Getting hired with a S.O.D.A.

[701EV]

If you have a First Class Medical and thats what they require they should hire you. The soda does not take away from your First Class Medical. You do not have to show them the SODA. Mine is in a safety deposit box.

I was offered employment at ASA, American Eagle, Piedmont, and Mesa all at the same time.

I have a First Class Medical with a SODA. During the interviews they didn't even ask about it.

701EV

 

[701EV]

Also the SODA is not a waiver.

701EV

 

[Long-Gonner]

Add PSA to the list for airlines that hire pilots with a SODA.

 

[BRA]

add colgan too

 

[Aeronca]

If you want to totally rid yourself of the problem, apply for a Letter of Competence. This letter is only shown to the AME at the medical exam and describes to them that you have passed alternate tests for color vision defects. It is not required for your medical to be valid and you don't have to carry it with you. If you are a member of the EAA or AOPA, I'd try applying though them. I tried for months on my own, then wrote a letter some months later to the EAA medical division, I had my letter within a week. Good luck.

Did you already have a SODA when you applied for your letter of competence? I always thought once you had the SODA it stayed with you.

What type of alternate test did you have to take?

Thanks.

 

[wings421]

Under the words Statement of Demonstrated Ability the sentence says that the SODA should be attached to your medical certificate.

As far as the letter of competence, no additional testing required, they just sent me the letter and said I didn't need the SODA anymore, just to present the letter of competence at the medical exam.

 

[Northern Lights]

Thanks for all of the positive responses! I guess that I errored when I referred to my SODA as a "Waiver."

I love the language that they use on the thing though,

Physical Defects: Defective Color Vision

When going through the application process and providing colpies of your certificates would you recommend including a copy of the SODA?

I was up front about it last time, and they didn't care.

P.S. One thing that I learned early on in life, is that if you are color blind, you take your girlfriend with you when you shop for clothes!

I've picked out some hideous shirt/pants/tie combos when trying to shop solo.

 

[Aeronca]

P.S. One thing that I learned early on in life, is that if you are color blind, you take your girlfriend with you when you shop for clothes!

I've picked out some hideous shirt/pants/tie combos when trying to shop solo.

As long as she's not mad at you. One day my wife sent me to work with green pants and a purple shirt. It was a long day.

 

[JB74]

OH, and when you go out with your buddies drinking for the night.

She will dress you up like a freakin clown! Trust me, I know!

 

[Crucianpilot]

S.O.D.A.

I have held a S.O.D.A for 18 years and have never had a problem with any airline I have applied to, interviewed or worked for. Simply stated, it allows you to hold a first class medical because you have demonstrated the ability to operate an aircraft with the limitation you may have. In my case, defective distant vision in one eye(>20/200). You should not be denied employment because of it. Period.

 

[Hugh Jorgan]

I read somewhere over the weekend that an Island Air pilot with one eye (and a SODA) recently sued Island Air and won for violations of this act. Maybe precedent-setting?

I understand someone in the company made the mistake of telling this individual that they "didn't need any one-eyed pilots". Not too hard to make a case out of that. A one-eyed pilot wins a case for not getting hired at a 121 outfit for being half-blind. You should take comfort in the fact that these will be the same lawyers that will be defending AQ against the ALPA suit for scope violations, and there's already a precedent for that one.

I am amazed (well, maybe not) that the FAA would grant a 1st class medical to a person with an eye or an ear missing. I do believe the ADA line of common sense has been crossed.

English, are you willing to help that same person get on with AQ? When you are a Captain, and that buddy is in the right seat, and the choice is hearing you or the radios at every turn, how are you going to like that? While I'm sure, your intentions are the best, I would be curious to know how the Captains at Eagle are observing your friend in the missed radio call department. Perhaps this case is working out fine, but I think the precidence has been set on the wrong side of the INTENT of the ADA.

 

[English]

Well Hugh, I can tell you first-hand from having flown with this person that the deafness in one ear makes absolutely no difference at all. I have spoken with several Eagle captains that have flown with this pilot as well, and they didn't even know there was an issue.

Hugh, it is called a statement of demonstrated ability because the pilot has to demonstrate they can still function as a pilot in spite of their "disability". If a person has been granted a SODA, then the FAA deems them capable of exercising their first class medical privileges. It is not a statement of disability, it is a statement of ability. So, if the FAA deems the person worthy, then how can a corporation stay within the guideline of the ADA and not hire them? Seems pretty clear cut to me.

 

[Thedude]

I have had a SODA for color eficiency for about 8 years now and my first class medical even says "no limitations"... I have to agree it is not a wavier

 

[Hugh Jorgan]

I can tell you first-hand from having flown with this person that the deafness in one ear makes absolutely no difference at all.

So, if the FAA deems the person worthy, then how can a corporation stay within the guideline of the ADA and not hire them? Seems pretty clear cut to me.

It's not the company that I question. It's the FAA for deeming a sensory deprived individual safe to be the captain of a passenger airplane.
As I said, perhaps the case you are familiar with might be working out fine, but I firmly believe the intent of the ADA is not to allow such things to occur. Public safety is sacrificed here for the sake of not intruding on the unfortunate person's "right" to work. You can't tell me a person who has no sight in one eye can keep an adequate VFR scan going and detect periferal conflicts as fast as the average person with binocular vision. Exactly how does that person "demonstrate" their ability? A set of circles for depth perception? Again, we've lost sight (heheh) of the reason for the ADA.

 

[English]

I can't answer your question, Hugh, about the one-eyed individual. I don't know that much about SODAs, just what I have experienced with my friend. However, I do know that if a pilot demonstrates competency with the FAA, that's the end of it. There are many good pilots out there with no fingers, deafness in one ear, colorblindness, and even one pilot (now deceased, I believe, ex Eagle and American) with no legs. The ADA was created to protect people from discrimination. I say if a person can do their job despite their handicap, they should be allowed to do it. If the FAA gives them a SODA, they've proven their worth and you can't second guess them.

There's my advocacy for the day