Originally Posted by
Lima Juliet
Just to close off Chug’s query. They are Trade Group (TG) 19 amongst the Ground Trades and they are entitled “TG19 Air & Ground Stewards”. The deal is that after joining they will all do an OCU and complete at least 1x flying tour, then they may well be employed on Mobile Catering Support Units (MCSUs) or work in the Messes or in other Catering roles. So the Cabin Crew role is very much one of many roles within their TG that they will be employed in during their career. When employed as Cabin Crew they do get access to enhanced medical screening, avmed trg, flying kit and also appear in the auth sheets as part of the Crew of the aircraft (only used on Voyager and BAe 146). So they are treated as part of the crew for passenger carrying roles on the aircraft - the terminology of Aircrew in the RAF is nuanced slightly in that only Officer Aircrew and Non-Commissioned Aircrew (NCA) of the Flying Branch are
de facto Aircrew within the RAF. Which is why the term ‘Airborne Specialist’ has been chosen and probably should apply to them too (in my opinion). It also important to note that NCA are
not a TG like the Other Rank Trades. They are a unique cadre in themselves and there legacy in regulations and KRs/QRs goes back to 1939 and the ill-fated 1947 Aircrew Scheme (of which only Master Aircrew rank badges survive!). They have unique terms of service and pay structures too.
You might like this little video on Cabin Crew conducting their role - they seem justifiably proud of it too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skeKftrHUi8
Im sure theyll be thrilled as a trade to lose one of the wings and lose their "CC" identifier to be replaced with an RAF Airborne Specilaist Flying Badge...
Mind you - at least that theyd be wearing the new aircrew Flying Badge in the
correct place on their uniform then- instead of where their current
Trade Badge should be worn (left arm), but isnt.
Before Chugalug spools up: This is
not CC bashing- this is the steady demise of the aircrew Flying Badge and status in itself. As soon as you start handing them out to more and more trades who aren't aircrew (every trade in the Airborne specialist) and haven't attended OASC/IOT/NCAITC/CFS Fg Trg/ OCU's you immediately devalue the merit of the original Flying Badge. Removing the crown and
pretending its not essentially the same Flying Badge is utterly ludircous.
How about you award the CC trade a
Pilot's Flying badge with TWO wings, then just simply remove the Crown- it looks a
LOT like the current trade badge doesnt it? but no. You and I both know the Pilots wouldnt have would they? and why should they. The Pilots Flying Badge would never be altered or handed to another trade for the very same reasons ive stated above.