LNL76

Did I saw it was? Sheesh. I responded to what the original guy said about foul-mouthed pilots.

(FWIW, I've yet to see any FA sporting a backpack.....)

AC560

You must not fly that much, I see it fairly commonly going through the airport as a management puke passenger (who uses a backpack myself).

LNL76

Yeah, I don't fly much....

With all due respect, who cares what a "management puke passenger" uses? We are discussing airline crew who are in uniform and are "supposed" to adhere to uniform guidelines. (If there are airlines out there that allow backpacks, shame on them, but I doubt Delta, American or United mainline does.)

AC560

Because management pukes make the rules and it is funny to watch the inane stuff that spins people like you up.

Wearing a backpack certainly doesn't make people unprofessional and if you survey the first class cabin these days 50+% of the professionals sitting in it carry one.

LNL76

I won't apologize for being of a generation where class, personal pride and uniform standards actually meant something. We can't all be hipsters, thank God!

Packrat

I agree 100% that crew members need to clean up their language around passengers. Additionally, it isn't cool to discuss aviation accidents/incidents around the general public, especially if you just avoided an incident on your flight. There are plenty of nervous fliers out there.

One of the guys I play golf with regularly refuses to get on an airplane due to turbulence incident he had a long time ago. I was about to laugh him off when he told me the story, but I could see the terror he has about flying in his eyes while he was talking. We owe it, as professionals, to present an image that inspires confidence.

If that means wearing your hat, carrying professional luggage (NOT backpacks!), then so be it. As a previous poster said, we're not a bunch of 12 year olds going to summer camp.

Wash and iron your shirt, cinch up your tie, put on your hat, lose the ear buds and don't slouch around the airport like you're in your living room. Be someone little kids look up to, not the self-absorbed Gen X or Milleniums that you are. Try to be worthy of the image that those who went before you established.

PILEOAV8R

UAL allows a backpack so long as it is black and isn't carried over your shoulder...

In other words you can have a backpack... You just can't wear it on your back! :-)

Packrat

Guess why? They didn't enforce the rules. Enough guys were breaking them that they rolled over and allowed them. Same thing happened at Alaska.

Pilots were required to wear hats. However, management didn't enforce the uniform reg, so plenty of pilots were leaving them at home. Eventually, if you wore your hat, you were the odd ball.

Suddenly, lo and behold!, the MVP Golds started complaining that the pilots were looking bad and Alaska management decreed the hat was again required. Hopefully, they're enforcing their own uniform regulation.

Personally, I liked the system another airline has (has?). If someone in management saw you without your hat, they didn't excoriate you. They just ordered you a new hat, had it sent to your house and deducted the $75 from your paycheck.

Gotta hit pilots where they live...in the wallet. Now, if you walk around certain mainline hubs, you can tell at a glance who the mainline guys are and who the regional guys are. And it has nothing to do with age. It has everything to do with professional attire/demeanor.

Have you ever seen the movie 12 O'clock High? Its about a failing bomber squadron in 1942. When the CO is replaced, the first thing the new guy does is MANDATE uniforms, military regs, etc. Same thing in the movie Patton.

The theory and message is to get professional behavior and performance you have to start at the lowest level...uniforms, luggage, haircuts, etc. When people start complying at that level, there is a transferance that goes to all aspects of their performance.

So think about it. If you're slobbing around the terminal in view of your passengers, what message does that send to them about your ability to operate the aircraft in a safe, standard way? What do you think about the residents of the house you see with a bunch of rusty junk cars on blocks and garbage scattered throughout the yard?

Please don't project the "junior birdman trash" at work. It hurts all of us.

AC560

How do doctors, lawyers, accountants, teachers, business men, etc. exhibit any level of professional performance without hats? I know when I get on a plane the first thing I think is thank God this guy has a hat on, he must know what he is doing.

How you dress/look/act is evidence of your decorum and it is obviously important in both personal and professional life. The idea though that a hat makes you a "professional" or a backpack makes you "unprofessional" is laughable though.

Packrat

Its about passenger expectations. Remember? The people who pay the money that ends up in your paycheck?

Sure, those expectations have been reinforced by Hollywood for years. Are they appropriate or realistic? No.

But ask yourself this...Why do doctors wear white coats? Does that have anything to do with their competence? No. Its symbolic.

Why do lawyers wear 3 piece suits? Competence? No.

Why do judges wear black robes? Same question.

Why do cops wear badges?

Do any of the "uniforms" have anything to do with an individual's professionalism? No.

HOWEVER...when the public deals with any of these people there is a certain uniform expectation that engenders confidence. How would you feel if you went to the doctor and found a guy with spikey hair, ear buds on and sunglasses perched on the back of his neck?

Same question with a Judge or a Lawyer.

So, you argument is baseless on its face. You just want the "right" to wear whatever you want as you slouch through the terminal. Sorry, Sonny, but you knew a uniform was required when you applied for the job. Wear it. Wear it right. Show a little respect for the profession.

That appears to be too much to ask from the younger generation of pilots. Is it any wonder that our F/A crews can instantly determine who came from the military and who came from the regionals?