Airlines epaulette policies

[Khozai737]

I am interested in knowing what policy other airlines have regarding epaulette rank in the flight deck. More specifically when a junior first officer wearing two stripes becomes a SFO wearing three stripes? Do they base it on flying hours, years in the airline, etc. I would appreciate as many inputs as possible from pilots of different airlines.

[surplus1]

This designation of rank tends to be different in different countries/cultures that are more focused on rank than others. Thus the rules are different.

In the USA the custom is generally the same regardless of the airline. Captains (CA) wear 4 stripes, First Officers (FO) wear 3 stripes, Second Officers (SO) [flight engineer] wear 2 stripes. In the USA most aircraft no longer use SO's so you seldom see 2 stripes any more. Also, in the USA, cabin crew (as a general rule) don't wear stripes. Additionally some US airlines allow Captains in one aircraft type who are now working as First Officers in a different type (usually larger) to continue to wear 4 stripes; others don't do this [it depends on that airline's "culture"]. Example: a 737 captain who is now flying as a 747 first officer may still be permitted to keep and wear his 4 stripes [In this case the FO will usually not wear a captains hat].

[flarepilot]

there is a slight difference I would like to point out... a flight engineer who is not holder of a pilot's license would hold 2 stripes...at one time a flight engineer did not need a pilot's license. these folks were called PFE's or professional flight engineers...there are few if any left.

a flight engineer who does have a pilot's license has 3 stripes

a first officer or copilot (cow pilot as some say) wears 3

a captain has 4

if you made captain and lost it due to seniority, you may keep your jacket with 4 stripes but must wear three stripes on your shirt...and a copilot's hat...no scrambled eggs as some call them. this really is done to prevent having to pay to remove the stripes or get a jacket switched out


I know one guy who wore 5 stripes as captain...but then he wasn't employed too long after he pulled that stunt.


I think you are thinking about certain european airlines that allow the third stripe when a pilot has passed his captain upgrade/type rating but does not have the seniority to hold a captain bid.

[surplus1]

there is a slight difference I would like to point out... a flight engineer who is not holder of a pilot's license would hold 2 stripes...at one time a flight engineer did not need a pilot's license. these folks were called PFE's or professional flight engineers...there are few if any left.

In the US, I would agree with that. If I recall, the elimination of the PFE and the requirement that an engineer must have a pilot's license was an invention of the ALPA. They did it to eliminate the separate FE unions and to increase pilot employment. If I'm not mistaken there was even a strike (I think EAL was the "test" airline) before this was settled. You're right there are no more PFE's unless they're granfathered into companys operating older freighter aircraft or perhaps some non-union box carriers. That's because we don't manufacture aircraft with 3-pilot cockpits any more.

Back when as I recall, there was little worse than having an engineer who was really an inexperienced pilot stuck in the engineer's seat courtesy of ALPA, in an airplane designed for a real engineer. (I date from the time of round engines - when crossing the pond an arriving with all 4 turning was more often than not dependent upon that PFE).

Today the technology has replaced the FE but that wasn't the case when ALPA first ramrodded that change.

if you made captain and lost it due to seniority, you may keep your jacket with 4 stripes but must wear three stripes on your shirt...and a copilot's hat...no scrambled eggs as some call them. this really is done to prevent having to pay to remove the stripes or get a jacket switched out
While what you say above isn't wrong it is, as I said earlier, airline specific. Some do it one way, some another and some not at all. As you say some allow retention of the 4th stripe on the jacket only, others allow the jacket and the boards. As far as I know, none allow the scrambled eggs unless you're the captain of that flight. It depends on the culture of the particular airline, in the US.

I know one guy who wore 5 stripes as captain...but then he wasn't employed too long after he pulled that stunt.
If I had to guess I'd say your 5 striper was a German or a Brit. Just kidding.

I think you are thinking about certain european airlines that allow the third stripe when a pilot has passed his captain upgrade/type rating but does not have the seniority to hold a captain bid.

No sir, nothing that I said had anything to do with European airlines. That's a different ball game. I could be wrong but as far as I know the europeans do not allow you to fly an airliner without a type rating in the that aircraft, whether or not you can hold the left seat. Maybe some euro type will correct me if that's wrong.

[Denti]

In the european airlines i worked for pilots would hold three stripes from the start, no matter how many hours they had (and most have between 80 and 200 hours when they start). Senior FOs (with cruise captain qualification) wear three stripes with the third at double width and captains wear four stripes. Senior cabin crew (called purser or CdC in other airlines) wear two stripes, normal cabin crew wear no stripes at all on their uniform.

As hats are an optional item one always wears the correct number of stripes on all items of uniform dependent on current rank. If a captain is demoted, which happens only as disciplinary action, he will one again wear three stripes. If an airline is shrinking and pilots have to leave they will have to be fired equally from the bottom of both the captains and the FOs seniority list in my country, therefore no demotion will take place in that case.

[737aviator]

FOs go from 2 stripes to 3 after 1 year from completing conversion training in a major Irish LCC if they joined with no previous commercial experience.

[parabellum]

Airlines I have worked for: SO = 1 stripe, FO = 2 stripes, SFO = 3 stripes, promoted after completing ATPL and sometimes a required number of hours, say, 1000 and/or completing a set number of years service. If the airline operates a fleet of single crew a/c as well as multi crew a/c the captain of the single crew aircraft wears three stripes. Captains(multi crew) = 4 stripes.

Some airlines don't have the rank of SFO.