The Airline Pilot Hat: What will become of it?

[Abernathy]

Rez, you're such a hack. The problem with you damned prima donnas is that you're too concerned with all the crap that doesn't mean a thing while losing sight of the real problems in this industry. Our profession isnt going down the tube because I dont wear the same headpiece a tip-collecting skycap wears. Its going down the drain beacuse we have morons like you who believe that not wearing a hat is ruining our profession.

 

[wms]

I saw a DAL FO on the train wearing his hat...and a black backpack and light blue windbreaker. Looked good.

 

[wms]

Really, it's that easy? I could use a few more bucks and a little bit of respect wouldn't hurt either......now where did I put that d@mn hat.

You hatters sure are funny!

woops

 

[wms]

Rez, you're such a hack. The problem with you damned prima donnas is that you're too concerned with all the crap that doesn't mean a thing while losing sight of the real problems in this industry. Our profession isnt going down the tube because I dont wear the same headpiece a tip-collecting skycap wears. Its going down the drain beacuse we have morons like you who believe that not wearing a hat is ruining our profession.

I'm not a hatter, but anyone who has been around just a few years can tell there has been a decrease in professionalism. Actually our profession is going down the tubes because we don't act professional much less look it. But we continue to insist we're professionals even though we act unprofessionally.

I talk to pilots all the time who say their ability as pilot has nothing to do with their behavior in the cockpit and their attitude. But when I go out to observe them it's easy to see that their image is an accurate refection of their proficiency and expertise.

With all the attention about lack of sterile cockpit, checklist discipline and the other elements of our job being so prominent nowadays, we need to examine ourselves honestly and be willing to look and perform the way we're expected to. Hats or Not.

 

[B727Driver]

skycap....now that is where the money is. They hide a bunch of cash.

 

[Abernathy]

I'm not a hatter, but anyone who has been around just a few years can tell there has been a decrease in professionalism. Actually our profession is going down the tubes because we don't act professional much less look it. But we continue to insist we're professionals even though we act unprofessionally.

I talk to pilots all the time who say their ability as pilot has nothing to do with their behavior in the cockpit and their attitude. But when I go out to observe them it's easy to see that their image is an accurate refection of their proficiency and expertise.

With all the attention about lack of sterile cockpit, checklist discipline and the other elements of our job being so prominent nowadays, we need to examine ourselves honestly and be willing to look and perform the way we're expected to. Hats or Not.

I have not been around long enough to comment on the trend of professionalism in this industry, however I am inclined to believe that you are right--in that it has taken a dive. My guess is it has something to do with hiring 19 year olds into the cockpit and paying them $17,000. I dont know what this has to do with Hats, as per the topic, except that some people dont dress professionally, hats or not.

The thought posed by Rez wasn't whether or not people are showing up to work looking sloppy and thus unprofessional. It was that the diminishing presence of hats is somehow an insult to our profession, and thats really just, for lack of a better word, dumb. I understand his sentiment, but my opinion, and apparently that of most participants in this thread, is that he needs to find something more significant to worry about.

Maybe next, Rez will suggest we wear white leather gloves in the cockpit and we can all show up to work looking like dandies.

 

[eaglesview]

Really, it's that easy? I could use a few more bucks and a little bit of respect wouldn't hurt either......now where did I put that d@mn hat.

You hatters sure are funny!

OK Guppieman Tell me your solution. Make sure it is one where the hat and looking professional is a hinderance. Like all of us you want and I dare say deserve "a few more bucks and a little bit of respect." However you do not want to do anything for it. You will talk about how crappy things are or how your management has screwed you and use that to justify your behavior and your attitude. At that point, when they change your outlook, they win. This does not mean that because I choose to wear a hat I roll over or do not know and enforce my contract. It simply means I have a little pride in how I look. Nothing more nothing less.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

I have not been around long enough to comment on the trend of professionalism in this industry,

Perhaps I have.

however I am inclined to believe that you are right--in that it has taken a dive. My guess is it has something to do with hiring 19 year olds into the cockpit and paying them $17,000. I dont know what this has to do with Hats, as per the topic, except that some people dont dress professionally, hats or not.

So how do you get that $17,000 figure up?

The thought posed by Rez wasn't whether or not people are showing up to work looking sloppy and thus unprofessional. It was that the diminishing presence of hats is somehow an insult to our profession, and thats really just, for lack of a better word, dumb.

No not really, read on.....

