Should airline pilots wear hats?

[corner speed]

I'm a pilot for a major airline in the US.
My airline is considering doing away with our uniform hat
and making it optional for the individual pilot to wear.
I'm all for it. Any thoughts from my colleagues overseas?:ok:

[WestWind1950]

My ex-husband, pilot with Lufthansa, looked ridiculous with his hat on so he usually carried it under his arm. Once a check captain insisted he put it on his head where it belonged, looked at him and allowed him to continue to carry it under his arm instead! :p
Whenever he got a new one, he put it in the shower and tried to make it look used and he had me sew down the sides so the wouldn't stick up so much.

What are they good for anyway? And is it true that hats have been re-introduced for some stewardesses? ... eh, sorry, "cabin attendants" :E

http://www.click-smilie.de/sammlung/aktion/action-smiley-072.gif Westy

[crundale]

So we're supposed to believe you pilots work hard and suffer enormous stress and deserve the huge salaries because your jobs are SOOOOOOO demanding???
And really, all you worry about, is do i look good in my hat.
Send $50 to charity, say two hail marys, and get a grip.
:p :D

[leftseatview]

The fact that i have lost a lot of hair the last 15 years that i have been an airline pilot,might partly explain my pay packet.
But i sure need to wear a hat when i do a walk around of the machine out in the sun/rain
Giving an option is a good idea.
But airlines still need to retain a Uniform Cap for folks like me,cos i would sure look silly wearing a baseball cap with my uniform.

[square leg]

The most probable answer I can think of is that the hat makes one stand out as a pilot. You can see pilots from miles when they walk with their hats on in terminal buildings.

Thus in case of an emergency evacuation, the pilots (wearing their hats) would be more easily recognised by pax, provided there is not total chaos at the time. At least some pax would more readily follow instructions from a guy with a hat in such a situation.

[Hostie from Hell]

I personally think they look ridiculous..........

They are also a hazard if on a windy day they get blown off your head and get sucked into an engine;)

[MaximumPete]

Useful to keep the deicing fluid out your hair during the winter walk-rounds and scraping the early morning dew off the car widscreen after those summer night ITs.

Otherwise........ a complete waste of money. Think what a company could save on 400+ hats ?

Next years pay rise riding on it?

MP:D

[Captain Airclues]

If you don't have a hat, where do you keep your epaulettes, car keys, loose change etc on a nightstop?

Airclues

[JW411]

Our lot (thank God) abandoned hats three years ago. I only know of two pilots in the company who still wear their hats to work. That perhaps gives a measure of their popularity when their use is not made compulsory.

[JJflyer]

If company dress code specifies hat beinng part of the uniform, then one should wear it. The outfit could not be called a "Uniform" without the hat now would it.

If a company has a dress code it should be enforced. Like the hat or not. Soon people would stop wearing epaulettes for reasons like " I look stupid wearing them" or when it gets hot one would rather wear shorts etc etc...

JJ

[Robert Vesco]

Hi square leg,

Thus in case of an emergency evacuation, the pilots (wearing their hats) would be more easily recognised by pax, provided there is not total chaos at the time. Does your airline have "- Hat" on the by heart items list for an evacuation ? :zzz:

[A/P Disc]

At Amsterdam the airport military police do not wear hats
anymore because if there is a terrorist attack (e.g. shooting)
they will first take out anybody wearing one.

Sounds like a good idea to have the same hat policy for pilots!


P.S. Crundale : grow up.

[MaximumPete]

There was an a case when a lady at a well known supermarket chain was sacked for not wearing the company head-gear that went all the way to the high court on appeal for wrongful dismissal.There were no safety or hygene issues.

She lost

MP:confused:

[Wizofoz]

Can depend on the "where".

In some less developed countries, the ground crew look for "The man in the hat" as they assume he is in charge.

Where that's not the case, ditch it, closley followed by the tie!!!

[PlaneTruth]

One of our managment pilots (who happens to be black) swears if he had a nickel for every time someone curbside asked him, "Hey buddy, could you get my bag in my trunk for me?" With a wry smile and a spring in his step, he'd oblige and when they went to tip him he'd say, "Not necessary, I'm a Captain." to which the passengers would turn all manner of colors themselves.

So much for the "hat" making the man (or position).

We ditched our hats last Spring and, while a few have steadfastly refused to part with this last shred of "identity", I for one must say it has been quite a liberating move. No more losing your hat in high winds (The hell with the Airbus vs. Boeing yapping: The next "breakthrough" airliner will look like a damned hat. They can generate lift at any direction to the wind and any angle of attack.)

