ES, it's not the squaddies that concern me most for they at least can be dealt with in the traditional ways. It is on the contrary the underlying theme throughout this thread that concerns me. They are aircrew because the MAA says they are, but plainly the RAF doesn't think so or they would be accorded the status of aircrew which is manifested in the wearing of an aircrew brevet (there, that didn't last long did it?). If it isn't appropriate for CC to be Sergeants and above, why is it then appropriate for other aircrew?
As has been said before, air gunners, radio operators, etc, have all had to face this same struggle to join the hallowed status of aircrew. I believe we have Hermann Goering to thank for their success, as SNCOs and Officers would fare better as POWs. Whatever the background, all RAF aircrew are SNCOs or Commissioned Officers with the exception of cabin crew. How well that works in practice for the crews, never mind their pax, one has to wonder. A crew needs to be a tightly knit unit if it is to function safely, and when it isn't things become very unsafe, witness Kegworth. If the cabin crew had queried with him the Captain's PA about the Stbd engine when clearly the problem was with the Pt one, then aircraft, crew, and pax could all have survived. They didn't and bad things happened.
I'm not interested in rank, I'm not interested in 'Stinkin Badges'. I am interested in all aircrew being clearly acknowledged as such for safety's sake if no other. In the RAF that means the Brevet and Sgt Stripes it seems to me.