The medical, stage by stage: what they test at each airline, what actually fails people, and the questionnaire that catches the honest
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#1 Lufthansa, and the pre employment medical is the stage candidates fear most and know least about, so here it is, from the German AME process and from what colleagues at other carriers describe. The short version: almost everyone passes, and the ones who do not usually knew why.
What is tested, almost everywhere
- Vision, corrected. Glasses and lenses fine. Colour vision plates.
- Hearing, an audiogram in a booth. Mild loss is usually fine.
- Blood pressure, pulse, height and weight, BMI at some carriers.
- Blood tests: full blood count, blood sugar, liver function, sometimes cholesterol. Infectious disease screening at the Gulf and Asian carriers (HIV, hepatitis, TB), which is a residence visa requirement in those countries as much as an airline one.
- Urine test, which includes a drug screen at most carriers.
- Chest X-ray at the Gulf and Asian carriers, for TB.
- A general examination: heart, lungs, joints, back, skin.
- A questionnaire about your history, which is the part that matters.
What actually fails people
Uncontrolled conditions: blood pressure that is high on the day and on the recheck, diabetes that is not managed, asthma that is not controlled. A positive drug screen, which is an automatic end. A serious heart or neurological history. A back or joint problem that would stop you lifting and standing for hours. And, at the Gulf and Asian carriers, the infectious disease screen, which is a visa issue and not negotiable.
What does not fail people
Glasses. Mild hearing loss. A past broken bone. Well managed asthma or diabetes with a letter. Acne. Scars. A history of depression or anxiety that is stable and managed, at most European and US carriers, with a letter. Being slightly over or under the BMI line at carriers that have one, if the uniform fits.
The questionnaire that catches the honest
The form asks about everything: every condition, every medication, every hospital visit. Candidates worry that honesty will fail them. The opposite is true. A declared condition with a specialist's letter is assessed and usually cleared. An undeclared condition found later is dismissal for dishonesty. The medical department is not trying to reject you. It is trying to be sure. Give them the letter.
The timeline
Booked after the offer, done at a designated clinic, results in one to three weeks, and then the file is cleared or a follow up is requested. A follow up is not a failure. It is a question.
Ask anything. I have been through it and I have talked colleagues through it.
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#2 Type 1 diabetic, cleared with a letter and a plan, as I wrote elsewhere, and Hannah has the honesty point exactly: the letter got me cleared, hiding it would have ended me later. Declare and document.
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#3 Qatar medical done in Casablanca last month: blood, X-ray, eyes, hearing, the general exam, the questionnaire, nine days for the result. Exactly this list. Cleared.
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#4 SIA, and the infectious disease screen is a Singapore work pass requirement and it is absolute, and candidates from the region should know that before flying to the walk in. Not the airline's rule. The country's.
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#6 United, asthma with an inhaler, declared, letter, cleared, eight years. The follow up request scared me for a week. It was one question about my last attack. Answered. Done.
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#7 The blood pressure high on the day from nerves is the thing I am worried about. Is there a recheck, or is it one reading?
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#8 @parisgirl a recheck at the end of the appointment, at every clinic I know of, and sometimes a request to come back another day. One nervous reading does not fail you. Sit for ten minutes before it and breathe.