I understand his sentiment, but my opinion, and apparently that of most participants in this thread, is that he needs to find something more significant to worry about.

Such as? Can you quantify that?

Maybe next, Rez will suggest we wear white leather gloves in the cockpit and we can all show up to work looking like dandies.

Funny, you pay a pilot $350,000/year and he'll wear pink leather gloves and ball gag.

Since the profession has taken a nose dive, why not shuck the hat? What have you got to lose, except perhaps our image.


Actually, it is all about pilots being reactive. Not proactive. Pay them big bucks and they will wear a Capt. Jack Sparrow hat with eyeliner and a braided goatee... pay them crap wages and they will degenerate into the current form arguing about personal comfort.


Why is it when pilots want more money and picket they all bring their hats? Why is picket day special? As professionals do we fly the jet special one day and not so special the next?

The hat has nothing to do with actually flying the jet professionally. It has never been about that...... It has everything to do with image.

That image is part of our identity. As management treats us like airport workers and not professionals, more and more, we will start to believe it. Why should we be paid more if we are just like everyone else working at the airport. Why should we be paid more if mgmnt and ourselves don't believe it. If the public thinks we look professional and we act and look professional we'll start to believe.... and be it.

Passengers/public still call FAs stewardess. They still ask, what "route" you fly. While the old stereotypes of the profession still exist, they are being eroded to the point where Colgan BUF and MSP Flyover are redefining the profession negatively. Thankfully Sully/Skiles' event...... and the image they projected about the profession has breathed new life into our plight.

Any relationship, including one between the profession and the public is about trust and respect. It doesn't happen over night. If we look like common airport workers and we suffer a couple more Colgan BUFs, we are screwed.

So, it really comes down to .....it not being about how silly you feel....

It comes down to the hat being....

A unique identifier of profession and rank. Call it a brand logo. I don't care for it that much but I know its value and place. It is a tool to use to better our image.

Take that image and mystic away and we are nothing but common airport workers. No one else cares about the Profession. If we don't claim ownership, someone else will and I guarantee you they won't give a damn.

If we really believe that management thinks we are any different than aircraft cleaners, then we need to wake up. We are labor cost to be controlled. The reason why they like baggage carts better is because a baggage cart isn't in a union and doesn't require benefits.

 

[Abernathy]

So how do you get that $17,000 figure up?

Tread carefully, Rez. That is what I made at a "major regional" my first year.

As far as the rest of your post, I would have thought you were smart enough to realize that the hat does one thing to us. It reminds us that no matter how important we think we are, we are blue collar labor and we shall remain in our place.

 

[flyboyike]

To me this is more an issue of how I view myself than how others view me. Allow me to explain: at my airline hats are mandatory. I don't particularly like the hat, but I spent damn near a third of my life earning the right to wear the uniform of an airline pilot and, by golly, I will wear the whole uniform. Not because it elevates me above others, but because it's a symbol of the fact that my pilot group considered me worthy of joining them and, in return, I feel I must represent them to the best of my ability and that includes wearing my uniform properly, which in our case happens to include the hat. It's not an article of clothing, it's a part of a mindset, which I think what many people are missing.

One of our former Chief Pilots once made a good point. If a guy can't be bothered to put on a hat, who's to say he will bother to do a proper walkaround at zero-dark-thirty when it's 10 below and snowing? Or that he will bother to fly a stable approach? Or that he will do his paperwork correctly?

It's not about a fashion accessory, it's about attitude. At least, that's how I feel about it.

 

[tomgoodman]

How much will you trade for it?

Caution: If your pilot group reaches a consensus that hats should go, don't let management know that this is of any real importance to you. They will try to use it as a bargaining chip in lieu of a pay raise or scope protection. In the beancounter world, there is no such thing as a "no-cost item". imp:

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Tread carefully, Rez. That is what I made at a "major regional" my first year.

You and most of us. Big deal. I want it higher. Now again... you suggested that the hat is irrelevant and that other ways are worth the effort... in fact you stated:

find something more significant to worry about.

Fair enough... what is more significant?

As far as the rest of your post, I would have thought you were smart enough to realize that the hat does one thing to us. It reminds us that no matter how important we think we are, we are blue collar labor and we shall remain in our place.

Correct. Does shucking the hat make us feel more and look like business men. White collar MBAs that sit in first class, drink scotch at the Club and snub and sneer at blue collar labor?

We are blue collar labor. Time to look and act the part.

