I think it is especially important for crew cohesiveness to coordinate undergarments. I think the female captains need to make sure and contact their FO's to make sure they are wearing bras.

I can personally attest to the comment from BM saying the captain should email the crew which jacket to wear. He has said it to me.

He didn't think that RFOs and front end crews leave on totally different days. And that it's impractical to carry all 3 options, awaiting the captain's instructions. And that no one knows what the weather will be 10 days in advance. Or that some guys run hot (meaning light jacket ok), and some guys want the full parka because they do the walk around- and it rains. And snows. And gets windy.

BM was also the third SCP in a row that sent out a crew-wide missive that no one should have a Roller bag if they park in the out and back lot. Cause trips never get revised. Planes never break. And it's easy to carry all your crap on your shoulders than roll it on top of a mostly empty roller bag.

Priceless...

"So who you talking to honey at 3 in the morning?" "Jake from FedEx"

If you're not the captain, you must be the FO. If you're not the FO, you must be the Captain, unless you're an RFO. It's not like we salute each other when grabbing the folder at the computer.

Most ridiculous reason to get rid of the parka I've ever heard. I agree, the parka is the best/ most useful jacket/coat we have.

Who said anything about getting rid of the parka?

Baby steps...the new parka will soon be the only authorized parka.

Personally, I think the parka is a great security measure. It is a police/security coat. Two clean cut people wearing these look like cops. Even more so if the captain is 40+ pounds over weight and has the cheesy mustache.

I was thinking about keeping a walkie talkie mic clipped to the shoulder but after Fergeson it's probably not a good idea anymore.

And a 6 pack of Krispy Kreams under his arm.:D

Change for the sake of change is an illusion of leadership.

I don't recall what the exact cost of both the leather jacket and parka are (I own both) but I venture to guess it is a combined cost of about $500, most likely more than that. In both cases they exceeded the CBA uniform allowance, necessitating an out of pocket expense.

If we have to buck up for BM's parting shot at "leadership", doesn't this cross the line of a change in the status quo which is not allowed during federal mediation?

Maybe I'm just overly optimistic, but BM is leaving soon, and the leather jackets are good until 2016. I'm going to guess that sometime between BM's last movement and 2016, uniform guidance will change almost as often as our FOM (which is to say about weekly) and the net result will be no change.