No comments either way from the pax. I do miss it in DTW in February though.

PT (Life after hats is pretty good really.):ok:

[AA717driver]

Why not get a contract with the professional sports team near each crew base and have crews from that domicile wear "gear" from their sports team. The teams or league could provide the hats or even bid for the rights for the crews to wear their logos.

Of course, it may backfire--crews could be detained at security, having been mistaken for gang members...;) TC

[JJflyer]

Just went through EHAM a few days ago. Some MP's use the hat and some don't. Didn't ask what their rules are.

Me myself and I dislike using a hat (Just round 11 years now). Can be quite uncomfortable in hot weather. Also if hat has a plastic makers mark inside in the middle, that can hasten hairloss (This is not a scientifically proven fact)
:}

[maxrated]

Wearing an airline pilot style hat makes you look much taller and more imposing ( remeber those gestapo uniforms ?) which is really important when operating in most 3rd world countries.

In most 3rd world countries and military dictatorships, ones seniority and importance in the the military and government is demonstrated by how much gold stuff you wear on your shoulders and hat.

You would never be taken seriously by the local officials at any African airport unless you are fully "epauletted" and uniformed, and if you had a smart hat with lots of shiny gold braiding, all the better to impress them with and for ensuring a hassell free transit through customs, immigration and security checks.

:ok:

[Hulk]

how much costs a pilot hat????

[A/P Disc]

JJFlyer

There are absolutely no "marechaussee" (MP) at EHAM
which wear hats. Local and other police do at the
airport but they are a different branch. They look the same
but are not.

How much a hot costs? Couldn't be much.I can order a new
shirt after 4 years wearing it and can get a new hat after
2 years!

Rgds

[B767300ER]

Only AA pilots should wear hats. It will make most of their ex-military pilots feel right at home. The rest of us don't need
to feel like we're still IN the military.

Except you, AA717Driver, whom I will allow to go hat-less!

[MidnightSpecial]

Hats are not required at my airline so only bald guys wear them.

MS

[Onan the Clumsy]

If, as someone saidi sure need to wear a hat when i do a walk around of the machine out in the sun/rain then perhaps the uniform hat should be a sombrero :p

[boredcounter]

After landing, having had a free bar all flight, Pilots in hats reassure the pax you are the right way up ! :)

[Boeinguy]

If a hat is not worn, the dress coat/jacket shouldn't be worn either because I think it doesn't look right. It also looks weird when I see a pilot wearing a hat without the jacket. Personally, I'll wear the hat whenever I wear my jacket regardless. I always wanted to be an airline pilot and I'm happy to look like one.

Getting a job as an airline pilot and then trying to change the dress code is a lot like someone that moves near an airport and then tries to change the flight pattern.

[mauswara]

I remember hearing a long time ago, that an Air Force , Somewhere, probably U.S. Did practice evac. trials once and determined that shock affected/ traumatised pax. will more readily follow instructions from the guy in the hat (even if its a baseball cap) rather than the guy without. just like pilots wearing clip on ties (to prevent someone choking you from behind) there is usually a valid reason for these time honoured aviation traditions.as time goes on, the reasoning is lost and fashion takes over.

[AA717driver]

...I suppose the leather jacket is out of the question, then...:p TC

[MarkD]

Saw an AC 762 crew coming through EINN lately, the maple leaf on the front of the Captain's hat was the size of a small plate :D

[chuks]

My first real job, co-pilot on a Twin Otter (Que?), required me to wear a hat. Try to find a convenient place in a Twin Otter cockpit to hang said hat...

Then there was this Citation pilot at DNMM who decided to upgrade his crew´s appearance by ordering one pair of Sporty´s Pilot Shop white hats, both with a hokey sort of generic set of gold wings but one with and one without `scrambled eggs´, for him and his co-pilot. One of our number went across to ask him that while we really found the hats impressive we wondered where did he keep the ice cream. Never mind, he was still a legend in his own mind.

[Smokie]

I still wear my "White Silk Scarf"........

with Japanese Idiographs and a Red Rising Sun ! :eek: :)

[PlaneTruth]

"Wearing an airline pilot style hat makes you look much taller and more imposing ( remeber those gestapo uniforms ?) which is really important when operating in most 3rd world countries."

Nevertheless, I try to avoid Jackson, Harlingen and Little Rock!

