Quasimoto Pilots

A

ATOflyer

Well-Known Member
So here I am sitting at the airport waiting for my flight and just some observations i've made. Is it just me or do pilots not care how they present themselves to the public? Many of the ones i've seen walking around the past 10 minutes have shirts the size king kong wears with the back of their shirt tails hanging out, disshoovelled hair, pants up to their chests (this is the worse), overweight, and hunchbacks like quasimoto. Maybe I am just a negative person but holy crap take care of yourselves!!...find a tailor, comb your hair, don't buy steve urkel pants, and fix your posture you don't live in a belltower. It just sucks seeing professional pilots looking so unkempt. I hope I don't look like that in 30years. Ok enough of my ranting. I'm just a lowly flight instructor. ;)
 
Actually, your point is well taken. From my observations, less than 50% wear their hats. Once the slide starts, it accelerates. I'm seeing guys who not only don't wear uniform coats, they wear North Face windshirts, fleece vests or just about any other non-uniform outerwear. And they're starting to shed their ties as well.

Its sad. I see Cargo guys (UPS, FedEx, DHL) that wear their uniforms with more pride and they're flying BOXES, for Godsake! Of course, considering the paycuts the passenger pilots have taken, the old saying, "You get what you pay for" appears to be true.

And the Regional kids are even worse. Backpacks, iPods, spikey hair, no hats, no ties seems to be the new uniform.

No wonder we can't get the public's support for increasing our wages.
 
Velocipede said:
Actually, your point is well taken. From my observations, less than 50% wear their hats. Once the slide starts, it accelerates. I'm seeing guys who not only don't wear uniform coats, they wear North Face windshirts, fleece vests or just about any other non-uniform outerwear. And they're starting to shed their ties as well.

Its sad. I see Cargo guys (UPS, FedEx, DHL) that wear their uniforms with more pride and they're flying BOXES, for Godsake! Of course, considering the paycuts the passenger pilots have taken, the old saying, "You get what you pay for" appears to be true.

And the Regional kids are even worse. Backpacks, iPods, spikey hair, no hats, no ties seems to be the new uniform.

No wonder we can't get the public's support for increasing our wages.
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SJS is prevelant to Generation "Me"
 
IAD is the worst as far as sloppy goes. I saw one guy chatting on his cell phone loudly at a United counter without a tie and his shirt hanging out. Im sure he could have been getting a ride but for crap sake man have some pride and respect for your profession. If I was the captain of that flight I would have told him to either tuck the shirt and clean up or find another ride. Anyway I have seen many pilots at IAD who need some lessons on proper dress codes for an airline pilot.
 
Velocipede said:
And the Regional kids are even worse. Backpacks, iPods, spikey hair, no hats, no ties seems to be the new uniform.
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I just made a quick mental check of my base and here's what I got...

Hats... are no longer required as per mainline. I'd say we were about 50/50 here and are down to maybe 25/75 of people that wear them. Now that we are switching to leather jackets (blah) and nothing screams TOOL like a hat/jacket combo, I would bet the number will come down even more.

Ipods... There are a few guys in OTHER bases that wear the ipod while walking around, but I can't think of anybody in base who wanders around with one. I listen to one on deadheads and I see a few guys sitting in the terminal listen, but not that many walking around with the earpieces in. Now, bluetooth earpieces are a whole other story.

Spikey hair... eh, it's out there. And yeah, it's mostly the young guys. But they've got to so something with it as they aren't old and crabby and bald.

Backpacks... The worst offenders here are the senior captains. I can only think of one FO who carries a backback (and it normally sits on the handle of his rolling bag). There are several captains that lug a back back around on their shoulder.
 
A pressed shirt, tie, and hat are not too much to ask for.

Maybe it's because I have a military background, and we actually took pride in our uniforms. Perhaps it's the fact that an increasing majority of civilian professional pilots lack any sort of military background and are use to wearing Abercrombie and Fitch and AE, and all the other usual young adult clothing brands that they don't know what or how to present themselves in a professional manner if it doesn't include a black or navy suit and dress shirt + tie.

Just an observation.
 
