Traffic Violation

1.When I was about 20 I went to jail for not showing up to court for a speeding ticket for about 8 hours, I wanted to know if I still have a chance to become a pilot? I am now 21.

  1. I also wanted to know if I needed my PPL before getting into ATP? Do most people take out a loan or just pay out of pocket for the PPL?

  2. Lastly, personally how challenging was it for you during flight school?

Sahel,

I can’t say for sure since I don’t get to decide who gets hired and who
doesn’t. The other mentors may be able to say with more confidence than me
whether or not this will be an issue. Based on their responses to similar
questions I would say if this is the only negative thing from your past and
you continue to keep a clean record you should be fine. It will definitely
come up in every interview. So, be prepared to discuss it.

If you don’t mind me asking, was this an “I didn’t know that I had to
appear in court” kind of situation? Or were you making a conscious effort
not to appear? I can understand, if it was your first ticket, how you could
have neglected to read your court date on the back of your ticket. But you
should have been notified via mail if you failed to appear. That should
have gotten your attention. If it didn’t, then it makes me wonder what you
were doing when the police arrived to take you to jail? I’m hoping you were
just at home watching Netflix when the police came knocking, but if you
were pulled over again, that could raise more questions. Perhaps you could
give us some more detail so we can have a better understanding of your
situation?

Tory

Well I was on my way inside the house and they realized my front plate was missing, which fell down on the passenger side. I also actually didn’t know about the court date since it was messy and the police officer didn’t say I was supposed to appear and shortly lost the ticket after. Also there was no email given to the police officer. as I was walking into my house, the police officer asked who I was and then found I had a warrant.

Sahal,

A single arrest is not an instant disqualifier. That said if you walked into an interview and were asked about the arrest (which you will be) and gave the above answer the interview would be over and you’d be done. The whole “I didn’t know, it was messy, the officer didn’t, the dog ate my homework… etc” doesn’t really fly (no pun intended). Airlines hire professionals and adults both of whom take responsibility for their actions and mistakes.

Adam

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You wouldn’t have received an email. It would have come in the mail to your
home address, unless the officer inquired about your missing plate before
the county had time to notify you.

Anyway, lesson learned. I’ve had a similar experience except I received a
letter and appeared in court to explain my mistakes. If this truly was an
honest mistake and you can convey that to the airlines, and stay out of
trouble from here on out, you should be fine.

Tory

So am I supposed to tell them that I knew about a court date that I didn’t have knowledge for at the time? I didn’t say I don’t take responsibility, just simply saying how it was. Now when it comes to taking responsibility in actions and mistakes, I do.

Not going to argue but these are your words. Again if this were your interview and that was your response mine would be “so it was messy and you did what to clarify?”.

Adam

Sorry about the wording, but messy I meant as in the writing & If they asked what did I do about it id simply tell them I did nothing