No way! These old-fashioned uniforms that look like they came from the Navy, more or less unchanged since the beginning of aviation, really suck. Especially that ridiculous hat which many of us still have to wear; I never figured out what it is good for except showing off ("look here, ladies, I'm the one with the hat and the sunglasses!").
The jacket is also more in my way than it makes sense - when you carry a bag over your shoulder over the car-park and through the terminal, it gets wrinkled up. All the time you need to press it because it got spoiled while being carried inside a suitcase or on the back seat of the car. Every couple of flights it needs dry-cleaning. When you do the walkaround in cold weather, it won't keep you warm. So this kind of jacket may be adequate for an office-meeting or for a salesman, but not for what I'm doing.
Aviation has changed, and especially the LoCo's have nothing much to do with the "old times" anymore. The kind of passengers we carry nowadays also aren't the same which airlines used to have (mainly holiday-makers). And a pilot is no longer a skipper.
I, personally, don't care about tradition; my airline is neither ancient nor am I in the military. I used to carry young families who wear t-shirts and flip-flops to their holiday resorts, and now I fly cargo.
To me, this here is my everyday-job, and I'd prefer to wear a business-attire that matches it.
I'd therefore much appreciate a change in the type of uniform which we have. For example, what Southwest Airlines pilots are wearing looks good, is comfortable to wear, and still looks respectable.
Leather shoes, dark-blue cotton trousers, shirt & tie, and a leather jacket.
Last edited by Nightfire; 5th Apr 2010 at 15:07.