe that part of the question isn't so simple... I'd love to fly corporate, but don't want to put all of my eggs in that basket.
Advice appreciated.
My question is pretty simple...
I'm in my 30s and interested in pursuing a career in aviation. This is something I've always wanted to do and am now in a position, financially, to see it through. There's just one issue that's causing me hesitation.
I joined the US armed forces right out of high school and made it about 6 weeks into basic training before getting booted due to fraudulent enlistment. I had failed to disclose an asthma diagnosis upon entry and ended up with this uncharacterized discharge. I don't think it's something I can fix, as I understand, and basically just have to live with that mistake.
It's never been an issue as I've never attempted to get a job where military service has come into question (i.e. law enforcement, federal job, etc.). I've never stated on an application that I served in the military -- I'm not even clear on whether or not I should put this down. Probably a question for an attorney, I suppose. Anyway, I've had criminal, driving and credit background checks performed for various jobs, all of which are clean, but the issue of service has never come up.
Further, military service or none, is just the fact that I had childhood asthma a problem in and of itself for a pilot? I've never had an asthma attack, just the diagnosis.
I'm wondering if this will be a roadblock should I attempt to get hired at a regional or larger airline. If so, would it still be worth pursuing this goal knowing that an airline job is out of the question? Maybe that part of the question isn't so simple... I'd love to fly corporate, but don't want to put all of my eggs in that basket.
Advice appreciated.
03-12-2016, 07:03 AM
#3
Prime Minister/Moderator
Joined APC: Jan 2006
Position: Engines Turn Or People Swim
Posts: 39,220
1) The asthma would be an issue for your AME and FAA aeromedical to address, not the airlines. A past history of asthma as a youth is probably not going to be an issue as long as you do not currently suffer any affects from it. As far as US airlines are concerned, they mostly won't ask or care about past medical issues as long as you have an FAA 1C medical certificate.
2) General consensus in the industry is don't lie about anything. Because if they find out later (they often do) you will be fired immediately, and that will pretty much blacklist you from the entire industry.
3) Airlines will require that you account for any time as an adult when you are not in school or employed (some may only go back ten years). They'll typically want a reliable reference (other than your mom) who can confirm what you were doing during a period of unemployment.
If you tell the truth, this will be something you'll have to explain. IMO it could go either way...
You might be able to convince them that in your youthful enthusiasm to join the military that you made a mistake, learned from it, and will never go there again. You'll need to articulate that you regret doing it because you realize you might have endangered your fellow military personal in a crisis...that is very relevant to aviation medical certification.
Or they might be concerned that you were willing to lie about a medical condition and possibly endanger others just to fulfill your personal desires or needs. Unfortunately, that's a common enough theme in aviation such that any employer will be wary of something like this.
Hard to say which way it will go...the big thing you have going for you is you were young at the time, and people change as they grow up.
But I'm pretty sure you could get a regional job, not so sure about majors.
2) General consensus in the industry is don't lie about anything. Because if they find out later (they often do) you will be fired immediately, and that will pretty much blacklist you from the entire industry.
3) Airlines will require that you account for any time as an adult when you are not in school or employed (some may only go back ten years). They'll typically want a reliable reference (other than your mom) who can confirm what you were doing during a period of unemployment.
If you tell the truth, this will be something you'll have to explain. IMO it could go either way...
You might be able to convince them that in your youthful enthusiasm to join the military that you made a mistake, learned from it, and will never go there again. You'll need to articulate that you regret doing it because you realize you might have endangered your fellow military personal in a crisis...that is very relevant to aviation medical certification.
Or they might be concerned that you were willing to lie about a medical condition and possibly endanger others just to fulfill your personal desires or needs. Unfortunately, that's a common enough theme in aviation such that any employer will be wary of something like this.
Hard to say which way it will go...the big thing you have going for you is you were young at the time, and people change as they grow up.
But I'm pretty sure you could get a regional job, not so sure about majors.
03-13-2016, 05:27 PM
#4
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jan 2006
Posts: 574
Tough one, airline apps question regarding Military gives you three options.
Honorable Discharge, Dishonorable, or Other(with no box or space to give details)
I assume it's a "General Discharge"
Unless you get the opportunity to explain what "other" means it could be a issue and when you get the chance to explain then the question will be why did you lie, and what else are you lying about. I'm not scolding you but thats what could happen.
Honorable Discharge, Dishonorable, or Other(with no box or space to give details)
I assume it's a "General Discharge"
Unless you get the opportunity to explain what "other" means it could be a issue and when you get the chance to explain then the question will be why did you lie, and what else are you lying about. I'm not scolding you but thats what could happen.
Last edited by poor pilot; 03-13-2016 at 05:33 PM. Reason: Type o
03-13-2016, 08:10 PM
#5
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Joined APC: Oct 2015
Position: Gear slinger
Posts: 2,895
Originally Posted by poor pilot
Tough one, airline apps question regarding Military gives you three options.
Honorable Discharge, Dishonorable, or Other(with no box or space to give details)
I assume it's a "General Discharge"
Unless you get the opportunity to explain what "other" means it could be a issue and when you get the chance to explain then the question will be why did you lie, and what else are you lying about. I'm not scolding you but thats what could happen.
Honorable Discharge, Dishonorable, or Other(with no box or space to give details)
I assume it's a "General Discharge"
Unless you get the opportunity to explain what "other" means it could be a issue and when you get the chance to explain then the question will be why did you lie, and what else are you lying about. I'm not scolding you but thats what could happen.
03-14-2016, 08:50 AM
#6
Prime Minister/Moderator
Joined APC: Jan 2006
Position: Engines Turn Or People Swim
Posts: 39,220
Originally Posted by Otterbox
It's General (under honorable conditions). Would that be more of an honorable than "other"?
In the past it was routine for single-term junior enlisted to get a General Under Honorable when their enlistment expired. At some point, DoD started giving honorables to everyone who completed their term without significant problems. Today a General Under Honorable would be given to someone with significant but minor discipline problems (ie no felonies).
Today the expectation for high-tier civilian employers (including major airlines) is that all applicants have an honorable or they are probably not going to be considered. But if your general discharge was the norm at the time, HR folks would probably be aware of that since they would be used to seeing folks older than a certain age with general discharges.
When did that paradigm shift occur? I'm thinking 15-20 years ago, but you would have to research it to be sure.
But the issue here is not so much the character of the discharge but the underlying circumstances. Again, you should be able to get a regional job, but hard to say beyond that.
03-15-2016, 08:00 AM
#8
New Hire
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Mar 2016
Posts: 2
Originally Posted by my6FOh
Contact the VA and try to get it changed to an honorable discharge. I've known a few guys that have done that.
To the other responses, thank you. I would think that if I were completely open about this and actually got an interview where I had the chance to explain what happened, that's potentially a good thing. However, I can't be that optimistic. I would think any airline with a pool of very qualified applicants would simply see that I did not receive an honorable discharge when viewing my app and toss it out. Even though my discharge is classed as other than honorable, I would think most employers wouldn't want to waste their time going over the details of it.
Maybe the best bet is to actually contact the airlines and directly inquire about such a situation.
07-29-2016, 10:43 PM
#10
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Joined APC: Oct 2015
Position: Gear slinger
Posts: 2,895
It's a long process (2-4 years long). Depending on the circumstances, the process first goes through two review boards to upgrade discharge. If those do not upgrade discharge and there's a 10 US Code violation, the discharge can be challenged in federal court.
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