FAA wants professionalism

[get2flyin]

How exactly does a leather jacket (that is part of a uniform) and stickers (union ones) on your luggage detract from professionalism? I agree with some of what you said, but these are issues of personal taste and have little to do with professionally flying an airplane. Goatees? Who really cares? Many excellent pilots around the world are allowed facial hair to varying degrees. I would leave my beard intact in a second if the rules would permit such a thing.

Professionals efficiently and ethically go about their jobs. Professionals keep safety and customer service foremost in their minds. They do not break under management pressure to operate in a questionable manner. Professionals engage in constant study and self evaluation to improve their tradecraft. Professionals come to work on time, fit to fly and well groomed. Who gives a damn if the pilot has some ink on his skin underneath his shirt? Do you spend much time sans clothing with your first officers? Well, that is your affair I suppose.

Unfortunately, there are always individuals who want to see how far they can stretch the policy. A company leather jacket is a matter of preference and you don't get to choose the jacket. As long as things like that are consistent in appearance, there isn't an issue. As far as stickers on a bag...well "Proud Union Pilot" or something like that, nobody has an issue. However, guys that have a sticker that says, "I F***ed your sister last night" or something like that..that's the sort of thing that calls your professionalism into question. Same thing with hair or tattoos or whatever. Would I hire a lawyer with a piercing in his nose, a biker beard, and tattoos on his forehead? Probably not. Would I hire a guy who had a more "conformist" appearance but was rumored to have his entire back inked and his dick pierced? I could care less about what I can't see as long as he's good at his job. We operate behind closed doors. The public's level of respect is based upon our appearance and the perception of how good a job we do.

Professionalism is a choice. Management can create conditions which can make being professional very difficult indeed, but it is still a choice. If you choose to act in a manner which demeans your chosen career, then you are hurting yourself and your fellow pilots as pilots themselves are the keepers of the professional tradition. Management doesn't really care about how you carry yourself out on the line, just so long as you fall within their guidelines just enough to not bend an airplane or cost them money. If we want to be considered professional, we ourselves have to the ones who create that image. You know, the vast majority of non aviation folks I come in contact with still are impressed with my position... And I am the low of the low, a poor regional turboprop captain. The great majority of this professionalism conversation comes from within our ranks or from our regulators, as it should be. We must be sure of our own institutional professionalism in order to garner further respect from management and the FAA.

I agree with you entirely...except the "lowly" turboprop Captain. I actually think you have a more difficult time because of the incorrect perception that you are there because you don't have the experience to be at a major airline. If your appearance is the same as the guy (or girl) who just flew the plane from Europe to New York, who's to say flying a 1900 (or ATR, Dash, or whatever) makes you any different. The size of the gate area you walk into to? Screw that. I don't buy it. On the other hand, I did see an FO walking through DIA once who literally had the frosted tip hair, the Doc Martins, and a t-shirt clearly visible under his uniform shirt that said something like "Franky says Relax" or similar. WTF? How does THAT inspire confidence in a passenger...and he may have been the best stick in the company. I was about 2 steps behind in my blazer and hat....passengers were smiling at me, smiling and shaking their heads like they felt sorry for the kid in front of me...and I was also a turboprop FO as well at the time. I was embarrassed for both of us .

 

[andyd]

Screw the FAA, they want professionalism then they can lead by example and fire the controller who killed 9 people in NYC by talking on their cell phone. How about revoking immediately the license's of those controllers involved in Flt 188 for not reporting an aircraft NORDO until it was nearly too late to do anything about it?

Any respect I had for the NTSB and the FAA and THEIR professionalism went out the door last week.

 

[PurpleInMEM]

It's a job, that's all. The word 'professional' alludes to the fact that you get paid, that's about it.

Kind of like the National Felons League...same diff.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Since we are talking about professionalism... (to anyone) how about posting your definiton of it....

For many professional pilots out there .... it is hard to quantify...

