Becoming a Professional Pilot with Glasses

by Devin

Your vision should not stop you from becoming a professional pilot.   As long as you can see with both eyes and can correct your vision to 20/20 you will have not problems.

There was a time when airlines only hired pilots with 20/20 vision but it has been shown that this was not a reasonable limitation.  Airlines were passing up good pilots for no reason.  Plus as Lasik and other eye surgeries became more prevalent pilots could simply fix the problem.

If you are just starting out you will need to pass an eye exam as part of getting your FAA medical.  (Hey captains have to pass this same eye test every 6 months.)  The big thing to remember going into this exam is to make sure your glasses/contact prescription is up to date.  You don’t want to show up and have trouble passing then need to go see the eye doc.  This will lead to years of hassles for you.

Know you can request to use the wall eye chart for your exam.  Many people have trouble with the normal eye testing machine.  There is a proven response issue when you put your forehead again the machine.  The mind automatically adjusts for closer vision.  It says “hey there is something right here on my head I need to focus is close to see it.”  This automatic response can cause your distant vision to be a problem.

For the professionals getting ready for interview I would suggest you wear contact lenses if at all possible.  First impression still count for a lot in an interview, and even with 20/20 vision no longer a requirement many interviewers may still view it as negatively in first impressions.  So play the game.  Yes they will know when they read your application you need glasses but by then you should have made a good first impression and can talk about anything if you need to.

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