The Airline Pilot Hat: What will become of it?

[RiddleEagle18]

Im just pointing out that REZ's example holds no water. Clearly this is one of the greatest professional pilots in history next to Al Haynes and he doesnt wear his hat all the time in public.

The hat has no bearing on professionalism.

 

[AAflyer]

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The hat has no bearing on professionalism.

Agreed 100%!


AA

 

[eaglesview]

The hat has no bearing on professionalism.

This is obviously true. One can be just as professional with or without tha hat. Unfortunatley we are not flying around, for the most part, other pilots. we are flying the general public around and I believe their view is they want to see the most professional LOOKING crew they can get. These folks don't get a chance to interview you before they place their lives in your hands, their comfort level with you as a crewmamber is by first impressions, usually a quick look when you walk through the gate area to the jetway. So in my opinion we should look the part for a general public that is not familiar with all of the politics going on in our respective airlines/unions.

 

[Captain Morgan]

Mm.... does this hat make my butt look big... Gee I don't know... Just wear the ********************er if you're supposed to! Damnit! WTF is wrong with you, 4 ********************ing pages or ********************!

 

[Propsync]

Now that I'm 'out of the game' I go out of my way to ask stupid questions to the hat-less flight crew that the gate or F/A's would normally get.

If you had a hat, I'd wish you a pleasant day. Most don't understand the stripes. Everyone understands the hats (except for the eggs). Wear you hat. If not, I consider you the same level as a gate agent.

 

[Abernathy]

The flying public doesnt give a crap what you look like. Really. Unless you look 13 years old. Then they might get scared thanks to the colgan guys, who were probably wearing hats.

The hat is overkill in this day and age. Flying an airplane is not so difficult that you need to dress up like the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO when you go to work. Further, the job doesn't really command the respect it used to, nor does it command the salaries. And NO, before you say it Rez, it's not because we dont wear hats.

 

[AAflyer]

Now that I'm 'out of the game' I go out of my way to ask stupid questions to the hat-less flight crew that the gate or F/A's would normally get.

If you had a hat, I'd wish you a pleasant day. Most don't understand the stripes. Everyone understands the hats (except for the eggs). Wear you hat. If not, I consider you the same level as a gate agent.

Wow, you really need to get a life. To waste time and energy on something so small and insignificant that longer impacts you says so much about who you are.

AA

 

[eaglesview]

The flying public doesnt give a crap what you look like. Really. Unless you look 13 years old. Then they might get scared thanks to the colgan guys, who were probably wearing hats.

The hat is overkill in this day and age. Flying an airplane is not so difficult that you need to dress up like the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO when you go to work. Further, the job doesn't really command the respect it used to, nor does it command the salaries. And NO, before you say it Rez, it's not because we dont wear hats.

So your solution is to just throw in the towel. Does the job not command the respect or did we give it away. Does the job not command the salaries or did we give it away. Give me your solution where looking professional is a detrament.

 

[Propsync]

Wow, you really need to get a life. To waste time and energy on something so small and insignificant that longer impacts you says so much about who you are.

AA

Agreed. Now go get me a coke.

 

[AAflyer]

Agreed. Now go get me a coke.

I Would love to, and since you think I am an FA without a hat, and I know you USED to be a pilot. I will make sure to spit in it as I give it to you with a smile. Enjoy!

AA

 

[Abernathy]

So your solution is to just throw in the towel. Does the job not command the respect or did we give it away. Does the job not command the salaries or did we give it away. Give me your solution where looking professional is a detrament.

Looking professional is very important, I'm not quite sure where I said it wasn't. The problem is that you people keep tying professionalism to wearing a hat. The hat is a uniform PIECE. It is one part of the uniform. I guess that you cannot look professional ever unless you are wearing a WWII era headpiece?

I think United crews look very professional in their uniform without their hats. I think Delta crews, while they do look sharp, look silly dressed up like Louis XIV when they walk up to their MD-88.

And no passengers don't care. They will not book tickets on Delta more often because of their uniform, and if they at any point felt "more comfortable" for the split second they saw who they thought was the Captain of the RMS Lisituania walk up to the gate, that flew out the door when they flew for 3 hours on peanuts and pretzels with Atlanta based FAs.

 

[PurpleInMEM]

I've never understood the Captain Stubing look for pilots anyway. Like the rest of commercial aviation, it's stuck in paradigms that may have been important decades ago, but have no real bearing on the operations of today's system.

You're an highly trained, experienced, professional equipment operator, pure and simple. Do nuclear reactor operators, air traffic controllers, or locomotive engineers wear military style epaulets and hats? Didn't think so.

The uniform (and hat in particular) is ridiculous and constitutes yet another unnecessary expense.

 

[J.Otto]

The uniform and hat were adopted by military tradition, if im not mistaken...

 

[krewmeel]

I think we would all do well to not worry about the archaic hat tradition. Instead how about we just iron a shirt and take the polyester into the cleaners once in a while. A decent pair of shoes and a good fitting uniform are more of a professional pride item in my book.....

ps, do we really have to listen to our ipod while walking through the terminal (usually accompanied by a North Face backpack) in uniform?

 

[waveflyer]

And maybe we can all get on the treadmill and start knocking out some situps and pullups-
you can put a hat on a pig....But....