 

[gearupflapsup]

And then there are the stupid pilots who grow goatees, carry backpacks, put stickers on their luggage, play devils advocate siding with management, wear leather jackets like they are some bomber pilot, color their hair, wear ear rings and tattoos. Those idiots are beyond professional because they don't even respect themselves much less the profession.

Are you high right now?

 

[LowlyPropCapt]

Are you high right now?

No. He is busy checking his FOs for hidden tattoos.

 

[LowlyPropCapt]

Unfortunately, there are always individuals who want to see how far they can stretch the policy. A company leather jacket is a matter of preference and you don't get to choose the jacket. As long as things like that are consistent in appearance, there isn't an issue. As far as stickers on a bag...well "Proud Union Pilot" or something like that, nobody has an issue. However, guys that have a sticker that says, "I F***ed your sister last night" or something like that..that's the sort of thing that calls your professionalism into question. Same thing with hair or tattoos or whatever. Would I hire a lawyer with a piercing in his nose, a biker beard, and tattoos on his forehead? Probably not. Would I hire a guy who had a more "conformist" appearance but was rumored to have his entire back inked and his dick pierced? I could care less about what I can't see as long as he's good at his job. We operate behind closed doors. The public's level of respect is based upon our appearance and the perception of how good a job we do.



I agree with you entirely...except the "lowly" turboprop Captain. I actually think you have a more difficult time because of the incorrect perception that you are there because you don't have the experience to be at a major airline. If your appearance is the same as the guy (or girl) who just flew the plane from Europe to New York, who's to say flying a 1900 (or ATR, Dash, or whatever) makes you any different. The size of the gate area you walk into to? Screw that. I don't buy it. On the other hand, I did see an FO walking through DIA once who literally had the frosted tip hair, the Doc Martins, and a t-shirt clearly visible under his uniform shirt that said something like "Franky says Relax" or similar. WTF? How does THAT inspire confidence in a passenger...and he may have been the best stick in the company. I was about 2 steps behind in my blazer and hat....passengers were smiling at me, smiling and shaking their heads like they felt sorry for the kid in front of me...and I was also a turboprop FO as well at the time. I was embarrassed for both of us .

I agree with all of that. You did a nice job of expanding on the point I was trying to make. Well said.

 

[no1pilot2000]

Doing the job

It's interesting reading some of these comments. Some people on this forum are complaining how their individual airline is scr**ing them over. While others are more concerned about doing the job safely despite company politics. I read comments from pilots in the Regional airline and Major Airline forums. I have some sympathy for those who work for regional airlines. We both work for contractors... you fly airplanes and carry people, I drive a truck and deliver mail and packages. We both work for companies that pay us crap and don't really care about our efforts. With these factors working against us, we need to stay focused on our tasks.

 

[LowlyPropCapt]

Since we are talking about professionalism... (to anyone) how about posting your definiton of it....

For many professional pilots out there .... it is hard to quantify...

I don't think professionalism is at all difficult to quantify. I will cut and paste my definition from an earlier post:

"Professionals efficiently and ethically go about their jobs. Professionals keep safety and customer service foremost in their minds. They do not break under management pressure to operate in a questionable manner. Professionals engage in constant study and self evaluation to improve their tradecraft. Professionals come to work on time, fit to fly and well groomed."

To add a little to it for us Captains out there:

A professional captain leads effectively and exercises sound judgement, regardless of the external pressures that may be present. The professional captain uses good communication practices to ensure all that other crewmember viewpoints are taken into account. He (or she) takes an active interest in the well being of his (or her) crew. The professional captain remembers that the first officer is often in a learning role... The captain should expect to teach where appropriate.

Above all things the professional captain should remain humble, even to the point of self depreciation. Humility is not only an admirable personality trait, but it keeps us approachable and easy to be around. We must remember that we will never have all of the answers for every situation. The professional captain should readily admit his (or her) errors and use them as an object lesson for others.

 

[FishandFly]

that was good stuff.