Boomer

Since he suggested the color pink, a more appropriate misspelling would be:

"Born Too Loose"

PA31

I've got one buddy at SKYW who has full sleeve tattoos. He has to wear the long sleeve pilot shirts and until recently was based in PSP...I'm pretty sure it sucks wearing long sleeve shirts in Palm springs.

Phantom Flyer

I would give some serious thought to getting any tatoo that in any way is visible with a uniform on. First of all, you probably won't get hired if HR folks see one as this is a white collar profession and secondly, as several have mentioned, it gets awfully hot in the South in the summer in a long sleeve shirt.

If you insist on getting one, keep it private and not in any way visible.

Just my thoughts and I did pilot interviews for several years.

G'Day Mate

Ghormeh Sabzi

I'm kinda of on same boat, i have been wanting to get tattoo for awhile now but the only thing holding me back is because of the airlines. anyways i guess instead of getting something on my forearm i'll get it on my chest of like back. even though it'll look so much better on the forearm.

Lori Clark

Folks - it isn't the HR person that has a problem with tats. I know HR people are usually stiffs, but seriously, they aren't the problem - it's the flying public. The HR or pilot interviewer frowns on visible tattoos because the general public may get the wrong impression. We want to instill confidence and professionalism, hence the covering policies. I don't know of an airline that doesn't have the covering policy - and also that really gives a hoot if you have a tat or not....as long as the public doesn't see it.

Personally, when I would discover an applicant had a tattoo I was fascinated and curious. I'm too chicken to get one myself (don't like pain, thank you) but always wanted to see it, and yes, it became a topic of conversation. Never did it have anything to do with the applicant's skill level or competitiveness (unless it was visible and unable to be covered.)

Get the tat! Just make sure it can be covered or hidden when you're at work.

CommutR4Life

What's up with all the "white collar" talk; %85 of us get paid like you know what.....

OldSF3Dude

I've done over 20 years of combined military and airline work. I have 6 tattoos some of which is visible on my fore-arm when I wear short sleeve shirts. My thoughts--

If you are going to do it put a lot of thought into it and get something artistic/tastefull. Get a good artist to do it, spend the money, get something on the large side. Don't let the fear of it being noticed stifle the scope of the work.

Be prepared to take some crap about it. That's part of having a tattoo. It's suppossed to make you unique (unless you get a back stamp or something generic like that). You'll find that many people over 50 years old are going to be offended by it. If you can't handle sticking out from the crowd then don't get one that anybody is going to see.

Personally I've had no regrets about getting my tatts. I liked them when I got them and I still like them. They're special and have meaning to me. They're well done.

I've ever only gotten positive comments from passengers about my tattoos. All have been under 30 or 40 years old, however. I've only ever had one person in management ever express disapproval about them. I've never worked at an airline that expressly forbid them, however.

I've found that a good number of pilots have tattoos that are visible in short sleeved shirts. Most come from the military. Most of them do a good job of hiding them when outside of the **** pit. I don't go out of my way to show them in public either. I don't wear long sleeved shirts in the summer, but when I walk through the terminal I wear my suit jacket. If you see a pilot in summer walking the terminal in his blazer there's a good chance he's wearing a short sleeved shirt on underneath and doesn't want the public to see his tatts!

Grumble

FYI, don't know about other branches of service but the Navy now restricts visible tatoo's. If you had one before the change you're grandfathered in. If you apply with one, you need a waiver. If you want a new one it takes an approval process I know nothing about.

I know for a fact we admin seperated a kid in my last command for going out and getting a new sleeve, knowing full well the policy was in effect.

Not in anyway anti tat, I have one myself, but as others have said it's all about what the customer thinks when they see you up front.

HoursHore

Tear drops and neck ink scream "Employ me"

Joe Smith

I thought most airlines require short sleeves when the jacket is off ... ?