 

[waveflyer]

Actually wms-
I think your view of our professionalism is clouded by nostalgia. And everything was perfect in the 50's too, right?
Or I could give you the laundry list of accidents from every era that would make the sterile cockpit violations of colgan look rather tame.
Sorry Rez, you're fighting a losing battle when it comes to the hat- it's optional at most places and it's not coming back- better to concentrate on things that would register as more important to most of us.

I'm pretty sure the comment about a few extra bucks and more respect was tongue in cheek-
I get respect everywhere I go- and appearance is part of it- but so is demeanor and action- and I can't find any correlation to a hat and how we negotiate our money- I've seen some really sharp uniforms put on by some really young pilots not making much at all- I think you all should worry about rj's and outsourcing way more than a hat. How about majors stop selling out .... That would be MUCH more helpful

 

[Amish RakeFight]

That image is part of our identity. As management treats us like airport workers and not professionals, more and more, we will start to believe it. Why should we be paid more if we are just like everyone else working at the airport. Why should we be paid more if mgmnt and ourselves don't believe it. If the public thinks we look professional and we act and look professional we'll start to believe.... and be it.

How much bargining power do hats have in a bankruptcy? If a group of pilots had worn their hats steadfast in the past, would this actually provide more leverage?

"...but Sir, our pilots always wore their hats. Show some leniency"

Really...

 

[Benjamin Dover]

Wear the uniform and look professional.

I am a hat guy. I usually get a complement from an FA (female) or passenger every trip regarding the hat.

Right. Dream on brother. I wore a hat (and the USN style blazer) at Delta for many years and not once got a positive comment from anyone about the uniform except during Christmas tie season.

At SWA I often hear positive comments about my flag ties and the leather flight jacket. Not one comment about my lack of hat.

FA (females) also like my semi-white shirts and my Old Spice after shave.

Hat wearers do stand out at SWA though - not in a good way.

 

[Whataburger]

Whataburger, With all do respect do you have have clue how it sounds for a SWA pilot bashing ALPA sounds?
Through all the ups and down of this industry, if not for ALPA and the work they have done over the years, we would all be much worse off, including SWA pilots.
There really is very little difference between ALPA and SWAPA. They are both just the vehicle for pilots to be organized and try to do what is best for everyone they represent.

Sure there is probably some irony in my responses. I have been part of alpa airlines more than this SWAPA airline. How someome or something (a union) responds in tough times shows what they're made of. My opinion is that alpa has done nothing for pilots since 2000.

Through the "ups and downs" in the last 10 yrs SWAPA has done okay. I can't say the same for alpa.

I'm not a big union fan to begin with. They are a necessary evil.

 

[AAflyer]

The hat means you're owned by management. It's their little remote which controls your brain. You give in to the hat. No one aspires to wear that ridiculous thing. Sorry.

Or management will punish you. We just got the memo. After April 5th the pilots of AA will be counseled and then removed from the trip when not in uniform. It is in our FM Part I what the uniform standards are, and they are not subject to our or my interpretation.

At roughly $117 an hour I can not afford the loss of a 24 hour trip. So I guess in your eyes I am now going to be management stooge. Oh well.

AA

After 10 years now have to wear the darn thing...

 

[waveflyer]

But see, that's okay?
We shouldn have anti-authority issues. As professionals we can give input, but ultimately have bosses- we ought to fly and look how our bosses would like us to. That gives us credibility.
An exec at AA was once quoted "we have no motivation to ever pay our pilots bc they will be miserable no matter what"

my first thought is that is awful management- but we should also ask ourselves if we are good employees and will accept leadership?

 

[RiddleEagle18]

Thankfully Sully/Skiles' event...... and the image they projected about the profession has breathed new life into our plight.

I dont know what your talking about I saw the SOB in a st. jude commercial WITHOUT his hat!! That bastard his pulling down our profession. Thank God he retired!

A couple more times in uniform without it!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy_MTl3z0O4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny7mMmQILLs

He cant even wear it on his book cover only holding it. I bet you are sure glad they removed ALPA as thier union. We cant have guys like that as members!

http://www.amazon.com/Highest-Duty-Search-Really-Matters/dp/0061924687

 

[AAflyer]

RiddleEagle

I dont know what your talking about I saw the SOB in a st. jude commercial WITHOUT his hat!! That bastard his pulling down our profession. Thank God he retired!

A couple more times in uniform without it!!




Not a hat fan, but there are certainly enough shots with the hat on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVNHrIMiWCo&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-CBa8Z2gtU&NR=1