Smokie,

One of our guys had that exact headwear and put it on his head in line to depart Las Vegas enroute to Los Angeles. (Back in the early days of TCAS --when we found out how really busy LA airspace was. Kind of a "Kamakazi" mission to LA.)

Anyway, in the heat of battle enroute, he leaves the scarf on his head. As he pull into the gate for the return trip to Las Vegas, he looks up and in the windows are some 60 Japanese tourists about to board his plane. He can see their motions (raising of arms and smiling as the shout something). Figuring the cat's out of the bag, he walks into the jetway later as the passengers are boarding and the Japanese tour group is giving him hearty rounds of "BANZAI!!!" Had they ended up in a bar together that evening I trust he wouldn't have been able to buy himself a beer. This group would have taken him under their wing.

Just prior to departure I am told he greeted all the passengers from the front galley mike and (still with headdress on) then in his best Japanese ("Kanichiwa") he bowed to the Japanese passengers and the crowd went wild.

Try that at American or BA!!

PT

[Huron Topp]

MarkD,

strange, never seen a 2.5" diameter plate before.

[Loose rivets]

many years ago, I looked at my mate's hat and then at his head, and remarked that he had got a small head. He picked my hat up and after some moments said. "Mmm if you fitted rollock holes in the sides of yours, you could use it as a dingy"

[D.Lamination]

Being your typical aussie guy my preferred form of dress is thongs and a t-shirt (UGG boots in winter!), HOWEVER, I do support hats for pilots - And we ask: why is it so?

Why do Doctors wear white coats and carry a stethoscope? Why do Barristers & Judges in many jurisdictions wear robes and horsehair wigs? Why do the military the world over wear uniforms with hats when not on the battlefield? What about police?

The answer is that is about differentiation and respect:ok: a form of promotion and marketing of the profession, if you will.

Look like a pilot (i.e. popular image of one) and expect to be treated like one. Look like a bus driver or baggage handler..............

A local example in OZ: QF pilots = fancy hats , VB pilots in baseball caps - who gets paid more?
:}

Make no mistake: airline managements are out to get you - "dressing down" is but one further tiny step on the way to their goal:ouch:

So, for the sake of all you guys & gals out there I'll keep wearing that:mad: hat.

[Onan the Clumsy]

Why do Barristers & Judges in many jurisdictions wear robes and horsehair wigs? That's a very good question ;)

[amanoffewwords]

Armed American pilots should be wearing appropriate gear, swat team like imho

http://www.shadowsource.org/dragon/src/701helmet.jpg

[Onan the Clumsy]

How about this?

http://www.the-joke-shop.com/ProductImages/t20102.jpg

[redadair]

Pilots wear hats as it provides posing power. pilots like to pose.
they convince themselves they're something they're not.
They probably wear them in the shower.
Why do pilots wear they're uniforms to go the toilet?
so they can pull rank. poncey pilots, please give it a rest.

[Basil]

My vote would be: no caps - and summer shirts designed to be worn without ties. (as per Gulf Air in the eighties)
I do recollect a skipper flying the approach to LHR wearing a kefiya - very fetching but takes out the periphral vision a bit :cool:

[Sleeve Wing]

What do you wear to pose, Redadair - a backtofront baseball cap ?!

There's a definite inferiority complex oozing through every word you've written.
Personally, I only wear mine when its pi**ing down with rain!

Tatty bye,
Sleeve.
:ok:

[Slim20]

Judging from the number of headsets, pens, water bottles, wallets, files, diaries, mobile phones etc. left behind in the flight deck by our absent-minded colleagues, if we started wearing hats the average ground crew member could build up quite a nice collection by the end of the first week......

[Dockjock]

I hope to be able to look the part when the day comes, so I'm all for hats. Hopefully by then we won't have descended into baseball hat/leather jacket/jeans/sneakers uniforms. Hey, you're at work not at the ball game...so what if there's a uniform?

Oh, and the reverse snobbery can be dropped any time. "Pilots like to pose" ya whatever you probably like to pose pal.

[Col. Walter E. Kurtz]

Only if they look like this...http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/images/lrg0255.jpg

[BrightonGirl]

At LAX last weekend I noticed four pilots heading into the international terminal -- I saw them from the rear, and the only way I knew they were pilots was by their hats. They were wearing short-sleeved shirts and each was dragging a rolling suitcase with his jacket slung over it (it was pretty hot that day) -- and would have looked from the rear like pax had it not been for the hats. I like seeing the pilots -- and uniformed cabin crew -- in the terminal! Don't know how do explain why. Maybe it's because I like to wonder where they've flown in from and where they'll be in 2 days.

