Well chaps, who said the Alternative to a collar and tie was a
T shirt and jeans, or automatically scruffy? Surely professional attitudes are not dependent on a tie? An instructor can give all the right impressions in a corporate polo shirt and/or sweat shirt with a logo etc, though I have to admit drawing the line before we get to blue jeans!But that is my personal prejudice. If the tie was so important then make the students wear ties and a uniform to promote his 'professional attitude'. The student pilot learns good airmanship and a responsible attitude from the way his instructor behaves on the ground and in the air, not from his dress sense, and no amount of gold braid is going to hide any deficiences there! Would it be less 'professional' to wear a flying overall?
The suggestion that it's pretentious is simply that it is apeing airline flying uniforms (which I suspect we are all in favour of) when in all probability you are flying a 2 or 4 seat piston single. When I first started flying, the instructors I knew did not wear ties at Flying Clubs, but then most were PPLs themselves and a lot of them did it for fun albeit hours building toward the magic 700 hrs; I would say therefore that I was 'old school' rather than MG! I have worn ties instructing, but when in a position to dictate uniforms I ditched ties, though I have never prevented folk from wearing them if they so desired.I would say that the wearing of ties has become a marketing issue - so be it, but let's not deny there is an Alternative and pedantically say ties=professionalism
Good Luck MG, but don't rely too much on that tie!