Thank you in advance for your time.
I am interested in pursuing a career as a pilot but my Bad conduct discharge from the Air Force might be impossible to overcome.
After 5 years in the Air force I decided a trip to Amsterdam to smoke some pot would be a good idea. Needless to say the US government disagreed. My discharge was in 2006.
I have been drug free since then and hold a class A commercial license in a DOT job that requires regular random drug screening.
I have been employed at my current job since 2012. I have a spotless driving record and no criminal record. No civil charges were filed for the pot smoking in Amsterdam.
What are the chances of me getting hired on with any airline?
Shane,
A major airline will not hire you. There is a chance that a regional airline might, but I would be skeptical about that even. The airlines will look at this as a very intentional disregard of some obvious rules and will not take kindly to it.
That being said, I would recommend calling the recruiting departments of a few different regional airlines and asking them as they will of course have the official answer.
Chris
Chris,
Are you sure a major airline will not hire with a drug related military discharge? My friend is currently looking into becoming a pilot and will be discharged from the Air Force here in a few months for one instance of wrongful substance abuse. We’re still not sure if he will receive a bad conduct discharge or not but chances are that he is going to be separated under a Chapter 4 or even discharged under Other Than Honorable. If it is not a bad conduct discharge, is there a chance a major airline would be open to hiring him? From other articles I have read, the only difficult part in the hiring process would be the FAA medical clearance as they ask about any drug convictions or drug use. We are trying to see if he should even go into becoming a pilot if it would be worth it or not as he is currently an Air Traffic Controller and loves his job but definitely will not be able to do that once discharged. Any information is helpful!!
-Jess
Jess,
I am absolutely sure that your friend will not be hired by a major or a regional airline. I highly doubt that he will be able to obtain an FAA medical at all, but even if he did, the airlines would not even consider his application.
It isn’t just “one instance of wrongful substance abuse”, it is one instance of very intentionally disregarding the rules of the armed forces and the laws of the United States, all while being a military controller (which also probably controls civilian airplanes transiting the area). His behavior was intentional and completely reckless, most airlines could not even hire him to be a baggage handler, let alone put him behind the controls of a multi-million dollar jet.
Chris
Hi Jess,
I spoke with two recruiters and a respected airline career coach about my situation. All of which told me my discharge would not be an issue. My discharge was fifteen years ago and have held a DOT position (subject to random drug screens) the entire time. The FAA medical will certainly be the biggest hurdle. Consult with www.aviationmedicine.com they can help with the medical process. Like Chris said, ask around I have found the recruiters to be very helpful.
Shane,
Did you speak with regional recruiters or major recruiters?
Chris
Just with the regionals. I know the majors are not an option.
Jess,
The Regionals need bodies and therefore are willing to lower their standards. That’s far from the case when it comes to the Majors. Not only does the FAA ask about substance abuse in the past, the airlines do as well. I find it curious that your friend accepts the fact he can’t be a controller but questions whether he can fly for a Major?
Adam
It seems like this would be a very circumstantial situation, where it really depends on the individual hiring authority, policies of the agency, and knowledge of the HR generalist in properly interpreting a DD Form 214. Neither a dishonorable, bad conduct, or an other than honorable discharge is an outright conviction of guilt for anything; it’s just a classification of your departure from the military. A conviction is something altogether different. However, a dishonorable, bad conduct, or other than honorable is grounds for the agency, who actually reads through more than just service dates to validate veteran points, to begin asking additional questions. After hearing the reasons, I would imagine the agency has a wide latitude of discretion in determining how they would like to handle the situation after learning more facts. In other words, while a recruiter may say it’s no problem, it’s really the hiring authority’s decision–assuming they ask more questions.
Thank you all for sharing. I appreciate your views.
Trey,
You’re absolutely right, the airlines do have a great amount of latitude and discretion as there’s nothing that states they cannot hire someone who was DH discharged or has had drug related issues. The factor many people seem to miss is public perception and liability. As you know EVERY time a commercial airline has an accident or incident it’s front page news. If the person sitting upfront has a record of bad behavior it will come to light and it will not go well for the airline. Right or wrong it’s a major consideration.
Adam
I agree with you 100% and I think we are making the same points. I would just be very leery about a recruiter who says “you are good to go” for something like this. You can go through 2 years of training and spend a lot of money only to arrive at an interview and the company decides to exercise their discretion not to hire (which they can legally do in this case).
Wow thank you all for your quick replies! And I know it would be a huge long shot for him to be hired but if he were to have many references of good moral character from other air traffic controllers as well as having that air traffic knowledge already and being able to openly tell them it was a one instance mistake and he’s learned from it greatly, would those things improve his odds of being hired?? Would it even be worth it to try?? He knows the road to any good career will have to be hard earned but he doesn’t want to go through/pay for all the training only to have a tiny chance of being hired. Any input is much appreciated.
-Jess
Also, he has yet to receive his actual discharge and may be able to still get an administrative separation but not likely
Jess,
Re-read my original response. References, skills, training, none of that will matter. Your friend has no chance at all of being hired at a major and a very, very small chance of even making it to a regional.
Chris
As I stated earlier, the type of discharge will not matter. The airlines and the FAA will ask why (and will ask about illegal drug use), he will have to explain and he won’t get hired.
Okay Chris thank you for your input. I was just confused because you didn’t seem so 100% certain about never being hired when you originally replied to Shane’s post about him being discharged, with a bad conduct which is considerably worse than an OTH or administrative separation, over the pot smoking. Thanks though, I won’t have my friend waste his time on pilot training we were just exploring options for him.