Originally Posted by JohnBurke

You've got children talking about wearing kneeboards, as if they're still student pilots, and who can't be bothered to own or use a simple tool of the trade that every pilot should be supplying himself; a headset.

An employer may put headsets in the airplane, and in rare circumstances, hard wire them in to ensure that the headsets aren't removed, and that only those headsets get used.

We are in a time when the FAA has waived oxygen mask requirements to preclude the necessity of crew infecting one another. Having one's own headset, with one's own mic and mic muff and ear seals and headband, is not only prudent, but responsible. To fail to bring one's own headset is laziness.

Perhaps it's time to put on the big boy pants.