Taking off Epaulets (stripes) at the airport

[Falconjet]

Quote:
Originally Posted by PCL_128
And you don't deserve to be paid like a professional if you don't wear the company required uniform. I can't believe that people can whine about something as simple as wearing a frickin' hat.
Unquote.

I can't believe that you think that wearing a hat makes you "look" like a professional.

Professional skycap maybe, but that is about it.

While some folks may believe that hats make them look like a professional, that is simply an OPINION. It doesn't make it a fact just because you believe it. Most of the guys I see wearing hats look like Gomer Pyle and don't inspire any confidence in me that they are professional pilots. But then again, that is just MY opinion.

How many of you wear your uniforms and hat to proficiency training? Anybody?

Are you not a professional pilot while undergoing your semiannual proficiency checks? Seems to me that is when you would want to be the most professional you can be, but I don't see any hats in the sim.

How you perform your duties and treat your customers and crew are what make you a professional pilot, not wearing a stupid hat.

Or even a tie for that matter. Ok, so who is with me on the no tie crusade?

FJ

 

[PCL_128]

Or even a tie for that matter. Ok, so who is with me on the no tie crusade?

FJ

What's next? How 'bout we all just come to work in shorts, flip-flops, and a Budweiser t-shirt?

The hat has been part of the pilot uniform for nearly three quarters of a century. The entire pilot uniform was first used by Pan Am when they started using the Clipper flying boats on the pacific routes. Since then the uniform has remained mostly unchanged until a bunch of whiners started complaining that "the hat messes up my hair." Stop whining and wear the traditional uniform. Really, what is so frickin' hard about putting a hat on for the few minutes of the day you spend in the terminal?

 

[Falconjet]

Shorts and a tshirt work just fine for me. Not a Bud one though, I am more of a Coors fan. Perhaps a Harley shirt instead, I've got a lot of those.

Also, let's see: Pan Am, gone. Dinosaurs, gone. Coincidence? I think not.

Let it go. If YOU want to wear a hat, go ahead. That is fine. I'm glad it makes you feel special. For those of us lucky enough to work for a company that doesn't require them, good for us, don't let it ruin your day.

In my opinion, it looks dorky and serves absolutely no function what so ever, particularly out on a flight line doing a preflight. Traditionally it is impolite for gentlemen to wear a hat indoors. So I guess the only time you should wear the thing is while you are on your way to and from the airport.

If you want to look "professional" while on the crew bus and in your car by all means have at it.

FJ

 

[aa73]

Falconjet-

While I see many valid points you make regarding not wearing a hat (and I would love it if my airline made it optional) - the hat best serves its function during any kind of emergency requiring a ground evac, in that you are immediately recognized as a flight deck crewmember instead of a flight attendant. Believe me, you want to be an authority figure during an evac, and passengers will not question it when they realize they are dealing with the flight crew, especially with the hat on.

Regards,
73

 

[Ty Webb]

Here's something to think about:

As a new airline pilot, I complained to a buddy of mine (a SWA pilot) about people in outstations always asking directions . . . . he responded, "At least they don't expect you to get their bags" (he is black).

I stopped complaining about giving directions after that.

But for me, the hat should be optional. In today's world, it makes you look more like a skycap than a pilot. My hat stays in the bag room when I commute home.

And the epaulets? Those come off when it's schnocktail time . . . or if I am running errands on my way home from the airport. Don't want to look like like some newbie geek trying to impress chicks .

 

[PCL_128]

Falconjet, you work for an airline that has made the hat optional, so it's a different story for you. Most of us work for airlines that still have the hat as a required part of the uniform in the FOM. As long as it's in there, then it's unprofessional not to wear it.

 

[Ty Webb]

Falconjet-

Believe me, you want to be an authority figure during an evac, and passengers will not question it when they realize they are dealing with the flight crew, especially with the hat on.

Regards,
73

Actually, the last thing I am going to bother with during an evacuation will be putting on my lid. And they will know I am in command when they hear me shout "Follow me to safety and cold beer!" as I make my escape.

 

[aa73]

Actually, the last thing I am going to bother with during an evacuation will be putting on my lid. And they will know I am in command when they hear me shout "Follow me to safety and cold beer!" as I make my escape.

...and then they'll know that you must have received a hard blow to the head as you shout that, and run the other way...

All joking aside, studies have proven that passengers, in their panic, want authority figures to lead the way. And if I'm gonna lead the way, I wanna be recognizable immediately - which is what the hat does.

Heck, my only two duties as an F/O are to read the evac checklist, and to put my hat on (yes, it's a required evac item for us)... then I bail.

