Uniforms, bars and alcohol

[FerrypilotDK]

Heh airline crew members. I was just at recurrent in Amsterdam and into the bar walks a KLM flight crew, full uniform, order their meals and drinks (beer and wine) before heading up to their rooms after a flight.....

In our VIP transport sector, drinking alcohol in uniform is grounds for immediate dismissal! What is the deal......or is KLM some exception?

[Laarbruch72]

I don't think our airline has a hard and fast policy around low or moderate consumption in uniform after duty, for many carriers it'll largely depend on common sense but it will be a no-no for others. I've seen the odd crew member of ours having a beer on arrival at the hotel while waiting for check in issues to be sorted out. No big deal.

Going out on the lash would be dismissal in any airline I'd think. No idea why the KLM crew didn't get changed for dinner, depending on who sees that it can easily be misconstrued and can paint the wrong picture. You may as well just get into your civvies.

[RHS]

Not allowed to consume any alcoholic beverage in uniform at my company. Not sure immediate dismissal would be the consequence, but I'm also not keen to find out.

[Capetonian]

I wasn't even flight crew and when I worked for an airline we knew that to be seen drinking in all or part of the uniform was a sackable offence.

[grounded27]

I keep a spare shirt in my vehicle if I am in uniform and want to pop into the bar for a drink on the way home. Displaying an ID is a big no no. There used to be a handfull of bars along the length of the airport in Miami, displaying your ID would cost you a round of drinks (the bar was full of airline/airport employees anyways), much less expensive than the cost of your job! Not at all appropriate to be in uniform with a drink in your hand, this oppinion for me was one of the airline culture of years past tought to me as a very young man.

[Aluminium shuffler]

I think most companies would deem it a serious disciplinary offence to be seen drinking in uniform, and that's entirely reasonable. Most people wouldn't want to anyway, nor eat in uniform (except just before leaving for a duty) as it'd get far too much attention from other users of the bar or restaurant. Not many enjoy show-boating like that. Interesting the nationality of the crews who do it, given their oft cited character and CRM traits.

[RAT 5]

I wasn't even flight crew and when I worked for an airline we knew that to be seen drinking in all or part of the uniform was a sackable offence.

It's not a question of sackable = disciplinary; it's a question of common sense and the impression given around you. OK, the military like to parade around social functions is full regalia, but then that's often a requirement for formal dress events. An off duty crew? Why not just strip off down to a white shirt and no tie or epaulettes and fill your boots? QED. Why take a risk of the wrong impression when it is not necessary?

Why is a KLM crew night in an SPL hotel in full dress blues? They live there?

[grounded27]

I remember as a MX rep. (Flight Mechanic) having one of those 18-24 hour days that terminated in Lima Peru. The Loadmaster and myself got to the hotel at about 8 am and were THIRSTY, nice hotel had a formal dining room and a cafeteria, pulled off the epaulettes and the tie and sat down in the cafeteria. We drank four or five beers, the waitress thought it odd but had no problem serving us. I think all the busy looking business people probably thought we looked more like kitchen staff!

[opnot]

how do you know that they were flt crew, could have been anybody going to a fancy dress party in KLM look alike uniforms, assumptions are dangerous things.

[Phileas Fogg]

I knew of a Captain at Air UK, his initials are G.B. and he's recently had a mention in ''Where are they now'', he was notorious for consuming alcohol on overnight split duty periods at STN ... Only problem with a ''Split Duty'' is that one is still on a ''Flying Duty Period'' so he was getting p1ssed whilst on active flying duty!

A number of years later got chatting with a Captain in an Irish pub in Luxembourg, he was there with his F/O and Trolley Dollies, once he told me who he worked for I knew him to be on an overnight split duty, in the pub whilst on active flying duty, with a smile I questioned him regarding this and he politely smiled back

[vctenderness]

Friend of mine was dismissed for drinking a can of beer on the bus to hotel. This,in more enlightened times, was the norm.

[stab3.5up]

I think the same would be in army , police or any type of uniform tbh not just airline as it sends out the wrong type of message. Rightly or wrongly.

[Capetonian]

I wasn't even flight crew and when I worked for an airline we knew that to be seen drinking in all or part of the uniform was a sackable offence.

It's not a question of sackable = disciplinary;

Allow me to know what the conditions were in the airline I worked for at the time when I worked for them. It was a dismissal offence, whatever you may think it was, should have been, or may have been in your circumstances.

[JB007]

Had a can of beer on the crew bus to the hotel after long-haul, had a few glasses on a light aircraft around the Caribbean a few times, that's the most adventurous I've ever got!

Stackable offence as far as I'm concerned!

Gob-smacked last summer to see an FO still wearing his bars and ID lanyard, clearly displaying employer in The Romper, near MAN! head!

[Hotel Tango]

A few years back I was surprised to see a Captain drinking as pax in the cabin. He had taken his jacket off and was no doubt probably positioning home, or for a flight the next day. Nevertheless, I thought it a little foolish to drink alcohol when in uniform. Not good for the image