Can you get a pilot's license with a felony?

The rules

• There's no general rule that a felony stops you getting an FAA pilot certificate; the basic eligibility requirements are about age, English, knowledge, flight experience and medical fitness.¹

  The FAA says you are eligible for a student pilot certificate if you are at least 16 (14 for gliders and balloons) and can read, speak and understand English; you apply through IACRA or on FAA Form 8710-1. Criminal history enters through the specific rules below, not a blanket ban.

• A federal or state drug conviction (growing, making, selling, possessing, transporting or importing drugs, including marijuana) is grounds to deny a certificate for up to 1 year after the final conviction, or to suspend or revoke one you hold.^2,3,4

  14 CFR 61.15(a). 'Grounds for' means the FAA may act; the rule doesn't require denial, and the denial period is capped at 1 year from the date of final conviction. Operating an aircraft while impaired or with more than 0.04 alcohol concentration (91.17(a)), or knowingly carrying illegal drugs on an aircraft (91.19(a)), is grounds for the same, measured from the date of the act (61.15(b)). The same rules apply to the remote pilot certificate for drones (14 CFR 107.57).

• If you hold a pilot certificate, you must report every alcohol- or drug-related driving conviction or license suspension to the FAA within 60 days, and two such actions within 3 years are grounds for denial or revocation.^2,5

  14 CFR 61.15(c)-(f). A 'motor vehicle action' is a DUI/DWI-type conviction, or a license suspension, revocation, cancellation or denial for an alcohol- or drug-related driving cause, after November 29, 1990. Actions from the same incident count once. Failing to send the written report within 60 days is itself grounds for denial (up to 1 year) or suspension or revocation. The FAA's reporting page (updated September 21, 2026) says reports go to its Security and Intelligence Organization, Regulatory Investigations Division (AXI-300), P.O. Box 25810, Oklahoma City, OK 73125, or by fax or online; that a suspension and a later conviction each need their own report; that arrests alone don't have to be reported to that office; and that boating while intoxicated counts if your state treats a boat as a motor vehicle.

• The FAA medical certificate application (Form 8500-8, through MedXPress) asks about every alcohol- or drug-related driving arrest, conviction or administrative action, and about all non-traffic convictions, misdemeanor or felony.^6,7,8,9

  AME Guide, Item 18.v: all DWI-type incidents must be reported, even a single arrest and even if reported before. Item 18.w: report any non-traffic conviction (the guide's examples are assault, battery, public intoxication and robbery), with the charge, date and court documents if available. Item 20: your declaration authorizes the National Driver Register to release your adverse driving history to the FAA. The Part 67 medical standards don't list criminal convictions as such; the mental standards that can disqualify concern conditions such as substance dependence, substance abuse within the past 2 years, or a personality disorder severe enough to have repeatedly shown itself through overt acts (14 CFR 67.107, 67.207, 67.307).

• A DUI doesn't automatically disqualify you medically, but the aviation medical examiner can issue your certificate in the office only for a single lifetime incident under 0.15 with clean records, or one the FAA has already cleared in writing; otherwise the application goes to the FAA for review.¹⁰

  The FAA's DUI/DWI/Alcohol Incidents disposition table for aviation medical examiners (all classes, updated September 30, 2026): (A) an event already reported to the FAA, with an FAA letter saying monitoring isn't required and no new events, can be issued; (B) for a single lifetime event with a blood or breath alcohol level of 0.149 or below, the examiner reviews the required documents (personal statement, arrest report, test results, court and probation records, driving records from every state where you held a license in the past 10 years, and any substance-abuse evaluations or treatment records) and may issue if every answer on the FAA's Alcohol Event Status Report is in the clear column; (C) for a single event with an unknown or refused test or a level of 0.15 or higher, the examiner must defer to the FAA; and two or more lifetime events, a history of substance dependence or a substance use disorder, or any level of 0.20 or higher send the case to the FAA's substance-use protocols. If the examiner can't get the required reports within 14 days of the exam, the examiner must defer.