73

 

[psycho]

" Okay, we are on fire, time to evac. Where is that **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** hat, Hey this fire's getting hot, there it is. How do I look? Mayonaise on it?? OW this fire burns!! Go on without me, no one will believe I'm capable of leading till I clean this thing up. OW OW FIRE BAD!! HAT GOOD"

Besides, the hat was good enough for Leo Dicaprio so I'll wear mine in the terminal as I smile at the chicks. I wrote a BIG Check to dress up like this.

 

[Ty Webb]

All joking aside, studies have proven that passengers, in their panic, want authority figures to lead the way. And if I'm gonna lead the way, I wanna be recognizable immediately - which is what the hat does.

73

In my three years working EMS, the sick, injured (and bystanders) immediately recognized me as "an authority figure", and, strangely enough, I didn't have a hat then either. It's not the hat, it's what goes in the hat that counts.

 

[Ill Mitch]

I was in Costco once..in uniform (blech)...and had some guy come up and ask me where the dogfood was. I just stared at him until he got the clue I didn't work there.

 

[Falconjet]

Wow! Putting on the hat for an emergency evac? Now I have heard everything. I can't imagine for a second that I would bother to put a hat on if I was about to jump out of a jet that was on fire and about to explode. The pax (or boxes in my case) can just follow all of the crash crew folks, they might actually be wearing a hat that is functional and their authority is much more important at that point anyway.

After our last bad landing and emergency egress, where everybody suffered severe rope burns on their hands, I started to carry a pair of leather gloves in my flight bag even in warm weather. I keep the bag right next to me and figure that MAYBE I'll have time and MAYBE I'll think about putting them on before I go out the window, but I wouldn't bet on it.

I can tell you for sure I would never go for a combo cap on my way out the window.

I must say that is one of the strangest egress steps I have ever heard of.

FJ

 

[UsAirship]

I admit when I left the Army it was a little odd to put my hat on when I walked indoors. After I got over that It's been great. I wear a hat on the flight deck to keep sun out my eyes and make my half a headset more comfortable. I'm going to have hat hair any way, I might as well hide it. Also the passengers are less likely to vent frustrations on me when they don't confuse me with a gate agent (they seem to miss the bars and wings).

 

[Ty Webb]

I wear a hat on the flight deck to keep sun out my eyes and make my half a headset more comfortable. /QUOTE]


I hope to God you are not telling us you wear your uniform hat on the flight deck. If you do, I will have to nominate you as this board's biggest nebbish in the 8+ years I have been posting here.

In my 4 years of airline experience, I have never seen a pilot wear his hat on the flightdeck; I have seen two individuals wear a baseball hat . . . that is it.

If you don't get help at flightinfo.com . . . . get help somewhere!

 

[PCL_128]

Didn't TabExpressFO or somebody have a picture of him and his instructor in the cockpit of the King Air with their hats on? Classic.

 

[BossHogg]

I don't know what the big deal is. I wear the hat EVERYWHERE I go, with or without a uniform. Sometimes I go to sleep with it. I especially like working on my car with it. Ahhh that boxy hat... The greatest gift to all pilotkind.

 

[T-handle]

Just my observation over the years: most of the die hard hat wearers are the ones balding.......

 

[WMUSIGPI]

Except for summer when its too hot, I have a golf pullover that I carrry. The minute I get into a layover city, I put it on over my uniform shirt. That ends the stupid questions and I don't wear the hat anymore. Hate the hat. I'm not a bellhop.

I'd be happy to wear a hat like the skycaps as soon as I am paid as well as one. Until then FUGGIDABOUDIT!

 

[Farmer]

People asking directions in the Airport. I hate them. When they do ask I always point to the freking sign that is usually right infront of them and tell them to follow the signs. Except for the old people or ones that actually need help(im nice to them). The ones that ask me when im on my phone get sent the wrong way. I did'nt get into flying to do customer service.

 

[SlapShot]

I prefer the ones that don't even speak english and try ask me something. I try to just guess what they might be asking for. Perhaps, we need to add another few weeks of ground school so we can learn the foreign languages so that we may better serve our customers.

Actually you could use the language lessons to communicate with the G concourse workers in IAD.

(Oh yeah, I don't own a hat either)

 

[doh]

i take off the epaulets to stave off the hoard of ladies trying to get me back to their hotel rooms. i mean there is only so much of that i can take . i'm a human being not a piece of meat! i do however enjoy telling people what gate their flight is on when we're standing right under the departures board.

rotflmfao!

 

[aa73]

In my three years working EMS, the sick, injured (and bystanders) immediately recognized me as "an authority figure", and, strangely enough, I didn't have a hat then either. It's not the hat, it's what goes in the hat that counts.

You can't compare EMS work to an airliner evacuation with smoke and fire. Sorry, different ballgame. Disoriented passengers want to follow crewmembers and their instructions, because in their panic they tend to freeze. Starngely enough, the hat immediately identifies authority.

