Tattoos and Airlines

[VFE]

BEagle indicates the kind of caustic response you should prepare for at interview. My advice? If you have one then hope it's not hugely visible and if you don't have one yet then ask yourself if it's worth the extra self inflicted hurdle. Tough competition out there these days and if it's sponsorship you require then you're facing a 90 degree uphill slog if the tatts are clearly visible. If they're on your face then goodnight and best of luck! Check Yellow Pages for shrinks.

But give it 20 years and it probably won't be a huge problem though. That is my opinion. Reckon the first tattoo'd Prime Minister will be in around 2020 and will probably be a Tory.

VFE. (no tattoos and no plans for any).

[scroggs]

Tattoos are a fashion item, indulged in by people who have failed to appreciate that fashions change but tattoos are permanent! Such a lack of forethought and judgement could be reasonably penalised at interview, don't you think? You might say 'I was young, guv, and didn't understand the consequences', but, as BEags implies, I can find several equally young people who did understand the consequences and thus whose judgement I might consider to be somewhat more sound - a quality I value more than a little in a pilot.

Of course, if your tattoo is small, tasteful, and not in view in normal clothing (as is the case with most women's examples), it's not an issue. If, however, you have arms full of the things, you are displaying an allegiance to an extreme of fashion closely connected with aggression and anti-social behaviour, and that is not an image that any airline wishes to be associated with.

Obvious, really, innit?!

Scroggs

[er82]

>>every tattoed, pierced yoof trying for a job in the airlines<<

OOOppppsssss. Never classed myself as a yoof before. Went to flying school at 18, finished all training at 19, first airline job at 20. I have a tattoo (not visible) and a pierced navel. Are you telling me that because I have these two things I am not worthy of flying commercially for an airline? If so, why?

As far as I'm concerned, in this day and age if your tattoo isn't visible, then it should make absolutely no difference whatsoever as to whether you are suitable for an airline job or not. I can't really understand the prejudice behind tattoos nowadays. If it's because it may make someone look 'scruffy', then I also think every man with an un-kept beard should me made to shave it off.

If you have worked your butt off throughout your training and come out with decent grades, good flying reports etc, you have a decent attitude and personality and would be able to work in a confined space with another crew member who may have different religious and political views to you, and are able to operate an aircraft safely, why the hell should it matter whether at a young age, when perhaps you might not have known better, you had a part of your body decorated with some ink????? There are far worse things you could have done.

I did know what I was doing when I had my tattoo - I don't blame it on an inebriated session. I am also about to get my second one. Again, not visible - unless of course I was to fly with no shirt on! I am intelligent - not some yoof, and whilst others may not like tattoos, it would be wrong of airlines to discirminate against those who do have them.

[fireflybob]

What about an earring, then?

[scroggs]

Forget it!!

Scroggs

[JohnnyPharm]

What about Indian ladies, they have pierced noses and red dots tattooed on their foreheads for cultural reasons. But I don't know of any female Indian pilot's.

Even if it is not visible on the outside, it sure as hell will be visible when you go for the medical, and if your AME is an Oxford Old Boy the sight of a tattoo will immediately trigger thoughts of the criminal intent of the future pilot he is examining.

lol

[cumulus]

Spaketh Milt:

"Tatts

Trouble is anyone who goes for Tatts is clearly exhibiting a low IQ and most a predisposition to criminal intent

Wouldn't get a job in my airline or enterprise

Saw one poor kid once who had a dotted line tattooed around his neck and marked Cut Here. Would YOU employ him?

One of the first questions you will be asked is

When did they let you out?

I feel sorry for you, especially if the tatt was done during a bout of inebriation."

Well, I have a red propeller on my port buttock, and a green one on the starboard cheek ( its a naval thing...), are you saying I can't have a job?
While I agree that most people would probably be uncomfortable seeing an Airline pilot with LOVE and HATE tattooed on his knuckles, and a swallow underneath his eye, I don't think discreet tattoos really have much significance these days. I knew a Lynx Pilot who had the "celtic band" tattooed around his upper arm, and he seemed pretty intelligent to me, with no noticeable predisposition to criminal activity. (of course, I could be totally wrong. Maybe every weekend he morphs into some kind of uber-chav, and spends saturday nights screaming around supermarket carparks in a souped-up Nova 1.2).

[mrbungle]

JohnnyPharm said:

>What about Indian ladies, they have pierced noses and red
> dots tattooed on their foreheads for cultural reasons. But I >don't know of any female Indian pilot's.

The red dot or bindhi is not tatooed onto their forehead you t*t!

Some Indian women use a black dot when younger and single to show there under the protection of their father and red when married.

Shheeesh !!

[minus273]

I was thinking of getting a red tapered line in a square on my chest and text inside that says "Cut here in case of emergency".

Or maybe "Fly" and "Die" on my knuckles.

You think that would count me out?

Seems all a little silly to me. If you cant see them who cares.

