Pointinpilot,
Yes you are right the hats do look great and that is why it has become such an issue I think. It is being used like a reward because it was previously only being used for VIP flights.
And yes Bill Francis did say that he would consider us having the hat but he did not offer up any way we could actually go about accepting it and I am pretty sure that having a hat or not is not a union matter. If it is then the world really has gone bonkers.