Am I the only one who absolutely hates pilot uniforms?

Wow...talk about people getting spun up. I think those that WILL wear a uniform should be tickled that the OP won't take a job because of it. One less guy to compete with, so rejoice and stop hating! :)

I personally like my uniform (AF flight suit)...no pressing, no fuss, like wearing PJs to work...and the chics dig it!!! ;)
 
GalaxyIFE said:
I personally like my uniform (AF flight suit)...no pressing, no fuss, like wearing PJs to work...and the chics dig it!!! ;)
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Then you have those that DO press them.......and wear a scarf to boot! Grrr

My only complaint is that the green bags bake you in the heat.....at bases in AZ in the desert, where one should be able to wear a tan bag. At least my other job lets me.
 
Mark me down as one of those who actually would be disappointed that a job didn't require a uniform. I'm strange, and I admit that. :cwm27:

I guess that feeling comes from wearing some sort of uniform since high school. First it was ROTC. Then there was those years in college working as a Corrections Officer. Throw in an office job that required shirt and tie and my work with Civil Air Patrol, and "monkey suits" of one flavor or another is such a non-issue that I sort of feel out of place not wearing one. Unless it's my day off. Then I don't even shave.
 
nbv4 said:
I've been unemployed for the past 4 months, and am utterly desperate to get a job. Well just a few hours ago I was offered a job, but the odd thing is that I'm debating not taking it because they make their pilots wear those damn monkey suits. The last two jobs I had (CFI, and cargo pilot) both made me wear those <edited> epaulets and black tie. Six months or so into my instructing tenure I actually found a way to get away with flying in regular clothes, and it is just made flying so much more enjoyable. The same when I was flying cargo, After a few months I just stopped wearing my uniform and it is like a night and day difference. Honestly, had I known the cargo job I had was going to make me wear a uniform, I wouldn't have even taken it. I think it has something to do with the fact that I sweat a lot, which is what makes the monkey suit so uncomfortable. Anyone feel me?
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Don't see why you are complaining about it. Seems to me that in both of your previous jobs where you had to wear a uniform, you seemed to ignore policy and "get away" with flying in regular clothes. Some professionalism you are showing there.

From experience. I have flown cargo in both a uniform and my own clothes. I ruined more of my own shirts and jeans that I couldn't easily replace than I did uniforms. Trust me, it is a lot easier on the wallet wearing uniforms. Black pants hide more dirt, grime, and stains than khakis... stains on white shirts are easily cleaned with bleach... and a tie, I mean come on... either buy a clip on that you can take off in cruise, or learn to tie one properly and not let it bother you.

But then again, if all you are going to do is complain and eventually not wear it, why not just stay unemployed and let the pilots who need a job and who are willing to wear the uniform have the job.
 
OK, YGBSM.

As someone else said, I'd wear a pink bunny suit if that's what the Company wanted.

You don't want to wear a uniform, don't take the job. There are plenty of other pilots EAGER to fill your shoes.

HOWEVER...

If you do take the job wear your uniform correctly. It chaps me no end to see the guys who won't wear the hat, wear non-standard jackets, remove their tie in the terminal, wear their Ipods, etc. etc.

As others have said, you want to be treated as a professional, look and act like one. And, I'm talking primarily about management here. YOU make it really hard for the Union to negotiate for professional pay rates and work rules when you slob around the job.

On top of that if you can't adhere to a simple uniform reg, how much confidence does the average traveller have that you're ahereing to FARs? WE know that there's usually no linkage between the two, but THEY don't know that.

Like it or not, the Delta pilot group has an image of professionalism due mostly to the fact that their management INSISTS on uniform compliance and penalizes pilots found out of compliance.
 
Airdale said:
Thats why every kid should serve in the military when they turn 18. Teach you a thing or two about your appearance and professionalism. I spend 1 hour pressing my uniform, polishing my shoes and metal. I treat my airline uniform just as I do my Coast Guard one. When I go to work, I look sharp. It looks like I put time into making my uniform look sharp. I take pride in that. When your Captain comments on how your shirt is sharper than his, you've done good.


Bitching about wearing a uniform is the most absurd thing I've read on here yet. Maybe someday you can run your own company and let everyone dress like a bunch of village people. But I doubt that. Nothing ticks me off more than seeing Airline pilots walking through the terminal looking like slobs. Then we all wonder why the public has no respect for us anymore. If every pilot had a uniform as sharp as a Marine's, I'd bet people would start to change their opinion.
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Great post! I agree with the whole military view. However, unfortunately, all the services are turning over to wash and wear uniforms. And those suede camel color boots. So no one irons any more, and no one shines their boots. The exception to the rule are the firefighters, who havent switched over to the ABUs yet.

NBV4,

Your post and complaint is ridiculous, and I honestly think the sole purpose of this post was not really to bitch about wearing a pilot uniform that 99% of pilots wear, but to brag about A) your job offer and B) your great financial position to as where you have the ability to turn down a job

This economy sucks, but i am not a big fan of the "even in this economy" argument for this thread. Even if every airline/corp flight dept/fractional/etc.. in the world was hiring, this is still a pathetic reason to not take a job. If you want to fly but only wear polo shirts and khakis, you are out of luck there too, because SWA isnt hiring flight attendants at this time.
 