ATOflyer said:
So here I am sitting at the airport waiting for my flight and just some observations i've made. Is it just me or do pilots not care how they present themselves to the public? Many of the ones i've seen walking around the past 10 minutes have shirts the size king kong wears with the back of their shirt tails hanging out, disshoovelled hair, pants up to their chests (this is the worse), overweight, and hunchbacks like quasimoto. Maybe I am just a negative person but holy crap take care of yourselves!!...find a tailor, comb your hair, don't buy steve urkel pants, and fix your posture you don't live in a belltower. It just sucks seeing professional pilots looking so unkempt. I hope I don't look like that in 30years. Ok enough of my ranting. I'm just a lowly flight instructor. ;)
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Well since the pay has actually gone down in the past 30 years.... who would take pride in a 19000$ a year job.
 
Actually, the backpack is becoming the "badge" of the FFDO. Walk around DFW a bit and the gun nuts might as well scream "I've got my piece!"
 
surreal1221 said:
A pressed shirt, tie, and hat are not too much to ask for.

Maybe it's because I have a military background, and we actually took pride in our uniforms. Perhaps it's the fact that an increasing majority of civilian professional pilots lack any sort of military background and are use to wearing Abercrombie and Fitch and AE, and all the other usual young adult clothing brands that they don't know what or how to present themselves in a professional manner if it doesn't include a black or navy suit and dress shirt + tie.

Just an observation.
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i'm guilty of the "checking out when i saw my paycheck" syndrome. even though i knew what i was getting into when i got there. you just get beat down! and its not like anyone else except the newbies are trying to do things right.

shirt was always pressed though 12 hour days took care of that. wore the jacket when it was required and hat too. i had my shoes polished once a week (just about). my pants probably didn't make it to dry cleaning as much as they should have. but i definately did the mp3 player and i did it purposely so i wouldn't have to talk to passengers.

anyway. with a new company now and hopefully things are better and hopefully the better paycheck and the pic time will keep me acting right... don't expect too much from me. in the words of one of my favorite pilots, "you gotta understand you are looking at a broken man!"
 
"Its sad. I see Cargo guys (UPS, FedEx, DHL) that wear their uniforms with more pride and they're flying BOXES, for Godsake!"

Thanks for the kind word....I think....

You should see what I look like coming out of the hotel van after a 10 hour all nighter. It's hard to look "nice", and even harder to give a rip.
 
Dear Velocipede,

I'm not a regional pilot, but I guess I do fit two out of the three big stereotypes. I really don't see the big deal, but please feel free to "enlighten" me.

I carry a black North Face backpack, but I hook it to my overnight bag, not over my shoulder or on my back. What would you suggest I carry instead? My backpack is functional, its nondescript, and it's just the size I need. I don't have a need for a giant flight case, so I carry my CFM, FOM, headset, and laptop in it. I guess I could buy some kind of a duffel, but I don't see the difference.

I also have an old iPod that I listen to. Not while walking through the terminal, but definitely while waiting around and while riding in the back. I'm not about to apologize for enjoying music while traveling in uniform, especially when my employer has paid good money for my ticket on the back of your airplane.

I cut my hair with a #1 in the summer, #2 in the winter, so it's not "spiked." My uniform is clean and ironed, my shoes are shined, and I take care not to look like a slob. I do try to avoid traveling in uniform at all costs, but that isn't always possible.

I'm going to defend the iPod listening, spikey haired, backpack toting RJ pilots by suggesting that they draw much less attention to themselves than an old, crusty, overweight, sloppy excuse for a human being with a child molester mustache doing a halfass job at wearing a uniform.

In the end, it really doesn't matter... Joe Public probably thinks you're a skycap anyways. :cwm27:
 
JBUCREW said:
Well since the pay has actually gone down in the past 30 years.... who would take pride in a 19000$ a year job.
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My answer to you? ME!! I take pride in my profession. . .not how much I make.

Now, your analogy, please. If I enjoy what I do so much that I'd fly for nothing (peanuts), do I present myself as slovenly as well?

Just asking. . .

Here is perhaps a perception to some if you don't know. IMAGE! It's one of those perceptions passengers have and perceive when they look into the cockpit and see those individuals whose life is now in my hands. I aint concerned about how much money you're making; I'm concerned about how I perceive your capabilities are to fly the airplane.

Yea, walk onboard looking as if you just finished playing video games with my teenaged son; if the PIC isn't stellar, I'd be significantly concerned. . .to the point where afterwards, I'd write a letter. . .to someone.

If you look like a disgruntled employee, I'm taking that into consideration as well.

Call it life. . .call it reality. Don't be mad; just deal with it.
 
