sgooneh

Well, I'll put it point blank... I had a lapse in better judgement a March of 2004 which led me to get a lovely not one but two misdemeanors on the record. Tresspassing and Resisting Arrest w/o Violence.... lets just say I'm not happy that I cannot get them reversed, sealed, or expunged.

I've had other people go off to the Airlines w/ reckless driving who said they had a little bit of difficulty but once they got 1200/100 instead of 1000/100 it was easier.

I just want to see if anyone w/ HR exp could tell me how f-ed I am with trying to get on with a regional or cargo... etc. w/ this on my record. Eg. I know Skywest doesn't want anything on your criminal record as far as misdemeanors in the last 5 yrs and if you do have anything ever you have to get a waiver to work for them after its been at least five years.... hardcore!

doug_or

I'm not HR, but I am a misdoment. You aren't f'ed, you just need to come up with a good interview spiel about how you learned from it and wht it won't happen agian. Now.... the real problem isn't HR related, its the forking arrogant maple syrup chuggy loonies to the north. They can deny you entry, which would be very inconvient if your airline flys to Canada. You can apply for "rehabilitation" 5 years after the completeion of your sentance (fines and comm service count as sentence, probation does not), or, and I have no experience with this, if you need to get in less than 5 years afterward (as you do), you can try to get a temporary residence permit or a "minister's permit". Good luck, read up, and see if you can't find an immigration lawyer with experience re: Canada.

It is not an uncommon problem. Pinnacle even posts the paperwork on their webpage.

http://www.nwairlink.com/pilot_listing.htm

http://www.canadianlegal.org/crimina...bilitation.php
http://www.mich-lawyer.com/canada-entry.html

rickair7777

First Issue: Is your crime on the federal 10 year exclusion list for airline employees? If so you may want to talk to an attorney, but you are probably looking at another career (or at least non-121 flying). The list can be found in the application packet for most airlines. If you are not on that list...

Since it is fairly recent, you will have to confront it. The key question is how old are you? If you're 23, there's a lot of potential for growing up between 21 and 23. If you're 33...they will suspect that if you're not grown up by now, you probably never will be and you can expect serious difficulties.

The Bad news first:

Some regionals will probably exclude you at least for a few years. Mesa will likely hire you (they know you'll stick around) but you would probably be better off driving a truck.

Expunging your record may help a little, HOWEVER do not ever tell an airline that it never happened. They are not going to ask you if you "have a clean record", they are going to ask "have you ever been arrested or convicted". Expunging your record will remove it from the court records for that jurisdiction...it will NOT remove your records from the FBI, CIA, and private databases that take regular snapshots of local, state, and federal court records. The federal airline background check is all about preventing terrorist events, it is not about your civil rights.


The good news:

It sounds like the "crime" you committed was a drunken foolishness sort of thing, and there was no intent to commit a real crime (if there was anything like burglary involved, you better call that truck driving school right now). Most pilots understand that sort of thing, since many of us were prone to it ourselves at one point. If you can get around the HR folks, the pilots on the interview board probably will be OK with you.

At an interview, address the issue quickly and then shut up, hopefully they will move on to other topics where you can impress them. Be able to talk about what you learned, and be prepared to accept full responsibility EVEN IF IT WAS NOT YOUR FAULT (at an interview, no one will believe that it was not your fault).

Most companies look at the whole person...if you are weak in one area, you can make up for it in others. When you do interview, make sure you are 300% better prepared in knowledge and sim skills than the average applicant. Also make sure your paperwork and logbooks are PERFECT.

Time heals most wounds...if absolutely necessary, you can get some kind of 91 or possibly 135 job for a few years while you run the clock out on your record. Who knows, you might end up having no need for a regional in the long run.


Good Luck

MikeB525

I checked the Pinnacle website and it said the Canadian restriction applies to DUI's.

rickair7777

True, I flew with a guy who had a DUI, and he had to carry a special written dispensation from the canuck government just to go through customs into canada.

Ellen

Yep. I wouldn't worry too much. Be honest, admit your mistakes (I'm sure you won't do it again), and you should be fine. You'll just have to work a little more creatively during the interview process.

mccube5

It's frustrating knowing that we have to worry so much about these things. The bottom line is no one is perfect and everyone makes a mistake at some point. (some just worse than others) I think the idea you need to take from all these responses is that you need to just own up to your mistakes and show that it was a learning experience.

hatetobreakit2u

you only have to list felonies on your form i thought?

so dont list anything

sgooneh

Only a count of Tresspassing and Resisting w/o Violences... what do you think

rickair7777

Everything on your record will come to light eventually, felony or otherwise. When filling out application forms, err on the side of caution if in doubt. If you omit something on a form that THEY thought you should have written down then you will be yanked out of ground school during the first few weeks and sent packing...this is NOT hypothetical, it happens all the time.

If they only ask for felonies, great that's all you have to put down. But every airline I've applied has asked about ANY arrest and/or conviction (speeding tickets are a separate category, but you have to list those too). I know many states have laws that prevent employers from asking about misdemeanors, but the airlines seem to have an exemption on that (probably due to security?).