[Mike Lewis]

I remember about ten years ago when Kelly Flinn - the first female B-52 pilot - was discharged after adultery and she got a General Discharge. I was trying to find out if she ever made it with the airlines or not, as that might be an indicator of whether you could get into the airlines or not. I'm not going to go into that whole situation except to say that she wasn't alone as a pilot to get discharged with a General Discharge that year, so I would think there might be some hope.

I would say though, based on what you said here, you have already done a few things in your favor. You owned it and you are honest about it. The fact that you said "I screwed up but I learned from it" I think is the best approach you could take in an interview.

I'm not working for an airline, but the few times I have had to interview people who had problems in the past, the ones who say "I just screwed up but man did I learn a lot from it" got another shot whereas the ones who say "Man, I was framed; it wasn't my fault; I was at the wrong place and they were out to get me; 10 other guys did it but I was the only one who got busted" don't get another shot. Why? Because as a hiring manager, I care more about how you reacted to a bad situation than the bad situation itself.

So, I'd say if it does come up, keep the same attitude you have right now. Own it, don't try to make excuses, and explain how you learned from it and won't a similar mistake again in the future.