Whats in a title
 

Hi All


Im a newbie here so please be gentle. I'm a fresh Captain and Im extremely proud in what I've achieved. It's been even that more challenging given my gender. I don't want to sound full of myself but does anyone prefix their name with Captain in public eg. emails with schools or banks etc or even presenting a talk to aviation students or non-aviation? Much like the honoring of say medical doctors or lawyers? Is it suitable or is it really only to be used by military?


Thanks in advance.

First of all well done on getting through the Command training. Its up to you what you want to call yourself but it is not a Queens commission in the military or an indication that your skills might need to be called upon in the case of a medical emergency. It is a rank within a flight deck so that the crew knows who the PIC is. Beyond that it has little value. Anyone who is no longer an active pilot but still wants to be referred to as Captain is doing so for purely egotistical purposes IMHO. I have used it in company emails but mainly when communicating with 3rd parties on behalf of the airline to people who might feel that the position of Captain has some importance.

If you show airport cafes your ASIC and tell them
you’re a Captain (they turnover staff so often so they usually aren’t aware of the significance of four stripes on your shoulders) it usually gets an extra 5% off your morning coffee.

I suggest you PM the PPRuNer 'baylover'. He has more than 32000 hours of experience and will, therefore, be ideally placed to provide wise guidance.

(BTW: Any topic or original post that has question marks in it will usually end up in the sub-forum with "questions" in its name.)

Captain of an airliner is the Pilot in Command, it's the same reasoning as in merchant naval terms. The Captain of a ship in civilian terms holds the legal position of "Shipmaster" or master. So if a ships master can refer to themselves as a "Captain" so can the leader (PIC) of an airline crew if they are bestowed that rank by their company. Airplane Captain has a dictionary entry under the naval version now as well. Of course Military ranks are commissioned so that's a different meaning. Remember that in legal terms however you are either the PIC or a Co-Pilot, there's no Captain, 1st, 2nd, cruise officer or such. However your ops manual will give each role a legal run down of what you might be responsible for under the delegation from the PIC.

Are you serious? 😂😂

Absolutely not.

If you want a honest answer, you will be known as Captain w@nker.

Ok thanks everyone. Yeah I wasnt sure how society views it, I mean I now get addressed as 'Morning Captain' when I enter a hotel which is quite nice, but thought it might be seen as a prestigious accolade, much like MP's, justices etc. I mean we've done just as much study as many of them. I must admit though I dont make a habit of going out in public and wearing my uniform. That, I feel is a little pretentious. Sorry, I feel as though my new shiny bars might still have their bling.

I’m a big fan of the series ‘Young Sheldon’. For those who aren’t fans or aware of it or the series of which it’s the prequel – ‘Big Bang Theory’ – it’s about the childhood of a genius who happens to have a twin sister.

Being a twin and having a sister, Sheldon and his twin sister became the subject of scientific study. During the study, Sheldon’s ‘kryptonite’ – as his maternal grandmother described it – became apparent. Sheldon was completely incapable of reading the body language of creatures in drawings shown to him. Although a drawing showed, for example, a monkey whispering in the ear of another monkey while the first glared at a third, Sheldon didn’t construe the scene in the same way as his sister and the rest of the family (or the studying scientist) did, namely as one monkey gossiping to another about the third.

Some people - even really smart ones - construe everything as a literal fact.

Are you sure ‘Hartnup’ and ‘baylover’ aren’t taking the piss, Lookleft?

Call me anything, but late for tea.

This has to be a wind-up. You drive a bus, nobody cares.

A couple of observations.

In the Middle East, everyone is referred to as Captain whether you have two, three or four stripes.

Even the local taxi drivers are referred to as captain.

Not everyone gets paid a ‘Captain’s’ salary.

If I had a dirham for every time I heard the expression “Big problem captain”.

Use your discretion and best judgement….oh and good luck.

Oh, fair go. I remember back in the day McCafferty's referred to their Driver's as "Coach Captains".

I'm surprised nobody has asked what you fly. Captain of what?

Plenty of Captains getting around Divers/Monsoons/KNX Hotel on Friday nights…

Should they - no. It’s a job description, nothing more. Makes as much sense as writing a letter to your kid’s school addressed as “Assistant Pastry Chef Jones” or “Apprentice Boiler Maker Smith”.

Does it happen in reality? Yes, unfortunately in a very small minority......

If I remember correctly, way back many, many years ago all AFAP members were described as Captain XXXXX on their membership cards.

Not so , now.

I can sort of understand why that sentiment exists actually, especially when you sit with check captains with not only 4 bars but also a star to emphasise their importance. But outside of aviation...nope. I make up stories on my occupation so as not to receive comments on a passenger's bad landing or how easy flying must be with ap on all day.

I can't wait to get out of my uncomfortable uniform.

It's good you feel proud. You should be, but there's no need to gloat to every person you come across.

In a helicopter company I instructed at, the boss and his wife always referred to themselves as "Captain..blah blah" on every piece of paper, their nametags, business cards and so on. Massive onanism, but they were very good at self-promotion.

Other companies laughed at them, but the Captains had the last laugh with the money they pulled down.

I reckon you should call yourself Captain at every opportunity, it's awesome. You never really know when it will jag you a freebie. Did you know medical doctors are not really doctors? They have a degree in medicine, it's just a courtesy. And most people who've done a Doctorate don't refer to themselves as Dr, they're humble. But we're not, we're awesome.