Originally Posted by SrfNFly227

As a pilot who has also worked for Part 135 and 121, I will try to respond to this.

First, I completely agree that there is a lack of professionalism in aviation today. I see it almost every day. The un-tucked or un-ironed shirts, bad language, not shaving, etc is not the image we need to present. I am not proud to say that I have taken part in some of these myself.

I will also say that there are a lot of extremely professional pilots in the 121 world. Men and Women that come to work everyday, completely prepared, despite anything that may be happening outside of work. They are polite to the passengers and fun to be around. I fear they are less and less, but they are still here.

Now my rebuttal to this. The unfortunate truth to the matter is that it is next to impossible to act professionally when you are treated like a child. Treated like you are completely expendable. I found it much easier to be professional while flying Charter. Management and scheduling valued me as an employee and weren't constantly threatening my job. The passengers were happy when they showed up to the airport and greated us while they were getting onboard. I can not imagine not slipping up every now and again with how we are treated by the airline. If they want professionals, they should treat us as such.

Originally Posted by jeforte

OMG are you kidding me? corp flying is much more involved/difficult than regionals will ever be. There's a reason you need 2500 TT to get a right seat king air gig right now, and you only needed comm/multi mins (1000/100 at most) to get on with most regionals. Corps usually won't even consider hiring ppl with the stink of the airlines on them, simply b/c most (not all) regional airline pilots whine about absolutely everything and have no sense of customer service. pilots can always go from corporate to airline, but it's difficult to transition in the other direction.

Originally Posted by Purpleanga

As far as hiring, it's not because of airlines it's because there are many pilots available from the general aviation world.


Who would you hire? A pt 91 or a pt 121 pilot for a pt 91 job?? And vice versa.

Originally Posted by FSUpilot

I've only been flying "professionally" for ten months. I am a young pilot and I worked very hard to get where I am. I am only an FO and I have a lot to learn but I see captains older and more senior than I that cant wash their clothes, tie a tie, shine shoes, curse and argue in front of passengers etc. etc... I'm thinking at the same time "how can anyone who has worked so hard to get where they are act and dress that way?" Yes, I work for a crappy company. Who doesn't... but that doesnt mean you cant dress to impress. What are passengers thinking when they see a pilot dress and act this way? Especially the ones that are scared to fly or the one just looking for a reason to complain to the FAA.

Its funny I was talking about the same thing with another coworker today. Sometimes it is just beyond belief.

Originally Posted by jeforte

I respectfully disagree

121 major/legacy and 121 regional are sadly, more often than not, different breeds. There are, however, exceptions.
* If I were a CP for a corp flight dept, I'd look first at those with corp experience (91), then 121 major/MILITARY, 135 charter/freight, and finally 121 regional. More than likely in that order, but my opinion is admittedly inexperienced.

Originally Posted by ToiletDuck

If they treat you like a child, screw with your schedule constantly, bend your contract, etc. it's easy to have your attention focused in the wrong place and not on the pax and image you present to them.

Originally Posted by jeforte

I respectfully disagree

121 major/legacy and 121 regional are sadly, more often than not, different breeds. There are, however, exceptions.
* If I were a CP for a corp flight dept, I'd look first at those with corp experience (91), then 121 major/MILITARY, 135 charter/freight, and finally 121 regional. More than likely in that order, but my opinion is admittedly inexperienced.