There's something uplifting about a group of people arriving in uniform to do their days' work. Makes it seem like they take it really seriously, like they are differentiated from the rest of us because they know more about the matter at hand than we do.

And you men simply look more handsome in the hats!

[Huron Topp]

quick, where's my hat!?:E

[Panama Jack]

. . . . so . . . . . . what am I missing here? Most airline pilots alredy wear hats . . . . keeps the sun from burning the bald spot, hides a bad hair day (every day) and that is what the PAX like to see.

[Panama Jack]

I can understand the problem with the Lufthansa pilot hats which always look slovenly and most Iberia pilots carry their hat under their arm-- I understand why.

A picture is worth a thousand words, and here is the image of "authority" that we are trying to present to the world with our hat. :p


http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005NGZ8.01._PE8_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

[icemaiden]

oh my, having seen the inside of quite a few hats I would suggest their removal would be a safety hazard. Not only are most of the details of their personal life scribbled in turbulent script into the linings but some important stuff too.. (or so they claim) :E

while I am on the subject...

Why do Barristers & Judges in many jurisdictions wear robes and horsehair wigs?
anonymity, sobriety and tradition. The underlying reason is of course that it was fashionable at the time of introduction, and has been unfashionable for so long that it has become custom.

[Pegasus77]

The question is not: Should we wear a hat? It should sound: Should a clown have a red nose?

It's all windowdressing, but for the sake of our frightened pax I wear my hat with pleasure.

P77

[hart744]

Hat is optional at LH.

[Pontious]

Aerobat

Was part of your F27 checklist worn thin and unreadable by any chance? Shouldn't it read
Captain--------- DON't do tHAT?????? Only joking!

I don't know about Hats but some Capts and F/O's should wear badges reading...
...Tight fisted Git!!! Now I'm not joking!!!

:ok:

[Celtic Frog]

As somone who doesn't have much hair on top..hats are horribly sweaty and uncomfortable unless it's minus 20 outside.

having to walk to the aircraft with one hand holding my pilots case and the other hlding my hat on my head otherwise it gets blown off and so I'd have to chase it while it does it's "frisbee" impersonations across filthy soaking wet tarmac into an engine...hardly professional thinking is it?

Besides..we work in a modern hi-tech industry..so why are we wearing old merchant-navy uniforms from early 1900s and before?

And Crundale..please don't involve yourself in issues which obviously are of no concern to you.

[BlueEagle]

Not a very strong arument there Celtic Frog!

Just about every uniform known to man has it's origins hundreds of years ago!

[Lucifer]

1) FOD risk on apron

2) Mobody should wear hats inside - it looks silly and nobody ever has in the military/merch navy, from where the uniform was derived.

Therefore: the only time to wear them is between the car and the office/terminal. Bit of a waste of time?

[wallabie]

Celtic frog, if you worry about being bold and sweat...............then wear a bloody wig !

D. Lamination, I agree 100 %. My speedo and my thongs when at home but the hat on the job.
Management is only waiting to have us dressed like Ronnie McDonald...............and pay us accordingly.

It is incridible what the hat does. People do think twice before yelling at you, they're a bit intimidated.
Sure I've come across the usual fazed out twitt who asked to order him a cab while waiting for my airport shuttle but in the end I wasn't the one looking stupid.

Baseball cap ??? I think not !

[Croqueteer]

Best headware I ever had was my RAF beret. You could use it to clean your bike, polish your shoes, do the windows, blow your nose and a host of other things. I think they should be standard issue.

[Jordan D]

Croqueteer - not forgetting being a general all purpose carrying device for small things ...! Best piece of headwear ever created.

Jordan

[whats_it_doing_now?]

It took me a couple of bruises before I realised the benefit of wearing a hat on the walk round - softens the contact between my head and the landing gear doors!

Good post by Brighton girl, I am sure she only represents a proportion of pax that see us in the terminal, but a professional appearance goes a long way in the eyes of a nervous passenger.

I also recommend the entire uniform as an alternative to plastic surgery. Apparently it makes me look like a school boy - thats over 10 years off my age!

[Red Hackle]

Yes, even as an ex militiary man I've got to agree that the hat has had its day. In an airline with over 900 pilots, if I look closely at the type of individuals who appear to wear their hats these days, the greater majority are the short men with big egos and new boys.

[saltrock surfer]

If I don't have hat where will I keep my car keys and ID card when I get home?