NWA Leather Jackets........

[SNOWBUM]

Men wearing Prada shoes?

the pope ( among others) does

 

[FatesPawn]

Snowbum,
I'll stop wearing a leather jacket if you promise to make one single post that does not have spelling/grammatical errors all over it.

I don't think you are less profesional....
....days when this was a real career and a real profesion

Oh-ryan,

Beautiful! You called him out and it took him about 45 minutes to make himself look like an ass - twice.

Sweet.

-Fate

 

[mdf]

Now that it seems everyone has leather jackets, I no longer want mine.

 

[PCL_128]

Saw one of the NWA pilots wearing the leather jacket the other day... just doesn't look right, I have to say.

Thankfully there's just a handful of guys wearing them. I can't imagine what would possess some guy that just took a 40% paycut to pay for his own leather jacket for work.

I guess I'm too traditional...

Ditto.

 

[Diesel-9]

Agree on the jacket issue. A joke. I'm putting the $400 into my daughters 529 Plan. Its all about her.....

 

[charterpuke]

I think it looks great when Captain Fonzzie shows up at the gate. Most of the business travelers just snicker though.

 

[xjhawk]

just do not get it do you?????

I think it looks great when Captain Fonzzie shows up at the gate. Most of the business travelers just snicker though.

I started this threat with the intentions of just this......to bring out the idiots who think there is a relationship between our pay and what we wear to work. The business industry goes in cycles of dressing "up" and dressing "down". In some industries its more pronounced than others. But the fact that remains pay does not equate to dress and vice versa. Doctors (surgons)who are the highest paid of Doctors, when at work wear scrubs, not suits. So by snow jobs standards, where wearing suits should get you higher pay, does not apply there either. And bankers and attornys wear clothing which are suitable to their environment and activities, office work. Now if you look at our uniform and its history, its a military history, not a banker or attorney, or doctor. The hat is from early 20's and 30's army airforce and the polyester blazer, tie, and matching pants are like the class A uniform of the old air corp and airforce uniform. which if i am not mistaken, their flight deck is not too different from ours....in comfort. So we should be changing into our new flight suits and leather jackets like they have now......made of nomex no doubt!

The base idea here is professionalism. Some here equate that with money earned. A lot of society does as well. But tell me if you have ever seen a man or woman carry themselves with a professional manner and they did not make a lot of money? I would also like to argue that you are not more professional when you fly a bigger airplane, just more senior and sometimes a bit more lucky at timing. I seem to remember stories to NWA hiring those with under a 1000 hours because they were so desperate for pilots. Some are still around flying the whale......look it up, ia m not making it up.....and they were not like super pilots, better back in the day.....like i said, better timing and lucky.

I mention this because it seems that you at the majors still want your cake and eat it too. You want a line drawn between you and us. Yes everyone used to want to have your job, but now, because of a number of factors, you are not the only gig in town, nor are you the best paid (this makes you mad huh?). the highest paid are southwest, fedex and big brown......all who wear leather right? Yes i still want to go to a major, but no do i want to have a 70's mustache, hair from the 70's, or no hair ( i might go with that route very soon), nor do i want a polyester cheaply made uniform with a coat i am not warm or dry in! (the point of this entire thread!) But i do want the beach condo, cabin on a lake, 15 days off, a nice house, and a few nice cars.

I like that i can see the ones who disagree with my line of thought will be gone in a short few years, for the industry will be a better place without your line of thought....snow job! Oh and by the way, i have talked with a couple of NWA guys who have that jacket.......they are down to earth good guys, thats a good batting average when striking up cold conversations.....i hope to meet more.
Wearing a leather jacket or a designer suit will not give us better pay or worse pay, what will get us better pay and work rules will be better union leadership from alpa membership. undercuting pay, allowing laws to empower companies in the courts, and greedy pilots who will sacrifice others for thier own gain is what will stop us from getting what we professionals deserve.

Oh, and the flying public , even the business class ones, do not judge our clothing standards and base our skill by the material of our coat. What they do look at is how we present oursleves. Looking like we are tired or cannot afford new pants because of holes in our uniform is what bothers them. They are concerned that we are not being paid enough because they understand our responsibility level should equat to a higher professional pay. This is coming right from passangers and my friends who are professional business passangers.

Oh, i am done for now, hope everyone got the point!

 

[PCL_128]

The business industry goes in cycles of dressing "up" and dressing "down".

No, the guys in the cubicles making $50k a year have their style of dress go in cycles. The executives in the corner offices making $150k+ always dress in nice suits because they know that your clothing and general appearance are how you make your first impression. That matters in business, and it matters in every other aspect of life. If you want to be viewed as a professional who deserves respect, then wearing a leather jacket and a backpack isn't going to get it for you.

I like that i can see the ones who disagree with my line of thought will be gone in a short few years

Not quite. I've got over 30 years to go, and I wouldn't be caught dead in a leather bomber jacket. At work or otherwise.

Oh, and the flying public , even the business class ones, do not judge our clothing standards and base our skill by the material of our coat. What they do look at is how we present oursleves. Looking like we are tired or cannot afford new pants because of holes in our uniform is what bothers them. They are concerned that we are not being paid enough because they understand our responsibility level should equat to a higher professional pay. This is coming right from passangers and my friends who are professional business passangers.

Your friends might think that way, but I've talked to many others who believe the exact opposite. Like it or not, many passengers are judging you and your profession by the way your dress and present yourself. They don't get to see your level of professionalism on the flight deck. The only thing they know about you is how you present yourself.

 

[nwaredtail]

Just so I have this straight.

Wear nice clothes, passengers think we are professional, we get paid more money. Well, not exactly. Present ourselves as professionals, we get more money, again, doesn't seem to work that way.

