Gold stripe observation

S

Screaming_Emu

Well-Known Member
Previously my airline had silver stripes. When we would be in Chicago (which is a lot) we'd come across a lot of Skywest crews. I always wave, nod, or say hi to any flight crew members that I see. Most choose to acknowledge my existence. However, for the most part, I appeared invisible to most (but not all) of the Skywest crews.

So now we have gold stripes. Now my wave results in a half wave that turns into them trying to fix their spikey hair when they realize I'm part of surejet east.

Just an amusing observation I thought I'd share.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
You guys have gold stripes now? When did that happen?
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Well...not everybody does yet. The idea was there is more Expressjetters so going with gold stripes would mean we'd have to buy less. The story I heard is that the company ordered the wrong kind of gold from crew outfitters, tried to change it but were told to get bent. So now they have to get stripes for everybody.

Right now we are transitioning. We had to send our blazers in to be restriped (right when it started getting cold) but not everyone has gotten theirs yet. Our wings are still silver and they claim the gold ones will be arriving sometime in the first quarter...which really means next fall.
 
Roger. I don't see you guys very often now that you don't take the same elevator down to ops with us. Didn't realize there was a change. It's kind of weird seeing an ExpressJet plane taxi by using the Acey call sign, though. :)
 
ATN_Pilot said:
Roger. I don't see you guys very often now that you don't take the same elevator down to ops with us. Didn't realize there was a change. It's kind of weird seeing an ExpressJet plane taxi by using the Acey call sign, though. :)
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Yeah, its strange going into ORD and hearing Acey so much. I kind of liked when our IAD base just opened up. Up in the northeast we were very likely to be the only Acey callsign in the area which made it easier to listen up. Now, not so much.
 
At least you match your avatar now.

Also I know how yoh feel, it's company policy to not say hi to anyone.
 
skyw82 said:
At least you match your avatar now.

Also I know how yoh feel, it's company policy to not say hi to anyone.
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Being friendly isn't cool anymore. It's too bad.

As a regional crew too it's less of a "hey, how's it hangin" but more of an unspoken eye roll like "I know...my day is all kind of messed up too."

PS. And unfortunately there are only 3 stripes on my uniform :-( I asked them to put stripes all the way up the arms on my blazer but they said no. :-(
 
You guys don't do the opposite-direction on the moving sidewalk "head nod"? :)
 
Were you that guy who flashed me "The Shocker" in the ATL B to C tunnel?
 
In all honesty, I've always thought silver stripes just look classier. The G in gold equals Gaudy.
 
Screaming_Emu said:
Being friendly isn't cool anymore. It's too bad.

As a regional crew too it's less of a "hey, how's it hangin" but more of an unspoken eye roll like "I know...my day is all kind of messed up too."

PS. And unfortunately there are only 3 stripes on my uniform :-( I asked them to put stripes all the way up the arms on my blazer but they said no. :-(
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Not that being unfriendly is acceptable...but whenever a company (even if its the same "umbrella") moves in to someone else's "territory" somewhere, it's the same response. Just like Skywest got in ATL and ORD, and Expressjet is probably getting in DEN and Mesaba got in SLC. You notice the tools and usually forget the nice ones.
 
zmiller4 said:
Not that being unfriendly is acceptable...but whenever a company (even if its the same "umbrella") moves in to someone else's "territory" somewhere, it's the same response. Just like Skywest got in ATL and ORD, and Expressjet is probably getting in DEN and Mesaba got in SLC. You notice the tools and usually forget the nice ones.
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Meh, that's a pretty lame way of looking at it. We're all in this crappy industry together. Its not like our pilot group decided "hah...you know what would really piss the skywest guys off?"
 
Screaming_Emu said:
Meh, that's a pretty lame way of looking at it. We're all in this crappy industry together. Its not like our pilot group decided "hah...you know what would really piss the skywest guys off?"
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I'll tread lightly, since I'm not an airline pilot and likely don't know what I'm talking about...

But I never got the whole "THEY TOOK OUR FLYING, LET'S FLIP THEM OFF WHEN THEY TAXI BY" mentality. I suppose I can see some hostility in a situation like GoJet (uh oh, here we go....jet) where the company was actually created to undercut someone else, but is it really fair to vent on say Chautaqua guys in ORD that might be flying routes that used to belong to Eagle? Wouldn't the anger be better redirected at management as opposed to the pilots going where their company sends them? More of a question than a statement I suppose.
 
JordanD said:
I'll tread lightly, since I'm not an airline pilot and likely don't know what I'm talking about...

But I never got the whole "THEY TOOK OUR FLYING, LET'S FLIP THEM OFF WHEN THEY TAXI BY" mentality. I suppose I can see some hostility in a situation like GoJet (uh oh, here we go....jet) where the company was actually created to undercut someone else, but is it really fair to vent on say Chautaqua guys in ORD that might be flying routes that used to belong to Eagle? Wouldn't the anger be better redirected at management as opposed to the pilots going where their company sends them? More of a question than a statement I suppose.
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That's exactly how I view this whole XJT/ASA merger thing. Its not the other sides fault, so all we can do is work together to milk it for all its worth.

As an aside, as long as Inc. decides to operate us and Skywest separately, "not being cost competitive" is not a good enough excuse to me as to why we are shrinking.
 
At least you guys get a head nod. I get the "Who the heck are YOU with?" badge stare. :)
 
Screaming_Emu said:
Meh, that's a pretty lame way of looking at it. We're all in this crappy industry together. Its not like our pilot group decided "hah...you know what would really piss the skywest guys off?"
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Of course not. Just like the Mesaba pilot group didn't decide to move into SLC, and Skywest pilots didn't decide to move into ATL or IAH, but both got the evil stare anyway. I think it's human nature, and I never took it personally. I tried to be as respectful as possible wherever I went, but I didn't bear any ill will towards the ASA crews that glared at me in SLC in 2006.

Side note: I'm kind of surprised that I'm being defensive for a pilot group I'm no longer a part of. The ORD crews were overall awesome, though.
 
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