chris the future pilot said:
Should I lie about not having asthma?
Chris if you even think about lying, you have NO PLACE ON ANY FLIGHT DECK. The first time there is an investigation you'll lose your pilot certificates, too- the diagnsois codes are not protected and are accessible to the agency in about four minutes. Then they crosscheck with your medical application. Then you're done. Gone. Selling insurance will seem good to you.
I have a couple of young guys who are very concerned with "which version of the truth did I last tell?" It's disgusting.
*****
The FAA definition of "mild" for asthma qualifies if you haven't had an episode in five years (that needed medical attention).
You also fail to qualify for "mild" if you are on a beta inhaler (proventil, etc). Disease modifying (not rescue) meds ARE okay (nonadsorbed inhaled steroids, for example).
Anything else needs a special issuance, which can be gotten if your FEV1 is more than 70% of of your FVC on pulmonary function (annual) testing), and you'll annually need a doc's letter testifying to your lack of day to day limitations. Insufficient letter? it's stress treadmill for you (with an oximeter)!
So it CAN be done. It's just much easier if you are in the "mild" category.
Lastly, Airlines DO discriminate. They are allowed the exception to the ADA as health relates to necessary qualification for the job. That's why on many company applications, "do you possess an FAA waiver?" exists. Whereas they "intend" that to mean color vision or the like, if you have two equally qualified applicants, and one has a medical condition (=future medical costs), "who're you gonna call"?