Q. When I was 16 years old, a few friends of mine and I were caught putting firecrackers in people’s mailboxes. They issued a misdemeanor to me. The police department offered me an option to take a daylong class that would allow it to be taken off of my record, which I completed. I never went to court. I have been a ramp agent for a regional airline and received a secure identification display area badge. Are the pilot background checks any different? I do not want to check the “Have you ever been arrested box” on the application, which might jeopardize chances of getting an interview. On the other hand, I do not want get thrown out of ground school because they found something.—Tyler
A. Tyler, thanks for your story. You are not alone. The answer is: It depends.
The first bit of wisdom is, simply, that honesty is the best policy.
Frankly, any airline company attorney should counsel against such a broad question such as, “Have you ever been arrested?” An arrest is not the same as a conviction. Most questions probing into an applicant’s past should be quite specific, such as, “Have you ever been convicted of a felony?” A felony will most likely be a disqualifier for the applicant. A misdemeanor should be a nonissue.
That being stated, one former chief pilot said his regional carrier had a zero tolerance policy: no run-ins with the law of any sort beyond a traffic ticket. The company felt there was just too much risk of having an incident show up on CNN.
A former vice president of flight standards for a major airline was quite candid in that the airline has hired certain individuals with a past DUI conviction. That was surprising. But, he offered some additional insight that could guide policy at other carriers. The airline seemed to forgive “youthful indiscretions.” As a teen, you will have ample time to turn your life around and build a solid track record. If you mess up at 18, you best have a stellar professional and personal record by the time you reach 28.
Get to the bottom of it. Is there any record with the jurisdiction? Get the scoop from pilots who work at the airlines you are aiming for. Do those airlines offer some wiggle room for those who had brushed the law? If a record comes up in an interview, a question that you can expect is, “What did you learn from it?” Finally, read each application question carefully. If there is no conviction record, then there is no conviction.
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