Give me a break. I do bring a beanie when it's cold but honestly I got screwed genetically when it comes to my hair. I'm bald and if I don't shave my head every couple days I start looking ridiculous. It's nice to have a hat to wear so I don't need to bic my head at 3:00 am before the hotel van everyday. I'll wear a beanie or baseball cap on overnights and the pilot hat in the terminal. Same concept as the guys who wear the commando sweaters. Some don't want to iron or clean their shirts so they cover it up with a sweater. I'm not saying I think it should be mandatory. Why is everyone so against having options?

 

They are getting free Airbus types though!

 

1. Embrace the baldness. Just keep it close like a #1. No need to bic daily, you look fine.

2. I have no problem with the hat and would wear it but I don't think it should be optional. Either a hat or no hat. I don't think any part of the uniform should be optional. It's a uniform and we should all be uniform. Look at any foreign crew. Clean and uniform. All the FAs wear the exact same thing. We give them 20 options for some reason. When I worked in hotels there was a summer uniform and a winter uniform. You didn't have a bunch of employees in the same department wearing a bunch of variations of the uniform. It's supposed to make the group look uniform

 

I do embrace the baldness. Sometimes I bic, sometimes I'm lazy and just go with the buzzer every couple weeks. Sometimes it's nice to not have to worry about it and throw a hat on. I look like a child with a 70 year old's head of hair if I let it go too long. But either way...

I see what you're saying with the optional uniform pieces getting out of hand. My old airline had hats. Some wore them, some didn't but I feel like we looked a lot better than the north face brigade here at Spirit. I think if you want a decent looking uniform at this place the hats are the least of our worries at this point. United has optional hats and I haven't seen their crews and thought "what a sloppy group of pilots", I'm not sure that the same can be said for us.

 

I agree. Never understood why US carriers decided to let everyone have tons of options. It looks ridiculous when literally everyone is wearing something different.

 

Agreed. It's unfortunate but the group could use a uniform police. It's sad that as grown ups we need that yet the ines who complain are the ines who have trouble complying

 

We also need an overcoat. Sometimes it's too cold for just the blazer and I don't have nor want the leather WWII jacket.

 

Spirit reminds me of a some regionals in our approach to the uniform, because we "cant afford it, we wont comply with the standard." I can not think of another Major that is so "disuniform" in our uniform.

I guess its how you want to look at it. Would it be nice if the company bought a new-hire FO a blazer to wear starting day 1? Yes. Do we as professional adults have to accept that there are some out of pocket expenses regarding the uniform and maybe, as much as it sucks, you might have to buy a blazer to wear instead of wearing a Northface jacket? Heck, they even payroll deduct it for like $10 a check or something low.

You are not "showing the company" with that jacket, pants or shoes that look ridiculous; you're making yourself look ridiculous when you walk down the terminal, ask for a jumpseat, or introduce yourself as a Spirit pilot.

The company should be the one policing this and its way overdue. I would much rather see them crack down on uniforms instead of sick calls. But if the company doesn't care, I still dont understand why a pilot would not care. You know those shoes are sneakers, you know those pants are Dockers and look nothing like the other pants you see, and you know that jacket/sweater isn't anything resembling the uniform we have.. So why wear it? Laziness, apathy?

Im seriously curious

 

Hey, whatever, as long as it's a pilot uniform and we all comply. If the leather is the only option we all have to wear it whether we like it or not. Same with the trench coat. No one sees delta pilots wearing whatever they want and I'm sure plenty of them dislike the uniform. It's simple though. It's a uniform, wear it

 

Agreed. Iron your shirt, wear the uniform pants, wear the blazer or red baron jacket, and a pair of decent dress shoes. Not that hard.