DE727UPS said:
You should see what I look like coming out of the hotel van after a 10 hour all nighter. It's hard to look "nice", and even harder to give a rip.
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Maybe, but virtually all the UPS/DHL/FedEx guys I've encountered commuting and/or at the hotels on their way to work look sharp.
 
I wash my uniform, because I can't afford to dry-clean it. It's not wrinkled, but it's also not pressed. I also have permanent stains on the back of most of my shirts where the Saab attacked me while I was crawling underneath putting gear pins in. I wear my hat, simply because it looks better than my hair after I take off my headset. I don't mind wearing the jacket and always do during the winter. My shoes are shined but pretty beat up. I can't really afford new ones on a 19,000 dollar salary.

If our company cared about how our uniforms looked they would give us a Dry Clean/Uniform budget. Our F/A's get one but we don't. I do the best I can but I buy things like food and pay my mortgage before I buy new uniforms.
 
JBUCREW said:
Well since the pay has actually gone down in the past 30 years.... who would take pride in a 19000$ a year job.
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"Dress for the job you want", even if it's just a better flying job.

As an Ensign in the Navy, I made $30,000 a year. I still took as much pride in my uniform, and my job, as LTs, CDRs, CAPTs, etc.

You're professional or you aren't.

Now dismounting from my high horse.
 
Fins Up said:
You're professional or you aren't.
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:yeahthat:

Bingo! We're still supposed to be professionals so we should look AND act the part!! No, having a backpack strapped to your rollaboard or listening to an ipod when sitting in the back of a plane or off in a terminal is not unprofessional. Walking around with an untucked shirt that looks like you just pulled it out of the bottom of a laundry bag that sat for 10 years in back of a Vanagon IS unprofessional.

Yeah, maybe it is a pain having to listen to passengers who may have a question or comment can be a pain, but it's part of our job. We are customer service. Remember how your parents always told you not to "sink to their level" in a problem or situation? That's what using the what do you expect for a $19K salary excuse is. I take pride in my job and I take pride in my uniform. I wear the coat, I wear the hat, I try to keep my shoes looking good and shined. These sorts of things may or may not be required anymore depending on who you work for, but it's the right thing to do. You want the job, the responsibility, and what's left of the pay and "luxury" then at least look like you deserve it!!
 
Well, after a 14 hour duty day, that shirt that started out nicely pressed isn't looking so good. Not much I can do about that. If I'm LUCKY, I'm not on an 8 hour overnight, so I don't have to give up 5-10 minutes of sleep to press another shirt in the morning. If I AM on a RR overnight, you'll just have to deal with the steam from the shower getting the wrinkles out. If it's between me getting 10 minutes more sleep (which MAY bring my total to 5 or 6) and ironing a shirt.....well, sleep is gonna win.

As for the hat....if we had a decent looking hat, I might wear it. As it is, it looks like a skateboard ramp sitting on your head. I do agree that the leather jacket/hat combo is "toolish." We've got a guy here that wears that and leather gloves. Might as well be on the back of a Panzer tank. I like the leather jacket for one reason: functionality. I don't have to pack another jacket for those northern overnights since I can just pop the epaulets off and walk out the door. Plus, on DHs, I can cram that sucker in an overhead bin and not worry about it getting wrinkled like my blazer.

Now, I will say we have a ton of guys here that seem like they really don't care what they look like. There's a couple of senior CAs that will show up to the gate sans tie and epaulets.
 
jynxyjoe said:
anyway. with a new company now and hopefully things are better and hopefully the better paycheck and the pic time will keep me acting right... don't expect too much from me. in the words of one of my favorite pilots, "you gotta understand you are looking at a broken man!"
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Look at you cleaning up now that you're on a Saab! You can't be looking all neat and clean when flying a 1900, that's just weird. Haha just messin.

I take care of my uniform and dress appropriately, and I do agree there are some out there who look a little beaten up!
 
Snuggle said:
Look at you cleaning up now that you're on a Saab! You can't be looking all neat and clean when flying a 1900, that's just weird. Haha just messin.

I take care of my uniform and dress appropriately, and I do agree there are some out there who look a little beaten up!
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ur right on both counts. and it is funny!

As far as your professionalism goes, it blew the doors off mine. working 3 month of 119 hours block to block over the summer ended my glossy exterior. although god bless beech for putting that Ford VCM in there.

the 1900 guys coulda wore holey jack daniels tshirts and bahama shorts and the passengers wouldn't have noticed because they are too scared of the plane and the ones that would were regulars on the eas runs who loved us.
 
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