V1 Cut and Run

PROFESSIONALISM: Meticulous adherence to undeviating courtesy, honesty, and responsibility in one's dealings with customers and associates plus a level of excellence that goes over and above the commercial considerations and legal requirements.

First of all, please allow me to set this up...I've been flying for 30 years, in private, and then corporate aviation. I've had a very successful career in the Navy, and then in the outside world, so successful in fact that I was able to retire about a year ago. After a few months of retirement, I started giving some thought to applying to a regional airline, because I truly wanted to experience PROFESSIONAL flying. Although I flew for a corporate flight department that was run very professionally, I truly wanted to experience 121 flying.

I was lucky enough to get hired, and am truly glad I made this decision. However, I must admit that the one, overwhelming surprise, has been the lack of PROFESSIONALISM I see from my fellow flight crewmembers, across the board.

Guys and Girls, being a professional is not contingent on what you are being paid. Being professional is not contingent on who an associate works for. Being a professional does not depend on how much you like your management. You are either a professional, or you are not.

I am an ALPA member, and I see quite a number of my fellow members with the "Professional Union, Professional Pilot" stickers on their kit. That being said, I also have friends that fly for other airlines and for corporate flight departments, many of which are far more professional than many pilots who profess to be professionals.

Like integrity, professionalism is something YOU and only YOU get decide whether you will live it. Also like integrity, its all or nothing. It is simply not possible to act professionally towards some pilots or coworkers an unprofessionally towards others. Sorry folks, simply can't be done. You choose to lie, cheat or steal, and you have given up your integrity. You play silly games, block radio calls, and turn your back on fellow pilots, you have given up your professionalism. For ever. End of statement.

Call me an stupid, but I for one believe that WE can turn this industry around. But folks, here's a muppet news flash for you...we can't do it without the support of the public we fly for. If we continue to argue on whether we like to wear hats while we look slovenly in public, if we want to argue whether or not we deserve tips, if we are seen and heard *****ing about our wages and work conditions in public, and if we want to stick knives in the backs of other pilots because they don't work for a company that conforms to our way of thinking, we will continue to lose the support of the public.

Want a simple test of your professionalism? How many kids on your flights look up to you, and want to do what you're doing? How many people in the terminal see you and say "gee, that's a sharp looking pilot". Guys and Girls, say what you want, but if we continue to act like bus drivers, our wages and work conditions will continue to slide, and we will have no one to blame but ourselves.

Hopefully you did not join this profession to get rich. Hopefully you did not join hoping that every other pilot would join your union, or think exacly like you. Hopefully you did not join because you liked a particular uniform. If you did any of these, you are incredibly stupid. Me, I joined firstly because I love flying, and will until the day I die. If I have to work two jobs to continue flying, so be it. If I have to wear a stupid hat, I'm OK. The second reason I signed on was to fly with some professionals. Help me believe that I made the right decision.

Luv2Rotate

Great post! You hit the nail right on the head.

byebyeairlines

You made the wrong decision! You should have stayed retired. Maybe, one day, the industry will turn around, but now it sucks. As far as professionalism, you get what you pay for...sadly

etflies

I'm not a "professional" pilot yet, but I 100% agree and try to hold myself to this definition in my current profession. Well said.

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.

Excel

Well said! That, and the fact that there is a large group of self-entitled 300 hour pilots willing to stab eachother in the back to get that well paying job...

Purpleanga

about the only thing 300 hour pilots are doing now is washing 172s at the local airport. It's called supply and demand, nothing to do with pilots stabbing each other in the back.

Purpleanga

I agree but in the corp world you don't fly as much so I wouldn't say it's harder. Yea at the airlines it's all done for you, and now that I'm flying pt91 again I realize how easy we had it. But at the same time you're not going to fly a jet 80 hours per month flying pt 91 and have to deal with delays and pax and long 12 hour days. When you take all things into consideration there are more things to complain about as an airline pilot....

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.

jeeps

Having done both corporate and 121 flying I would say that the flying is definately different, as are schedules, lifestyles, and situations encountered. It's not to say that one is more difficult than the other. They are equally challenging and equally rewarding, both in their own ways.

There are some 121 jobs which are easier and you get treated better by management. There are some corporate jobs which are easier and you get treated better by management. There are some airlines that require high time because they can, some because they have to. There are some corporations that require high time because they can, some because insurance mandates this. Right now corporations seem to be more desirable because people feel they are treated better. That's not always the case.


I think the original poster was describing exactly what is happening here. As opposed to cutting each other down because we fly different types of iron to different places and different times with more or less people aboard, why don't we support each other. We are all pilots, some have chosen a particular road because it was easier, some because they wanted to.

Additionally, regarding the those "300 hour" pilots, technically aren't they pilots too? Did they not get the same job you did (some of you), but with 300 hours? What does that say about your skill, your professionalism, your personality? I know, an overly simplified and very crude comparison (not examining external factors of course) but it got you to think about it anyway . However, at one point in time, every pilot that has ever had 300 hours and wanted to be an airline pilot might have very well given a body part to get that airline job with 300 hours. I have flown with many pilots, some with more hours some with less, but I've learned something valuable from them all.

If some feel that safety was at issue, I then ask howcome nothing was done about it? As pilots, we have extreme confidence in ourselves, however, the only confidence that matters is that expressed by our passengers towards us. And that includes far too many aspects to list. But an important cue for most is how we treat those around us both personally and professionally. If you have problems with a person, be a friend, be a coach, be an ally...in the end the results are far more positive than simply being a critic.

I am by no means singling out people or groups, offense is not the intent, and this is not the proverbial "why can't we all just get along," but like the original poster said, we're professionals, and I guess that's what I took it to mean. And yes, I once had 300 hours too, but that was a long time ago.