Earbuds in sight of pax?

Cal Goat said:
I honestly don't wear my earbuds inside of security unless I'm commuting (on the airplane) or I'm in the snooze room. And I agree that they're low on a long list of uniform discrepancies I see every day. Like, yo, you might want to use bleach when you wash your white uniform shirt is a common one. Off-white is just noticeable enough to look like absolute poop.
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Or:
  • This is how you iron a shirt.
  • Bring more than one shirt for a 4-day trip (PUHLEEZE, especially in the summer)
  • Tuck it in.
  • Your tie. Dry clean it.
  • Your shoes. Polish them once every year or so.
(etc.)
 
tonyw said:
Then don't say you're doing it so that the passengers will book your airline again.

You are skilled and well trained employees, but to the passengers, you're the reason that their tickets are "so expensive."

Besides, even if they think you walk on water, they'll dump you the second another airline wants $2 less for their ticket to Podunk.
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Feel how you will, but if it's corporate policy to "wear the uniform", when you get called in for not doing so, I can't use the "Well, a passenger on the internet said they don't care so I disregarded corporate policy".

Dad always said that if you're going to get unpaid time off, at least have a good story to tell at the bar.
 
tonyw said:
Then don't say you're doing it so that the passengers will book your airline again.

You are skilled and well trained employees, but to the passengers, you're the reason that their tickets are "so expensive."

Besides, even if they think you walk on water, they'll dump you the second another airline wants $2 less for their ticket to Podunk.
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You're confused sir, I've said no such thing.
 
Derg said:
I don't mind answering legit questions. Oh sure I get annoyed like everyone else but I'd rather use a patience point and get their question answered rather than another company employee turn their nose up and give a bad experience.

On average, every five or so times I go "above and beyond" in helping a passenger, at least one will write a letter.

Good letters means "points" and I can actually exchange those for cash and prizes. Plus, when (and if) you go to the "Big Brown Desk" at HQ with the chief pilot and the FAA, those attaboys come in tremendously handy and make a difference.

I might roll my eyes at the people that can't fathom that the gates are in numerical order, but I'm still going to help.

If I'm on the clock (or on an active rotation), I'm in uniform. If I'm off the clock, I'm generally hiding out or at least in civilian clothes.

People don't bother me. I consider myself in the customer service business as well.
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On a side note, I've written over a dozen letters in the last five years or so regarding (positive) things I've witnessed pilots do in airports.

It's good to know that some way, some how - that eventually reaches the person involved.
 
Derg said:
Well if you want to be a career regional pilot, sure but I think if you've got higher aspirations, start practicing. I know the key phrase that my employer likes is "engagement of high value customers".

Love it or hate it, that's what they demand and there are a lot of operations that don't require that level of engagement.

Whenever anyone asks me for a letter of recommendation, I do think about their conduct online, how they handle conflict resolution and if they take the angle that low pay means low expectations.

If a person I helped get a job is romping around in the terminal, no tie, earbuds in his ears with the "probationary pay, probationary performance" it reflects poorly on me and also reflects poorly on the next person I'm trying to help secure employment.

You can fly jets at a lot of places, but if I put my name on an applicant at my employer or anywhere else, I expect more. If I say you're an exceptional candidate when you're looking for a job, ten years into it, I expect you to be an exceptional employee wherever you go.

Or don't ask.
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What about pants?
 
GypsyPilot said:
Quite honestly Tony, it doesn't matter what you think. What matters is what I think, my pride in myself, and my appearance. If I look like garbage, or like a teeny bopper, that attitude will project in many ways.

I also want to look like I have my act together in front of the mainline pilots. We recently had a United jumpseater (a soon to retire old school 747 CA) on my leg, and at the end of the flight he complimented us on how professional my captain and I were, how well we worked together, and how he was really impressed with SkyWest. That was badass, and made my day... Nothing is more embarrassing to me than guys at the regionals who clearly don't give a crap, and show up looking to put in minimum effort and have a bad attitude.
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Bonus points for when you're flying with a slacker who hasn't called for a checklist all trip, but suddenly becomes Mr. Standard with a jumpseater looking over his shoulder.

"Did you say before start check? Ok...it's just that I've never heard you say those words before."

Fly that way all the time and it gets really easy. You don't have to put on a show with someone observing or when you're on a check ride.

I know I'm preaching to the choir, just seemed like a good place for a rant.
 
I heard somewhere "Don't dress for the job you have, dress for the job you want." I always try to keep that in mind. I might fly em 76 at a time now, but hopefully it'll be 300 at a time, across oceans (can dream right?) someday.
So my uniform is clean, fits, and includes a hat and jacket; all while trying to not be "that guy" with too much of a hard on for the uniform. Fine line.
Everyone has an opinion on the little things: earbuds? North Face on a long sit? I try to think of these things from different angles and play it conservative.
With that said, I'm currently on ready reserve in jeans, a t-shirt, and baseball hat...someone would probably have a problem with that, but I figure since I am actually capable of changing in less than 5, than s'all good!
 
Autothrust Blue said:
Or:
  • This is how you iron a shirt.
  • Bring more than one shirt for a 4-day trip (PUHLEEZE, especially in the summer)
  • Tuck it in.
  • Your tie. Dry clean it.
  • Your shoes. Polish them once every year or so.
(etc.)
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I agree with you and the points made, but here's where the wage thing comes into play. Dry cleaning isn't that expensive, but it's an expense. It's a lot easier to "absorb" the cost to dry cleaning at 40k a year vs 25k or less, all other things being equal. Same with buying more pairs of pants (uniform kind, not the "close enough" kind). There's also the cost of alterations for said pants if you don't know someone who does it. Again, it's a small price to pay for looking professional, but it's still an expense, tax deductible or not.
 
