Re: Aviations Ugly Secret -Racial, religious & sexual discriminat
To play devil's advocate on the piercings issue, two things come to mind:
1st - being a pilot puts you in a glass bowl, under the scrutiny of the flying public. Like it or not, facial piercings are not viewed favorably by most of the general public and project a negative image that I can totally understand any airline not wanting to project. If you want to wear them on your own time, fine, but not in uniform. It hurts the image of the airline to a large segment of the general public. And like it or not, that's where the money for your paycheck comes from. This is no different than any of the sales jobs that I've had which didn't allow hair below the collar, facial hair, visible tattoos, or facial piercings. Its not because management thinks poorly of you for having them, its because a customer might, thereby lowering the customer's opinion of the company. Noone, on the other hand, is offended if you're clean cut with short hair.
2nd point, every person I've ever been in contact with that had facial piercings shared the same desire to be unique, different, an individual (ironic to me that they conform to the same method to do so thereby forming their own conformist subgroup, but I digress). This desire and personality type also shares a decided disdain for authority, which is expressed in their outward sign of going against the grain. This anti-authority attitude is one that is expressly designated as potentially dangerous by the FAA. Further, it is often feared by those in HR that such individuals will be difficult to work with, letting their anti-establishment attitude cause them to challenge every decision made by management and their direct superiors.
Please note, while I do not agree with all of these assumptions, that is the perception that you are portraying to a large portion of the public with your facial piercings. You can argue why these perceptions are incorrect and may or may not be right, but that won't change the perceptions. So if you insist on wearing the piercings to an interview or to work after the interview, be prepared for some to view you that way. You're not a victim, you've made the decision to move forward knowing full well the consequences.
Personally, I don't understand the need for them. I don't need a piece of metal in my eyebrow to be unique/intelligent/different. Just as has been said that piercings don't make you evil, etc, I say they don't make you anything. Being unique comes from within and doesn't require some metal badge of honor through your lip or eyebrow. All that metal says is, "I don't care what other people think about me." And if that's really how you feel, then don't cry victim when someone who wants people who DO care about the opinions of others as employees, chooses not to hire you because of the metal statement protruding from your face.
That's my opinion. And you know what they say about opinions, they're like butts, everybody's got 'em, and some of 'em stink!
Peace,
Heath
Yeah, he'll take care of you. Get rid of that flight instructor, he can't take care of you... you need an OLD man. You know... I had this girl in New Orleans that a friend hooked me up with, hell I never even knew her name! She was nice... always met me at the airport when I was there... Yeah... get yourself an OLD man!" 