I would agree that it is a bit of a generational thing to me, I know a lot of old pilots that smoke, how stupid is that? Yet they still have a job.


Anyways is an amusing post none the less.

-273

[BEagle]

er82 - lose the tribal painting and the scrap iron in your navel - or lose a job. Your choice......

Same goes for men with ear rings. Not wanted, thank you!

Along with many people more than 20 years old, I utterly detest the current digi-yoof obsession with body piercing and tattoos. I sincerely hope that those in authority make it abundantly plain that such disfiguring mutilation is wholly unacceptable for professional flight crew members......and show such people the door pretty sharply.

[er82]

disfiguring mutilation..... i'd hardly use those words to describe tattoos.

BEagle : surely your 'old man' views could be classed as discrimination in this day and age. Whether I have a tattoo or not does not affect my ability to fly an aircraft, nor has it affected my intelligence. I'm quite happy with the way I can interact with people from all backgrounds - no doubt someone who has to fly with you would feel uneasy about any differences of opinion they have to you, what with your condescending and patronising attitude and inability to accept someone who might choose to express themselves in a manner which you would not.

AS far as the scrap metal in my navel, I only go for platinum and real diamonds!

[Penworth]

well said ER82

Beagle - I hope I never have to fly with anyone as discriminatory and patronising as yourself. I don't have any piercings/tatoos, and have no wish for them, but I certainly wouldn't prejudice against someone because of personal choices they've made.

Of couse, prejudice and discrimination are rife in our society and people will be perceived in a different light based on how they look, and this definitely applies to job interviews for "professional" jobs such as pilots.

PW

[Northern Highflyer]

In these days of equality does that mean any female pilots have to remove the "scrap metal" from their ears too ?

[GJB]

I agree with BEagle, and to dismiss him as having 'old man views' is pretty disrespectful as you don't even know who you are talkign to.

To all these young "anything goes, liberal, carefree, i can do what i want to do because I can" types - please carry on as you are less competition for the rest of us. You are barking up the wrong tree trying to get into this industry with such an attitude and outlook on life.

AS BEagle was trying to say - the CHOICE you made to have a tatoo done is what is in question as it does reflect poor judgement.



P.S When you are a wrinkly old man, sitting with your granchildren on your knee, will you still be proudly rolling up your sleeves and flexing your ego?

[VFE]

AS BEagle was trying to say - the CHOICE you made to have a tatoo done is what is in question as it does reflect poor judgement.

So because chappie spotted a tattoo when he was 18 and decided that it would look good on his lower arm he'll select the wrong approach plate, upload insufficiant fuel, fly through a particularly large CB and accept late landing clearances with glee.

Yeah, that figures because subjective aesthetics are comparable to scientific logics, right?

VFE.

[scroggs]

er82, while BEags pronouncements may be a little reactionary (and possibly designed to provoke....?), there is no doubt that visible tattoos are not acceptable for any person who is required to give an impression of calm, well-judged professional competence. Most people would be somewhat alarmed if their GPs faced them in a surgery with tattoos and piercings evident, and pilots are no different. Part of our job is to give confidence to our passengers; if we closely resemble the rowdy elements that inhabit most British high streets after 11pm each weekend we are working at a disadvantage we don't need.

Now, get this into your head. This is not about discrimination; it is about selecting those people that have the judgement and good sense to fly our aircraft and project our companiy's image of safety and reliability. People with visible tattoos are showing evidence that their judgement is unsound, and the image they portray is incompatible with that of the companies they are applying for.

If you have visible (when wearing normal uniform) tattoos, get them removed. If you are in the habit of wearing an earring, do not do so at an interview, or when flying - ever. If you have had other piercings that are visible, remove the metalwork and allow the piercings to heal over. That's, of course, if you want the job. If you prefer to retain your badges of allegience to fashion and/or music, by all means go ahead - but don't expect to find employment in any customer service industry with higher standards than McDonald's.

Scroggs

[High Wing Drifter]

Surely to be an effective pilot on every relevant level you must adopt a conformist attitude and mentality. Does somebody with a tatoo look like a conformist? Regadless of what your true personality is like you simply can't expect people to try extra hard to see the real you confronted with a blatent display of the opposite.

[ChocksAwayUK]

I'd see a tatoo as very conformist.

I think there must just be a big generational gap in the perception of the tatoo. I can accept scroggs' point that pilots need to instill confidence in the public and there are still many out there who carry certain preconceptions and we probably have to be wary about such prejudices that still exist. Not that that makes it right, that's just the way it is for the time being.

[BEagle]

No - sorry but no matter how hard you argue to the contrary, if you turn up with tribal painting or scrap iron on your face at interview, funny old thing but you probably won't get the job. That's the fact when airlines can be choosy!

Clint Eastwood had the right way of dealing with inappropriate male jewellery in 'Heartbreak Ridge'......

[High Wing Drifter]

I was just thinking. Danny was a paratrooper was he not. Bet he's got a tatoo!