The only time I wear ear buds would be at the gym or seated for a long period of time. Even in plain clothes I don't like the lack of overall awareness when I'm walking around with ear buds in at a busy place such as an airport. I just want to be in tune with what is going on around me.
 
GypsyPilot said:
Quite honestly Tony, it doesn't matter what you think. What matters is what I think, my pride in myself, and my appearance. If I look like garbage, or like a teeny bopper, that attitude will project in many ways.

I also want to look like I have my act together in front of the mainline pilots. We recently had a United jumpseater (a soon to retire old school 747 CA) on my leg, and at the end of the flight he complimented us on how professional my captain and I were, how well we worked together, and how he was really impressed with SkyWest. That was badass, and made my day... Nothing is more embarrassing to me than guys at the regionals who clearly don't give a crap, and show up looking to put in minimum effort and have a bad attitude.
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There's a reason you see a lot of ex-military guys flying 91 and diplomatic gigs despite the fact that there are younger, cheaper, and more qualified pilots from the private sector, they look and act the part. Appearance is the easy part to nail. Why mess that up?
 
Max Power said:
I agree with you and the points made, but here's where the wage thing comes into play. Dry cleaning isn't that expensive, but it's an expense. It's a lot easier to "absorb" the cost to dry cleaning at 40k a year vs 25k or less, all other things being equal. Same with buying more pairs of pants (uniform kind, not the "close enough" kind). There's also the cost of alterations for said pants if you don't know someone who does it. Again, it's a small price to pay for looking professional, but it's still an expense, tax deductible or not.
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Eh... $2.50 every month shouldn't break your bank.
 
wheelsup said:
You have it all wrong. That's called the "vintage look" and it's in vouge with the hipster generation.

Actually, I had a flight case once held together with 2 rolls of Chinese duct tape and some Airtran baggage tape. I did it out on a trip out of need and it got to the point where it was actually incredibly solid. I hope I find the picture I took one day of it. I used it for a couple months till I upgraded and bought a nice one.
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Vintage. I like that, gonna have to use that somewhere.
 
Screaming_Emu said:
"Did you say before start check? Ok...it's just that I've never heard you say those words before."
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Wow, you actually wait to call them out like that until there's a jumpseater on board? What do you do prior to that leg? Just curious.

I never came across "the guy" that never runs a checklist. I did fly with the definition of: "I like to run things standard, and oh yeah, I'm real laid back.", followed by not knowing wtf this dude was doing the entire 2 legs we flew together.

Earbuds in the terminal around pax. Big no go. Seriously, it's a bad joke.
 
JLF said:
Wow, you actually wait to call them out like that until there's a jumpseater on board? What do you do prior to that leg? Just curious.

I never came across "the guy" that never runs a checklist. I did fly with the definition of: "I like to run things standard, and oh yeah, I'm real laid back.", followed by not knowing wtf this dude was doing the entire 2 legs we flew together.

Earbuds in the terminal around pax. Big no go. Seriously, it's a bad joke.
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"FMS/ACARS..."

I always make sure stuff gets done, even if its not called for. But its supposed to be called for. If they're not gonna call for it, I'm gonna run it when it becomes obviously that the other guy isn't going to.

And for clarification, the first couple times it starts with "hey, you want a before start?" Sometimes people just forget...but when it becomes clear that he doesn't give a crap, somebody's gotta make sure stuff gets done.
 
wheelsup said:
I got a customer service letter for unloading bags when no rampers were around. Because of it I got an "employee of the month" award that got me top parking in domicile without need to take a bus to/from the lot for a month, and more importantly, a resume bullet point item :).
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Once upon a time when my husband flew for a regional, he had the same thing happen. He took the bags off and drove them to the terminal so they could make connecting flights. He didn't get any recognition from the company; probably would have been fired for doing the work of a ramper. But there was a passenger on board who did leadership training and writes books. He used this in his training and my husband is mentioned as an example of a good leader in his book.
 
tonyw said:
Don't flame me for this, but I think you guys are making a huge assumption here.

First, you're assuming that the average passenger even notices when you walk by them. The average passenger is too busy trying to get to their gate to see others in the airport as anything other than moving pylons to get around in their quest to get where they need to go. On top of that, if they have rugrats, they're busy trying to keep their rugrats under control.

Second, if they do notice, you're assuming that they
  • Don't have earbuds in all the time themselves
  • Think it's unprofessional to do so
By all means, if they tap you on the shoulder and ask you a question, answer it even if the answer is "I don't know."

But from one paying passenger's perspective, I'd say relax about the earbuds.
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That may be your attitude, but it's not the attitude of a large number of passengers. I've represented pilots in meetings with management after a passenger wrote in a complaint about a "professionalism" or "appearances" issue. While the businessman who's just in a hurry to get to his next gate may not be paying attention, the older guy wearing the hat with the name of his WWII battleship on it who's at the airport a leisurely 2 hours early to catch his flight to Florida might be.

Besides, as someone else said, it's a matter of personal pride and self respect. Even if someone else isn't going to care, we should care.
 
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