How Failing A Checkride Affects Your Airline Pilot Career

Can you become an airline pilot after failing a checkride? I failed my commercial single-engine and CFI checkrides—and still became an airline pilot. Here’s what happened when those failures came up in my airline interview.I busted eights on pylons on my commercial checkride and lazy eights on my certified flight instructor checkride. Both failures happened during the flying portion, and I passed both on the second attempt. But in the moment? Flying home, ignoring the texts asking how it went, and wondering whether I was cut out for this was pretty rough.In this video, I share:✈️ What went wrong on both checkrides✈️ How I prepared for the retests and changed my approach to flight training✈️ What happened when I disclosed the failures on my airline application and in the interview✈️ How to explain a checkride failure honestly and take responsibility✈️ How those experiences changed the way I prepared my own studentsIf you’re a student pilot worried about a checkride, a flight instructor carrying a past failure, or a pilot preparing for airline interviews, I hope my experience helps you figure out your next step. Every hiring situation is different, but my two failures weren’t the end of my story.You don’t have to figure out your whole airline career tonight.What’s one lesson from flight training you wish you’d learned sooner? Share it in the comments.Subscribe to Hayden Teteak for honest conversations about flight training, becoming an airline pilot, and life along the way.#Checkride #FlightTraining #AirlinePilot━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━✈️ MORE FROM HAYDENSubscribe for honest aviation advice, life as an airline pilot, and adventures beyond the cockpit.🧭 Watch BEARINGS — Chapter Onehttps://youtu.be/3W3n2l9mook💬 JOIN THE COMMUNITYA place for pilots, students, and aviation enthusiasts to ask questions, share experiences, and connect.https://discord.gg/jT9B3D6w4T🌎 CONNECTWebsite → https://www.haydenteteak.comInstagram → https://www.instagram.com/hayden_teteakLinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayden-teteak📩 BUSINESS INQUIRIESHayden@HaydenTeteak.comABOUT MEI’m Hayden Teteak—an airline pilot, former flight instructor, and filmmaker. I share what I’ve learned from flight training to the airlines, along with stories about the life and adventures flying makes possible.The views shared here are my own and do not represent my employer.