Airline/Professional Pilot Interview & driving record

RyanB

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Just a hypothetical question. Do airlines ask for a copy of your driving record during an interview? Let’s say you have had a couple of speeding tickets or minor events like that on your record. Will this go against you during an interview for an airline or professional pilot position? I know that the airlines will more than likely not turn away any potential candidate because of a less than perfect driving record. I’m just curious if it’s taken into consideration at all.

Granted, I have never had any citations of any kind issued in the 7 years that I’ve been behind the wheel, so my driving record is clean, but in the event that I ever do, does it count against you?
 
No but some do want you to list any tickets (besides parking tickets) you’ve received. I wouldn’t want to have a bunch of speeding tickets.
 
Major airlines most certainly look at your driving record and will ask on the application for you to list issues you may have had. It then becomes one of many weighted issues. A pattern of poor driving judgement might make you unhireable at a major. They will ask permission to access your driving records.
 
A few traffic tickets?

No one cares
 
Major airlines most certainly look at your driving record and will ask on the application for you to list issues you may have had. It then becomes one of many weighted issues. A pattern of poor driving judgement might make you unhireable at a major. They will ask permission to access your driving records.
The question then becomes, do they view moving violations such as one or two speeding tickets as an issue, or are they looking for more pertinent infractions?
 
I’ve been driving for 44 years. In that time I have received several speeding tickets but no other moving violations. No DUI. No reckless driving. No too fast for conditions. No failure to stop or yield. Nada. Just speeding. Would anyone consider me an unsafe driver due to my tendency to go a little fast?
 
1 is a mistake. 2 is a pattern. It shows you didn’t learn anything from the last time.
Answers my question. I have and continue to drive on eggshells because of this.

I have had two warnings, but only for ignorant things like my license plate light was out and my temporary tag was ‘not visible enough’.
 
I’ve been driving for 44 years. In that time I have received several speeding tickets but no other moving violations. No DUI. No reckless driving. No too fast for conditions. No failure to stop or yield. Nada. Just speeding. Would anyone consider me an unsafe driver due to my tendency to go a little fast?
Probably not. But the airlines care.
 
And I’m talking interstates and major highways, not school zones, neighborhoods, or other such places.
 
Majors/legacies can still be picky.

For now, but after doing your slave time at a regional, doubt anyone’s going to care about a few speeding tickets
 
If you get a ticket go to court. If it's your first ever, or even first in 7 years, the judge will likely let you do traffic school and dismiss your case.

I seem to remember people saying that airlines ask about tickets in the past 5 years, not total tickets ever, but I'm not sure if that's right. I don't work at an airline.
 
No speeding tickets?! You must drive like an old lady.

;)
Or have a good lawyer.

As I've relayed here before, when I worked for O'Reilly and FedEx, I had the same boss, he was an attorney and a good one. I traveled extensively and he'd say "you drive, I'll handle the tickets." I have more tickets on my record for noisy mufflers and defective brake lights than you can shake a stick at! And a few speeding tickets also. That's what my states map is all about. That was back in the '90's and early 00's though, I left FedEx in '04...it might have been a simpler task to fix the tickets back then than it is today.

Guess I'll never fly for a major! ;)
 
You won't get turned down for a few speeding tickets over a period of time, but if it looks like you're a habitual offender, they may have concerns. What will get you in big trouble is not disclosing them.
 
Or have a good lawyer.

As I've said here before, when I worked for O'Reilly and FedEx, I had the same boss, he was an attorney and a good one. I traveled extensively and he'd say "you drive, I'll handle the tickets." I have more tickets on my record for noisy mufflers and defective brake lights than you can shake a stick at! And a few speeding tickets also. That's what my states map is all about.

As much justice as you can afford.
 
Sounds like a saying us Aggie's use...

First occurrence, it was a mistake.... 2nd occurrence, we have launched a new tradition
I know of a guy in highschool who could’ve used that phrase a time or two. The first girl he knocked up was a mistake, the second time he should’ve flat out known better. Talk about a record. The dude had two kids with two different girls at 18 years old. I’m not sure if he believed in contraception at the time.
 
DUI’s, reckless etc will raise flags but more importantly do not lie about them.
My airline wanted every job, times and unemployed times explained and all tickets accounted for. They followed up on everything.

Just list them and hav3 a good explanation ready. In this market it doesn’t matter that much.
 
DUI’s, reckless etc will raise flags but more importantly do not lie about them.
My airline wanted every job, times and unemployed times explained and all tickets accounted for. They followed up on everything.

Just list them and hav3 a good explanation ready. In this market it doesn’t matter that much.
Thanks.
 
If you’ve ever drank a beer or a shot a deer your disqualified from the airlines. Only goody too shoes make it to the airlines
 
The major airlines asking about your driving history, and asking you to disclose your infractions, is largely an integrity exercise more than it is a screen to keep people who make bad decisions while driving out.

Yes, a record with repeated speeding tickets can be viewed negatively, and larger infractions like Negligent or Reckless Driving are going to be noteworthy on an application. Certainly DUIs are going to be high hurdles, but not necessarily show-stoppers.

However...people make some elements of this into a substantially larger issue than it actually is. There is ample evidence of people with many traffic tickets (usually speeding) being hired at the major airlines, and not just in this latest hiring wave where there has certainly been a lowering of the bar across the board in terms of qualifications. Yes, it is one of many indicators of an applicant's personality and fitness for the job, but in and of itself a list of traffic tickets isn't going to derail an application. Obviously it is better to have fewer, and the further they are in the past the better.

What absolutely is a 100% killer is not being 100% forthright on your application about any tickets or infractions. Again, this is largely an integrity exercise, and there is also ample evidence here of applicants being offered CJOs at an interview, and then later having those CJOs rescinded because something popped up in the background check that wasn't disclosed on the application. The airlines absolutely, positively, will not hire someone they see as appearing to be anything less than 100% honest.

Whatever system the airlines use to check driving records appears to differ from the typical National Driver Register check that we can perform on our own records, and even the individual state checks that we can do to our own selves. Thus, "I got a ticket a long time ago, but it isn't on my record, so I'm not going to list it on my app" is a very poor path to take -- one which has bitten people in the butt before.

So, don't fret about a couple of tickets. Yes, two tickets may be a pattern, but I guarantee you nobody is not getting called for an airline interview over two traffic tickets on their application.
 
The above is spot on. They will check for tickets. They are only going to have a impact if you lie or you have enough to show a clear pattern of poor judgement. Applications are judged on the entire body of work. Have a degree in underwater basket weaving with a 2.1 GPA you will need the rest of your application to be stellar. Have a couple checkride failures you will need some offsets somewhere else on the application.
 
I know of a guy in highschool who could’ve used that phrase a time or two. The first girl he knocked up was a mistake, the second time he should’ve flat out known better. Talk about a record. The dude had two kids with two different girls at 18 years old. I’m not sure if he believed in contraception at the time.
Did he also star in Idiocracy?
 
Only a fool would not care and Major Airlines are not fools.

About a speeding ticket?
Especially when there are many traps to make money off them

Do they also want to know when you were potty trained as a child?
 
I have 32 years with a large airline so listen up, your credit score and driving record are used to evaluate your social responsibility. Keep them clean.

Dan
 
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