• A drug felony (other than simple possession) that involved using an aircraft, where you served as an airman or were on board, requires the FAA to revoke your certificate, and the FAA generally may not issue you a new one.^11,12

  49 U.S.C. 44710(b) requires revocation after such a conviction, or on an FAA finding that you knowingly carried out such an activity with an aircraft. Under 49 U.S.C. 44703(f), the FAA may not issue a new certificate to someone revoked under 44710 except to facilitate law enforcement or where the person is later acquitted of all related charges or the conviction is reversed (44710(e)(2)). You can appeal a 44710 revocation to the National Transportation Safety Board (44710(d)).

• To get an airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate, the level needed to captain for an airline, you must 'be of good moral character'.¹³

  14 CFR 61.153(c). The regulation doesn't define the term, and we found no published FAA criteria for how a criminal record is weighed under it. Student, private and commercial certificates don't carry this requirement.

• To fly for an airline (or work in an airport's secure area), you must pass a TSA fingerprint check, and a conviction in the 10 years before you apply for a crime in any of 28 listed categories disqualifies you.^14,15,16

  49 CFR 1544.230 requires aircraft operators to check each flightcrew member against the list in 1544.229(d); 1544.229 covers airline workers with unescorted access, screening, or checked baggage and cargo functions; 1542.209(d) applies the same list to airport security identification display area (SIDA) badges. The list: aviation crimes (such as aircraft piracy, interfering with a flight crew, carrying a weapon aboard, false threats, unlawful entry into secure airport areas); murder; assault with intent to murder; espionage; sedition; treason; kidnapping or hostage taking; rape or aggravated sexual abuse; unlawful possession, use, sale, distribution or manufacture of an explosive or weapon; extortion; armed or felony unarmed robbery; distribution of, or intent to distribute, a controlled substance; felony arson; felony involving a threat; a felony involving willful destruction of property, importing or manufacturing a controlled substance, burglary, theft, dishonesty, fraud or misrepresentation, stolen property, aggravated assault, bribery, or drug possession punishable by more than 1 year; violence at international airports; and conspiracy or attempt to commit any of these. A finding of not guilty by reason of insanity counts too. A conviction more than 10 years before the application doesn't disqualify under these rules.

• Lying about or knowingly leaving out a conviction on an FAA application is its own violation and can cost you every FAA certificate you hold.^5,17,18

  Since November 3, 2025, the FAA's falsification rules are consolidated in 14 CFR 3.403 (fraudulent or intentionally false statements and knowing omissions of material facts) and 3.405 (material incorrect statements or omissions), replacing the old 61.59 and 67.403. A violation is a basis for denying, suspending or revoking any certificate or rating you hold, or a civil penalty. The FAA's reporting page notes that a drug conviction or driving action behind a 61.15 violation can also form the basis of a falsification case.

What can stand in the way

• A recent felony on the TSA list blocks airline and airport jobs until 10 years after the conviction, even with a valid pilot certificate.¹⁴

  49 CFR 1544.229(d) and 1542.209(d) look back 10 years from the date of the application. A conviction while you hold the authority also disqualifies, and you must report it to the employer within 24 hours.

• An old arrest for a listed crime with no recorded outcome can hold up an airline or airport job until it's resolved.^14,15

  Under 49 CFR 1544.229(g) and 1544.230(d), when the FBI record shows an arrest for a listed crime with no disposition, the operator must investigate and confirm it didn't end in a disqualifying conviction before granting access or flight crew status; if there's no disposition, or it wasn't a disqualifying conviction, you aren't disqualified. If you're told the record shows a disqualifying offense, you have 30 days to notify the operator in writing that you intend to correct it (1544.229(h)-(i), 1544.230(e)-(f)).

• Unreported DUIs are usually found: the medical application authorizes the FAA to check the National Driver Register.⁵

  The FAA says it uses the NDR consent on Form 8500-8 to find drug- and alcohol-related driving actions, opens a formal investigation if it finds one you didn't report, and treats a late report sent before it discovers the action as a mitigating factor.

