Airline Medicals VS Transport Canada Medicals

[E-Flyer]

I am fairly new to the industry but have heard ongoing discussion about this concept. I just want to hear from the guys who have gone through the Medical Screening to give me bit of a breakdown of how it is different than the Class 1 Medical.

Obviously, there are obvious things that fails you such as drug tests and what not if you were to score a positive. But I guess people are saying that you can't legally do drug tests unless you notify the candidate.

Anyway, I am not wondering about how the airline medical goes with respect to drug abuse, just general life style? such as weight limitations? cholestrole? HDL/LDL? Hemoglobin ? Hypertension and all that kind of stuff. Like I heard a guy who was refused an airline ground school class due to Low Liver Enzymes.

What I guess appeals to me the most would be the lifestyle corresponding to weight, body mass index, height, and the other concepts? what's acceptable? Because I hear many people tell me about how for example people who are overweight fail the medicals, yet I see a bunch of pilots out there who do look rather overweight.

Yea... just wanting to get an insight from all you airline guys

Thanks so much !

[Jaques Strappe]

E-Flyer

That is a pretty good question to bring up actually. Honestly, the medical exam at the time of hire, is much more stringent than once you have been hired. That may explain why you see some overweight guys on the line while they may be turning some away at the door. It may also explain why when some guys get a second opinion, the results are within a "Normal' range but for some reason, not acceptable for employment status perhaps.

Personally, I like getting the blood work done and the "full exam" because this is not normally done with on the street medicals, unless you request it. I believe the medical system allows you one medical per year that can be billed to the government. Your medical examiner may or may not provide anything more than what is the Transport minimum however, requiring a visit elsewhere. I think making the effort to get the full meal deal medical would be prudent because the key to survival in many cases is early detection of problems or avoiding potential problems all together.

The blood work does allow you to trend monitor what is happening and it is amazing to see how easily diet influences the results. Starting early with this is great. For example, I can see what my HDL and LDL levels were 13 years ago and compare them to today. Without this information, I could blissfully be eating myself to a stroke, heart attack or Diabetes. Height and weight are all recorded and that information also allows you to trend monitor. It may seem a bit overkill but this stuff becomes more of a priority as you get older.

There are a few guys who actually "study" for their medicals. They will abstain from the beer and go on a diet to avoid a lecture from the Doctor and the dreaded liver enzyme speech.

J.S

[E-Flyer]

Awesome - Thanks for the information. Is there anyway to directly contact an airline doctor to ventilate any questions that I may have? or is that not accessible for the public ? The reason I am saying is because I'm rather overweight, but as we all know, with 20 min of my time, passed the CAT I Medical.

It's a bit surprising I guess to see that an airline like Air Canada would really require a TC CAT1 medical when they are going to do their own stringent exam. I guess they just want the medical so that by law, your CPL/ATPL is still valid.

On the other hand though, West Jet doesn't do medicals ... or maybe I have heard wrong.

I am rather young as I mentioned earlier, and am the youngest in my flight school. Doing the CPL Written this month and obviously, more responsibilities with health come up as I age and continue on with flying as a career. Just wondering what the acceptable range of overweight people is on the initial medical? 200lbs is the standard for men according to TC, right?

Thanks so much !

[Jaques Strappe]

E-Flyer

The Transport Canada Cat 1 medical is a minimum requirement and having it means you have met the minimum medical requirement to keep your license valid. An Airline or any other company for that matter which may be contemplating a large investment over time in your career, may have their own medical standards by which to decrease their risk in losing on their investment. Much like a life insurance company may want a medical before they insure you. I don't know of any public document that details what exactly they are looking for but I do know they do a complete blood work chemistry analysis.

You mentioned you may be concerned about your weight. Your advantage is your age and the fact that you have time on your side. I can't offer you any medical opinion obviously but there is one piece of advice that I was given once and it has worked well for me. I also love simple advice.

It was: "eat food, not too much and mostly plants." Sounds simple enough and really, not all that apetizing either! In reality, if it is processed or made by a machine, I stay away from it. Only shop at the perimeter of a grocery store, avoid the aisles in the middle. You may be amazed in the results you see after a month. Not just in weight but also in blood chemistry. After awhile, that toasted Club sandwich with fries dripping in ketchup doesn't seem as appealing anymore. The hard part is the fact that our social restaurants are catered to sell you that stuff.

Until you get that interview call, as I said in my previous post, OHIP ( or your provincial health provider ) does allow one complete medical per year. I would take advantage of that and start trend monitoring your blood work, weight and cholesterol levels with the help of your Doctor so you can keep them at healthy levels. Then, hopefully you won't sweat the airline medical when they call and possibly have an advantage over the other candidates.