73

 

[aa73]

Wow! Putting on the hat for an emergency evac? Now I have heard everything. I can't imagine for a second that I would bother to put a hat on if I was about to jump out of a jet that was on fire and about to explode. The pax (or boxes in my case) can just follow all of the crash crew folks, they might actually be wearing a hat that is functional and their authority is much more important at that point anyway.

It's really not that hard to do... at least for us halfway intelligent folks, anyways. And I doubt your FOM or whatever has you, as the FO, "jumping out of a jet that's on fire or about to explode." At every airline I've worked for, the FO comes out of the cockpit, slides down the forward door and assists passenger evacuation by grouping them away from the a/c. That's the time you want to be immediately recognizable as a Flight crewmember.

After our last bad landing and emergency egress, where everybody suffered severe rope burns on their hands, I started to carry a pair of leather gloves in my flight bag even in warm weather. I keep the bag right next to me and figure that MAYBE I'll have time and MAYBE I'll think about putting them on before I go out the window, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Not a bad idea. And I can also assure you that I'll put the hat on - if I remember and have time.

[QUote}I can tell you for sure I would never go for a combo cap on my way out the window.

I must say that is one of the strangest egress steps I have ever heard of.

FJ[/QUOTE]

Strange but effective.

73

 

[Crossky]

People asking directions in the Airport. I hate them. When they do ask I always point to the freking sign that is usually right infront of them and tell them to follow the signs. Except for the old people or ones that actually need help(im nice to them). The ones that ask me when im on my phone get sent the wrong way. I did'nt get into flying to do customer service.

Then why don't you get out of passenger flying (airlines and charter and corporate and fractional) and fly freight or something without people. Your attitude is the very one that upholds the image the public still has of us as spoiled, overpaid, and underworked pilots. What part of providing transportation to the flying public not involve customer service?

You're a farmer right? Maybe you could become an 'Aerial Applicator' on the crops you and others grow, or maybe you could just quit flying and farm more. FedEx and UPS are hiring. But I think they like to provide customer service too.

 

[AeroDork]

And you don't deserve to be paid like a professional if you don't wear the company required uniform.

Well you don't deserve to be paid like a professional since you PFT'd.

 

[Huggyu2]

No tie + no epaulettes = wetsuit.

 

[Jeff Helgeson]

Who ya kiddin"? You wear the hat when you fly!!!!

Not a bad idea. And I can also assure you that I'll put the hat on - if I remember and have time.



Strange but effective.

73

We know you grew up watching reruns of 12 O'CLOCK HIGH. The Captain in his leather jacket, wearing his hat with the C-clamp headsets sporting the 100 mission crush look. Why he!!!, I bet you hold that round microphone up to your throat to make a transmission, all while monitoring the HF freq. in you sector. That's all fine, but maybe you could update those Ray Ban Aviator shades with something a little more stylish and get rid of that McCarther corncob pip!

Rock on my friend, rock on! I'll start time for your NDB.

 

[pilotpayne]

This is what we debate...if it's cool to wear a hat or not, no wonder we are not getting anywhere as a group. I wear mine because we are req to. I love the fact that the company I work for requires it but guys only where it if they want to. I am not saying I am a die hard company guy or anything like that but we all took the job here we could at least follow the rule. I guess its just me but when I am at work I try to look the best I can....ie iron the shirt(every hotel has an iron) maybe even sine up the shoes every now and than. I just can't belive we are upset about who wears a hat or not....by the way I think pilots had caps before skycaps.Also I am always happy we wear caps the overcoat when I am doing the walkaround in the rain or snow.

 

[Ty Webb]

This is what we debate...if it's cool to wear a hat or not, no wonder we are not getting anywhere as a group. I wear mine because we are req to. I love the fact that the company I work for requires it but guys only where it if they want to. I am not saying I am a die hard company guy or anything like that but we all took the job here we could at least follow the rule. I guess its just me but when I am at work I try to look the best I can....ie iron the shirt(every hotel has an iron) maybe even sine up the shoes every now and than. I just can't belive we are upset about who wears a hat or not....by the way I think pilots had caps before skycaps.Also I am always happy we wear caps the overcoat when I am doing the walkaround in the rain or snow.

Do you wear the hat to cover the fact that there is a big dent in the top of your head? Look at what you have written . . . . and then tell us again about being a professional.

And, while we're at it, pilots also used to wear scarves and goggles. Times change. If you think wearing a hat makes you look professional, get a job at Mickey Dee's, kid.

 

[SMMustang]

The commuting thing kills the idea of a hat

When I commuted I used to cram my hat and jacket into my bag and put on dockers and topsiders with a collared shirt as soon as the trip was over if I had 5 extra minutes. I usually stuffed the uniform on the trip to the airport if I went a day early. After a while the hat and coat takes a beating and never look that good after going through that. My airline has made hats optional, now we just need to get leather jackets to make commuting easier.