Blue or White Collar? You make the call.

[say again]

Blue, white, or pink collar??? I don't know, but after a week of flying I'll have to add the brown collar!!!:laugh:

In all seriousness, there are white collar flying gigs, as well as blue collar flying gigs. It all depends on who you work for.:beer:

 

[satpak77]

well...

to further cloud the waters

PILOTS, GENERALLY speaking, are:

- College Educated
- Serve many years as "apprentice"
- Huge population of military officers in the ranks
- Make life/death decisions as part of their job
- Are part of the corporate image and seen by customers daily
- Play a role in the customer service chain
- Undergo advanced training every year for rest of career
- Must meet stringent government mandated health requirements
- Some are in unions, some not (Corporate, Military pilot, etc)

BLUE COLLAR workers, GENERALLY, are:

- not college educated
- do not make life/death decisions
- are NOT a part of the customer service chain
- are NOT part of the corporate image seen by customers
- do NOT undergo advanced training
- are almost always in unions

 

[OffHot]

Our problem lies with what it took to get where you are. Doctors, lawyers, CPA's etc have a pretty well defined and standardized process. It trys to ensure that what you see is what you get. Pilots are not that way. Every pilot has a different story on how they got where the are. Only the military pilots, not starting a military vs civilian fight, have that well defined and more importantly standardized process. Doesn't mean they are better airline pilots, but there process is better understood by the general public. Education, is not a factor in becoming a pilot, lucky for me, yes many if not most are college graduates, but not required. Only the FAA mandates our requirements, airlines then add their experience requirements, and the FAA requirements are nothing more than what is required for plumbers or electricians in their trade. Military Pilots get their white collar/professional stamp for being a Military Officer first, then a pilot.

 

[Bandit60]

Sorry, but the Dept of Labor calls pilots blue collar

You are wrong. I went to the Dept of Labor website and actually found it where it says that pilots are white collar. Where did you get your information? I think you might need to double check it.

 

[Purple Haze]

My dad taught me you could tell by whether you wash your hands before or after you use the restroom.

before = blue collar

 

[ableone]

Lawyers and Doctors are true professionals. They can strike out on their own and work independently.

It is not possible for an airline pilot to hang a shingle and go into business as an "airline pilot."

I would say we are blue collar worker bees.

 

[Clyde]

Blue Collar:

JetBlue



White Collar:

Alaska
American
Continental
Delta
Northwest
Southwest
United
USAir/AWA

Am I missing something here?

Brown Collar:
UPS

Purple Collar:
FedEx

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

We are very unique. We are blue collar but we have a level of education and responsibility to the public.

Here is the trick.... How do you want to be precieved by the public and your employer.....

Once you figured it out...start acting the part!

 

[Ty Webb]

Christ, I can't believe you guys are bothering to argue over this. Act like a professional, and you have your answer.

 

[Phaedrus]

Act like a professional

Uh, good advice.

 

[Chest Rockwell]

If you want to be white collar, wear a clean shirt everyday.

 

[sling blade]

I think the job is white collar. Sad thing is all my union friends with no education in St Louis make more money than most pilots these days.

 

[Thedude]

You are wrong. I went to the Dept of Labor website and actually found it where it says that pilots are white collar. Where did you get your information? I think you might need to double check it.

Well it was the mid 90s when I first found out that statistic and I havent really thought much about it since. But apperalty it bothers a lot of people on this board.

 

[Falconjet]

Christ, I can't believe you guys are bothering to argue over this. Act like a professional, and you have your answer.

You first.

FJ

 

[coolyokeluke]

Lawyers and Doctors are true professionals. They can strike out on their own and work independently.

It is not possible for an airline pilot to hang a shingle and go into business as an "airline pilot."

I would say we are blue collar worker bees.

Well, can a supertanker captain strike out and work independently? How about a military officer? A judge? It's not possible for airline pilots and the afore-mentioned examples to hang a shingle and go into business because the costs of entry. In theory if you had enough start up capital you could go into business as an "airline pilot". A military officer can't buy his own forces to command, a judge can't buy his position (or is not supposed to be able to anyway...).

As somebody pointed out we're a unique mix and I believe that does make it more interesting than other professions (uuhh, "occupations"?).

We get worked up by the labels because our society, unfortunately, looks down on blue collar jobs.

And the guy suggesting that nobody's ever worked a blue collar job here in their life, how do you think they supported themselves as students, CFI's, first year FO's, etc. Most pilots I've met have worked numerous jobs that would qualify as blue collar. Go back a number of months and look up the thread "what's the worst job you ever had". Lots of interesting examples.