I know of one airline that is issuing "brain bags" in an effort to get rid of the backpacks.

 

Ahhm sorry but not all of us rednecks understand your Baahhston accent either. I suppose you went to haaaahvad and have a cottage on Maaaathas Vinyaaad and that makes you bettah than them.

 

Doesn't the company measure their feeling of the folks importance by their paycheck? Of course they do. So it's a perfectly accurate and valid measure.

 

I agree somewhat with the OP. Obviously not all but there does seem to be a bit of "I'm cool and hip and it's just not cool to dress sharp" attitude going around. 95% of regional pilots are fine, but 4% are sloppily dressed and 1% are just an effin' embarrassment to the profession. Yes, these numbers have been independently certified

Delta pilots imo have always been the sharpest dressed, but it's funny to see the "Delta north" crews now and how some of them dilute that previous statement. I'm not saying that former NW pilots were slobs, but you generally never caught an original DLA pilot with his hat off and blazer unbuttoned.

One of the worst I've seen has been Spirit. I showed up for the JS one time this past year to find the two guys up front wearing two different uniforms. When I asked them about it, the captain said that this (meaning his) is the new uniform and the F/O stated that he didn't like the new uniform so for now he's going to continue wearing the old one. Classy.

And this one will top all...... Overnight on my last trip and we ride the hotel shuttle with a Spirit Cptn. and F/O. When we exit the MSP terminal, the Cptn (I assume) is outside smoking, wearing a $(@%ing insulated flannel jacket. You know, the kind you'd go out to fetch firewood with! He's an overweight slob. What you can see of his uniform is ill-fitting and probably hasn't been dry cleaned in years. He continues to wear said filthy flannel jacket all the way into the hotel lobby to check in. If I was his F/O, I'd refuse to be seen with him. Then again the F/O had a North Face type dark blue jacket under his uniform blazer. Niiiiiiiiiice. Oh, and about 25F in case you're wondering. Not that 5F would be a good excuse for looking like a lumberjack while on duty.

Before any Spirit pilots come on here and bash me, allow me to state that I've done some union work with your group in the past and think highly of your front and back end crews. They're nice people. I've walked the picket line with you guys while on strike, but to be brutally honest and as a broad generalization, you guys really need to get it together as far as looking more professional...........or professional in general.

 

Anyone who thinks dressing or grooming poorly shows everyone how you feel about management and is a reflection of THEM i
s delusional, immature or just really.......a SLOB.

 

Slob. Major SLOB with a **** poor self-image of themselves as well as their profession. That attitude makes me rather irate because it reflects on us AS A WHOLE.

Take note of foreign crews. Even the Western European ones like BA and AF looks sharp compared to US crews, never mind the Asian or Middle East carriers.

I hate to say it, but the degradation of our profession is in large part due to the self-worth we put on ourselves and how we project that.

 

I agree, there is a reason US Airways wants you to interview in your uniform. Yes, you would think most people would clean up, but the sloppy ones might forget something even to an interview (wearing work shoes, old belt, old shirt).

You never know who will be jumpseating on your flight and first impressions go a long way.

 

Feel free to flame away, but I don't understand what the big deal is about wearing earbuds. It's the best defense against stupid questions from pax - or toolbox, self-righteous pilots who would only trash someone on a message board and not have the nerve to call someone out to their face.

That being said, us pilots are all nerds and dorks in different ways. Glass houses and stones and what and what...

 

Just don't jumpseat on a slob's aircraft.

 

Thank you. Why does it bother you if I listen to music walking through the terminal? My main reason I do it is so I don't get stopped by people every 2 minutes asking where their gate is?