SWA, FDX, Airborne, Alaka, - yup, get paid the highest wages, which, by the way, is all I frickin care about and yet they have leather jackets....

You "dress for success" guys are ridiculus. I wonder how many of your "friends" that notice what the pilots look like, still got on the plane even if he had a leather jacket. Answer, all did. Do you get it now?

The more pilots I met, the more I like my ex-wife.....

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Then wear jeans and a Led Zep t-shirt to work for the next trip you have.... where do you draw the line?

That is why it is called a uniform. uni. So the guys who don't think a dress code matters don't show up looking like punks....

Funny, when you wanted the job I bet you dressed up real nice.....

 

[BigMeat]

I think that dressing the part is important. If my lawyer came into the room wearing jeans and a polo shirt, I would take my money elsewhere. The image in the public eye is important. The FDX guys dont have to worry about that. The reason we dress the way we dress is to seperate us from the rest of the work group (the hat). We are the pinnacle of labor at an airline. The moment they get us to dress, look, and act like the rest we are in trouble. We are leaps and bounds ahead in education and required knowledge to do our jobs. If they can get us to blend in with the rest of labor and possibly feel like the rest of the work group. Then the hopes is that we dont feel "special" enough to request that much more than median earnings of our other work related peers. Its getting harder for me to distinguish between FA and FOs. I for one will do everything as a professional to keep this position looking respectful. Yes I wear my hat. No leather jacket. I save that for my motorcycle or when Im working as a bouncer at the front door because my pay has not kept up to what it should be.

 

[727C47]

I look at the leather jacket as a homage,and a tribute to our round engine,taildraggin,all weather ,open cockpit routes. I think it looks great,not unprofessional at all, but please lose the dorky hat.

 

[XJohXJ]

Look, this is all just opinions anyway. Do I care if some uptight guy doesn't like my wrinkly shirt on day 4? Hell no, I don't care what he thinks, because I know who I am, I know why my shirt is wrinkly, and I know that his opinion does not matter at all. Pilots don't know anything at all about business or pay. They are 100% ignorant and ineffective. How do I know that all pilot's know nothing whatsoever about business? We get paid sh!t. That's how I know. Every single time, with very few exceptions, pilot's are completely outclassed by management. Management plays chess, pilots play dodgeball. Management wins and pilots lose every single time. The only exceptions are pilots at companies that are making such huge profits, that every time management farts, $1000 comes out. Only a raving lunatic couldn't negotiate a fair share at the ultra-profitables. And, by the way, those are the guys who get to wear comfortable clothes to work. So, all you guys who care what OTHER PEOPLE wear to work: Sit back, relax with a nice GQ, or MAXIM, or COSMO, and save your anal remarks for your shrink. Oh, by the way, the nice suits management wears are actually quite comfortable. They are nothing like the sh!tty polyester McDonald's style crap pilots are given.

If you wan't to tell others what to wear:
1) Join management
2) Become a fashion designer
3) Do something that unifies pilots and gets us paid more FROM DAY 1 OF THE JOB. (and, by the way, that does not include being a fashion nazi).

There are at least two things pilots don't have any natural skill, talent, or authority on: Fashion, and business. Trying to make authoritative statements correlating the two is absurd.

 

[xjhawk]

Amen!

Look, this is all just opinions anyway. Do I care if some uptight guy doesn't like my wrinkly shirt on day 4? Hell no, I don't care what he thinks, because I know who I am, I know why my shirt is wrinkly, and I know that his opinion does not matter at all. Pilots don't know anything at all about business or pay. They are 100% ignorant and ineffective. How do I know that all pilot's know nothing whatsoever about business? We get paid sh!t. That's how I know. Every single time, with very few exceptions, pilot's are completely outclassed by management. Management plays chess, pilots play dodgeball. Management wins and pilots lose every single time. The only exceptions are pilots at companies that are making such huge profits, that every time management farts, $1000 comes out. Only a raving lunatic couldn't negotiate a fair share at the ultra-profitables. And, by the way, those are the guys who get to wear comfortable clothes to work. So, all you guys who care what OTHER PEOPLE wear to work: Sit back, relax with a nice GQ, or MAXIM, or COSMO, and save your anal remarks for your shrink. Oh, by the way, the nice suits management wears are actually quite comfortable. They are nothing like the sh!tty polyester McDonald's style crap pilots are given.

If you wan't to tell others what to wear:
1) Join management
2) Become a fashion designer
3) Do something that unifies pilots and gets us paid more FROM DAY 1 OF THE JOB. (and, by the way, that does not include being a fashion nazi).

There are at least two things pilots don't have any natural skill, talent, or authority on: Fashion, and business. Trying to make authoritative statements correlating the two is absurd.

Okay, finally someone who gets it! To that guy...the pinnaple guy-128, Come down off your high horse and realise you are a pilot and not some fashion attorney! OUr office is not the courtroom or the board room! OUrs is the flight line and the flight deck! Our polyester uniforms are not something derived from 5th avenue! They are a throwback to a military type uniform which is out dated and uncomfortable! And by the way, i have friends who make over a 100 grand a year and wear polo shirts and khakis everyday except when they are having important meetings. And to me, walking around a plane through the elements and glychol is not an important meeting! My pride in my looks, how i present myself.......mmmm leather jacket, means i am smart and like to be comfortable.....I sure hope you can understand that you are the minority...and please do not become management...I do not want your opinions oppressing me and how this industry is. Our responsability in providing a service is why we deserve great pay and work rules, not the polyster suit and dated hat!

 

[PCL_128]

Was that English? I lost track after the third run-on sentence and tenth misspelled word.