• TSA can separately find that a person holding or applying for an FAA certificate is a security threat, and the FAA must then act against a certificate the person holds.^19,20

  49 CFR 1540.115 sets out how TSA notifies a U.S. citizen holding or applying for an airman certificate that it considers them a threat to transportation or national security, airline or passenger security, or civil aviation security, or a threat of air piracy or terrorism, serves its determination on the FAA, and lets the person request the materials and reply. Under 49 U.S.C. 46111, once TSA notifies the FAA, the FAA must amend, modify, suspend or revoke the holder's certificate, and a U.S. citizen is entitled to a hearing. This is a security determination, not a general criminal-record rule.

Waivers and exceptions

• The 61.15 bars are time-limited and discretionary: a denial for a drug conviction or repeat driving actions lasts at most 1 year from the conviction or last action.²

  14 CFR 61.15(a), (d) and (f) make these 'grounds for' denial 'for a period of up to 1 year'.

• If the FAA denies your application for a certificate, you can generally appeal to the National Transportation Safety Board.¹²

  49 U.S.C. 44703(d), unless your certificate was suspended at the time of denial or revoked within the past year. The NTSB holds a hearing and isn't bound by the FAA's findings of fact; its decision can be reviewed in federal court.

• For the TSA airline and airport check, the route is correcting an inaccurate record, or waiting until the conviction is more than 10 years old; the regulations provide no waiver.¹⁵

  49 CFR 1544.229(i) and 1544.230(f) let you correct inaccurate FBI information with the court or agency that holds it. We found no waiver procedure in 1542.209, 1544.229 or 1544.230.

• A DUI history can still lead to a medical certificate after FAA review, sometimes with monitoring.¹⁰

  The AME disposition table routes higher-risk DUI histories to the FAA for a decision rather than refusing them outright; examiners may call the FAA's Aerospace Medical Certification Division at 405-954-4821 with questions.

How states handle it

Pilot certificates and the TSA aviation checks are federal and the same in every state. State law matters for the facts the FAA and TSA look at: whether a crime was a felony, how a DUI or license suspension was recorded, and what a court record shows.

What to do next

1. Pull your full record (FBI Identity History Summary and state records) and the court dispositions, so you know the exact offense, date of conviction and sentence for each case.
2. Check for drug convictions and alcohol- or drug-related driving actions: note the dates against the 1-year and 3-year windows in 14 CFR 61.15.
3. Before paying for flight training, book a medical exam with an aviation medical examiner (or ask one first) and answer Form 8500-8 truthfully, including items 18.v and 18.w; bring court records, arrest reports and driving records for any DUI.
4. If you already hold a certificate, send the FAA a written report within 60 days of any alcohol- or drug-related driving conviction or license action.
5. If you want to fly for an airline, compare each conviction from the last 10 years with the TSA list in 49 CFR 1544.229(d); if one is on it, count when it will be 10 years old, and get certified court records ready for any arrest with no disposition.
6. For an ATP certificate, be ready to explain your record and what you've done since, since the 'good moral character' standard has no published checklist.
7. If the FAA denies you, ask whether you can appeal to the NTSB, and consider getting an aviation attorney's advice.

Where to ask

• FAA: Student pilot certificate requirements

  Who is eligible and how to apply through IACRA.

• FAA: Reporting alcohol- or drug-related motor vehicle actions

  What to report, the 60-day deadline and the online notification letter. Investigators: 405-954-4848.

• 14 CFR 61.15 (eCFR)

  Drug and alcohol offenses and pilot certificates.

• 49 CFR 1544.229 (eCFR)

  The TSA list of disqualifying crimes for airline and airport jobs.

• FAA Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners

  How medical examiners handle arrests, convictions and DUIs on Form 8500-8.

Felony or misdemeanor?

Some of the rules on this page treat felonies and misdemeanors differently, and each state decides which crimes are which. See how your state grades crimes, or check a specific charge on Is it a felony?.

Could clearing your record help?

In many states a sealed or expunged record no longer shows up on most background checks, though agencies and licensing boards can often still see it. See how record clearing works in your state.