Ian J said:
Just passed one of those guys on the road the other day. He was a middle aged man. And even though I didn't know him or his story, I found myself very impressed with him. He's out there earning a paycheck doing a job nobody wants to do. He's doing what he needs to survive. He's not just sitting on his butt thinking he's too good to take that sort of job.

To the OP - I suppose you are in a financial position that allows you to remain unemployed by choice? If so, fine, but I'd hope we'd all suck up the proverbial Statue of Liberty costume if we had to.
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Dude, I think you just found my part-time job! That's awesome- thanks man.
:)
 
MikeD said:
Then you have those that DO press them.......and wear a scarf to boot! Grrr

My only complaint is that the green bags bake you in the heat.....at bases in AZ in the desert, where one should be able to wear a tan bag. At least my other job lets me.
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Oh the scarf...rrrrr. My last couple of years at Dover we were told we HAD to wear them (in the office anyway). Somehow, I always forgot and left mine at the house.

I am glad I get to wear a bag and don't have to wear the new "Boysenberry" ABUs with matching boots! So GAY!!!! Speaking of AF uniforms, they are going to change the service dress AGAIN!!! I think this is the 4th time in 15 years..:mad:

blee256 said:
Great post! I agree with the whole military view. However, unfortunately, all the services are turning over to wash and wear uniforms. And those suede camel color boots. So no one irons any more, and no one shines their boots. The exception to the rule are the firefighters, who havent switched over to the ABUs yet.
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It's not the firefighters per se, it AF wide. Mandatory wear date is October 2011.
 
GalaxyIFE said:
It's not the firefighters per se, it AF wide. Mandatory wear date is October 2011.
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When you deploy you are given ABUs. No one is wearing BDUs in the AOR. however the firefighters wear the DCUs. but its only until the ABUs come out with a 100% cotton version.

So yeah I didnt mean to say the firedawgs arent ever switching to the ABUs. Just wanted to say they are the last of the breed to be ironing their uniforms. then poof, Faultless brand Starch just might as well close up shop. haha
 
Cessna414JJB said:
Flight Instructors in uniforms always scare the living poop out of me.
But, so do academies who have their students wear "professional attire"
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:yeahthat:

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If it is going to negatively affect you in such a way, I can see not taking the job.

Airdale and the OP are the bookends to this spectrum of professional flying.
No, this is not ridiculous, different people have different interests and opinions of what is and what isn't good looking.
 
GalaxyIFE said:
Oh the scarf...rrrrr. My last couple of years at Dover we were told we HAD to wear them (in the office anyway). Somehow, I always forgot and left mine at the house.
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Dover had a tool for an OG there....might still be the current one in office, so no surpirse with that, lol.

I am glad I get to wear a bag and don't have to wear the new "Boysenberry" ABUs with matching boots! So GAY!!!! Speaking of AF uniforms, they are going to change the service dress AGAIN!!! I think this is the 4th time in 15 years..:mad:
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I still have my "Major Nelson" Class As, with the 4 pockets, just waiting until we go back to it. Have the current ones too, but never wear them. Glad to see though that the new CSAFs first deal when getting in office was "blues Monday". Good to know everything else in the AF is taken care of. AAFES sales of uniform irems must've been low. The ABUs......first, there was nothing wrong with the BDUs, or the DCUs for that matter. Hell, I still have my choclate chip deserts leftover from before. If the AF HAD to get a new utility uniform, why not just adopt the Army one? Waste of $$$ and a big identity problem = USAF standard. Reason #155 I left AD.

Just wait until we get ABU/boysenberry flightsuits.......with scarf!
 
Ok but seriously, I hated the uniform. I mean I've got a ton of the things hanging in my closet right now, but I can't stand wearing a collared shirt and tie. It's just not who I am, personally. If I could get away with it, I'd wear a t-shirt and super baggy jeans around all the time with a bunch of piercings and tattoo's.

Now, that being said, it's not realistic to hold out for that job flying around Marylin Manson. The uniform is part of the game, and as much as I didn't like wearing it, I didn't look like a slob when I wore it. The same goes for my current employer. They tell me how to dress, and I do what they tell me to do because I like paying rent; not because I like how they tell me how to dress.

Oh and you've got NOTHING on this, BTW. One of my jobs required me to wear a full uniform. Pilots shirt, four stripes, tie, ID, a pair of Dickies (the only consolation) and dress boots. The only problem was that I was in the training department, so whenever me and the other guys from the office went out to lunch we looked like a bunch of out of place cruise ship captains eating cheap Chinese food. At least when you're actually FLYING an airplane you look the part; I had to wear the thing in the back of an FTD, while teaching ground and while flying the airplane.
 
I love my pilot uniform but find it a little depressing when I walk into Walmart wearing it and have 3 or 4 people ask me for help as if I worked there.
 
BillH said:
I love my pilot uniform but find it a little depressing when I walk into Walmart wearing it and have 3 or 4 people ask me for help as if I worked there.
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For a minute there, I thought you were referring to one of the new USAF uniforms....
 

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Personally I love uniforms. Whenever I put it one, I take pride it what I do.:)

Of course my main uniform has been a polo shirt and black Carhartts. I think I went through a few shirts last summer because of blown injector lines, and smelling of diesel.:bandit: Oh, and they get covered in grease too.:)
 
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