Background check
Pre-employment vetting — criminal record, employment history, references, identity — required before you can hold an airside ID.
Definition
A background check is the verification an airline and, through it, the airport authority run before you can fly: identity, address and employment history over a set number of years, a criminal record certificate from every country you have lived in, and references. Aviation security rules make it a legal requirement for anyone holding an airside identity pass, and in some countries the state runs its own clearance on top. It happens after the conditional offer and can take weeks.
What it means for you
This is the part of the pipeline you have least control over and it is what most often delays a joining date, so start gathering police certificates and reference contacts the moment you get a conditional offer. Gaps in your history are not fatal but they must be explained and documented. A criminal record is assessed case by case; hiding one is what ends careers.
In practice
Air Canada and WestJet require a Transport Canada security clearance before you can start; EgyptAir's state security clearance is known to take time; Emirates lists background checks alongside the medical and visa in the 4-12 weeks between the golden call and joining.
Go deeper
Related terms
3 terms- Offer letterRecruitmentThe airline's formal job offer after selection — conditional on medical, background and visa — with a joining date weeks or months away.
- Aviation medicalRecruitmentThe medical examination a joiner must pass before flying: regulator-defined in Europe, airline-run in the Gulf and the US.
- Right to workRecruitmentYour legal permission to be employed in the country where the airline will base you — a hard filter at most carriers outside the Gulf.