On Jul 4, 6:31 pm, wrote:
I had 2 Dui's (one when I was 21 and one when I was 22) and I'm now
almost 28. I was working on a degree in communications and I'm at
about the junior level, but my old dream of flying just came back to
me all of the sudden and I thought I would make absolutely sure if
those DUI's will be more than just an obstacle for me.

Where I am at now is just trying to figure out how I can be sure one
way or another. How do I get the official thumbs up or down? I can't
bring myself to invest all that money only to be unsure and have to
wait until I get further down the road and committed to find out.


Jarrod,
I was going to email you but I thought I would post here in case
anyone else might be interested. You have two separate issues here,
The FAA and your future employer. I will start with the employer. I
have been flying the line for nearly 20 years, first at a regional and
then a major airline, and I have heard this question and others like
it many times. I also want to say that there have been some exellent
responses from others on this thread, and I dont want to undo anything
that they have said, but I hope my observations will be helpful.
The airline I currently work for has a high regard for employee
references. They solicit references from us all the time, and in so
doing they have fielded questions about what would help (Or hinder) a
candidate. As you can imagine, the subject of driving records and
criminal history has come up. For liability reasons, the company has
had to play this one pretty close to the vest. So if you get an answer
from AOPA or JetJobs or whoever, it is probably not going to be very
accurate. In fact, I have read more bull**** in JetJobs (And others
companies like them) about my own airline than you can imagine. This
being said, my company has hired pilots with criminal backrounds, but
(They stress this) it is done on a case by case basis. One thing I can
tell you for sure is that you will improve your odds by staying out of
trouble since these convictions. The longer you show a clean record,
the better. Whatever you do, dont lie on your application. This is a
sure fire way to get fired. Some airlines have made this easy by
asking a time limited question ie; " Have you been convicted in the
past 7 years". Unfortunatly for some mine doesnt do that. You may wish
to check with a prospective employer on this.
As for the FAA, I think this question was answered very well (You have
to disclose), but check with an aviation attorney on this just to be
sure. In fact, do not rely on any legal advise you get on this forum,
always back it up with an attorney.
KB

Jarrod