So you want
to fly for a living.

Yes, if you're on one of the four FAA-approved SSRIs (Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, Lexapro) or Wellbutrin. You'll need a Special Issuance under the Antidepressant Protocol. The process requires a HIMS AME, a board-certified psychiatrist evaluation, and 3 continuous months of stable treatment with no significant side effects. Approval typically takes several months. After approval, you can hold any class of medical.

If you're on a non-approved antidepressant (Paxil, Effexor, etc.), you'd need to work with your prescribing physician to potentially switch to an approved medication, then go through the protocol.

Not automatically. A historical ADHD diagnosis must be disclosed, but the FAA has an ADHD Fast Track specifically for applicants who are no longer on stimulant medication. The process requires:

• Being off all ADHD stimulants for a defined period (typically 90 days minimum)
• A comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation by an FAA-trusted psychologist
• Demonstration of normal executive function and impulse control

Many pilots successfully pass the Fast Track. Working with a HIMS AME from the start is the single most helpful thing you can do.

No. This is a common myth left over from old military requirements. The FAA only requires that your distance vision be correctable to 20/20 — wearing glasses, contacts, or after LASIK is fine. Many airline captains wear glasses.

For First Class, you need: distance vision of 20/20 (corrected), near vision of 20/40 at 16 inches (corrected), and normal color vision (or pass an alternative color test). Glasses and contact lenses are explicitly authorized.

Yes — LASIK and PRK are both acceptable. You'll need to provide a post-operative eye exam showing stable vision, typically waiting at least 3 months after surgery and providing a report from your ophthalmologist confirming stability. Many pilots have had LASIK with no career impact.

Controlled hypertension is one of the most common findings during AME exams, and it's almost always issuable. The FAA allows most blood pressure medications. You'll need to provide:

• A current report from your treating physician
• The specific medication(s) and dose
• Recent blood pressure readings
• Confirmation that you're not experiencing side effects affecting flight safety

Many pilots are issued on the spot. Some are deferred briefly for documentation. Very few are denied.

An AME is any FAA-designated physician who can issue medical certificates. A Senior AME has been designated for at least 3 years and can issue First Class medicals (regular AMEs are typically limited to Second and Third Class initially). A HIMS AME is specially trained to handle Human Intervention Motivation Study cases — substance abuse and mental health certifications.

For any first-time Class 1, use a Senior AME. For any mental health, substance abuse, or HIMS-related concerns, use a HIMS-trained AME. Search both at faa.gov/pilots/amelocator.

Not necessarily — but it's serious. A single DUI must be reported to the FAA within 60 days (per 14 CFR 61.15). A psychological evaluation is typically required. A pattern of alcohol-related offenses, refusal to submit to chemical testing, or any DUI that suggests dependence can result in denial or revocation.

If you have any DUI history, talk to an aviation medical attorney or HIMS AME before applying. Honest disclosure with proper documentation is your friend; non-disclosure that's later discovered is career-ending.

A standard AME exam runs $150–250 in most US markets. Senior AMEs at major airports may charge slightly more. HIMS AME consultations for special cases can run higher because they take longer.

If you have a condition requiring Special Issuance, additional costs apply — specialist consultations, lab work, neuropsych testing for ADHD, etc. These can run $1,000–5,000+ depending on the condition. Most insurance does not cover FAA medical exams.

Depends on class and age:

• First Class (ATP/Part 121): 12 months under age 40, 6 months at age 40+ when exercising ATP-as-PIC privileges
• Second Class (commercial): 12 months at any age
• Third Class (private): 60 months under age 40, 24 months at age 40+

BasicMed allows private pilots to fly without an FAA medical if they've held one in the last 10 years and meet certain conditions — but it's not valid for commercial operations.

It depends on what caused the loss. Many "permanent" medical losses turn out to be temporary with proper Special Issuance work. Some lead to reduced-class flying (e.g., losing Class 1 but keeping Class 2 for instructing). Some are permanent.

Most major airline contracts include Loss of License insurance — a benefit that pays out if you permanently lose your medical for medical reasons. ALPA also offers supplemental LOL coverage. This is one of the most important benefits to understand at any airline.

Turbulence is just moving air — pockets of warmer, cooler, faster, or slower air the airplane flies through. The plane feels it the same way a boat feels waves. To passengers it can feel violent; to engineers it's a non-event.

Commercial airliners are built to handle far more than any turbulence ever encountered in normal operations. A 737, 777, or A320 can withstand structural loads many times what severe turbulence produces. Modern airliners have never been brought down by turbulence alone in the history of commercial aviation in the United States. The very rare turbulence-related injuries that do occur are almost exclusively from passengers without seatbelts hitting the ceiling — which is why pilots leave the seatbelt sign on when uncertain.

Causes of turbulence include: convective activity (thunderstorms, rising warm air), mechanical turbulence (wind flowing over mountains or buildings), wind shear (different wind speeds at different altitudes), wake turbulence (from other aircraft), and clear-air turbulence (high-altitude jet stream interactions). All normal, all routine, all expected.

It usually doesn't actually drop very far. What feels like a 1,000-foot plunge is typically 10–60 feet of altitude change. The sensation is amplified by inner-ear physics and the contrast with otherwise smooth flight. Pilots watching the altimeter often see only minor altitude excursions during what feels to passengers like a wild ride.

Modern jets fly in dense enough air at cruise altitudes (28,000–41,000 ft) that significant altitude loss is physically unlikely. Even in severe turbulence, the autopilot or pilot quickly re-trims and the airplane returns to its assigned altitude. Trust the engineering — these aircraft are designed for far worse than they'll ever encounter.

Modern airliners have multiple layers of weather awareness:

• Onboard weather radar — Detects precipitation density ahead, color-coded by intensity. Pilots maneuver around red and magenta returns (heavy and severe storms).
• Real-time uplinked weather — METARs, TAFs, PIREPs, and graphical weather maps streamed to the cockpit via SATCOM or VHF datalink.
• Dispatch teams — Every flight has a licensed dispatcher monitoring weather, suggesting reroutes, and providing alternates.
• Pilot reports (PIREPs) — Other pilots who flew the route in the last 30 minutes report what they encountered.
• Air Traffic Control — ATC sees the same radar picture and routinely vectors aircraft around weather, sometimes adding hundreds of miles to flights.

The reason your flight gets delayed in thunderstorms? Because the dispatch team, the captain, and ATC all agreed it's safer to wait. Delays exist because the system prioritizes safety over schedule, every single time.

Commercial aviation is the safest mode of transportation ever invented. You're statistically 190 times safer per mile in a commercial airliner than in a car. Your odds of dying in a commercial airline accident are roughly 1 in 11 million flights. To statistically encounter one fatal accident, you'd have to fly every single day for over 15,000 years.

General aviation (small private aircraft flown for fun) does have a higher accident rate than commercial aviation — but the major cause is preventable pilot error in conditions pilots shouldn't have been flying in. The training you'll receive as a career-track pilot — instrument rating, decision-making, weather analysis, professional standards — is specifically designed to eliminate the patterns that cause GA accidents.

If you're nervous, that's actually good. Healthy respect for what could go wrong is part of what makes a good pilot. The pilots who get hurt are usually the ones who think nothing can go wrong. Start your training, take it seriously, fly with caution, and you'll have a long and statistically very safe career.