Where's my hat?
 

When we don't know our name after a 15 hour duty, and it's hotter than a steam room you want us to wear the full compliment inside the car? It's just not going to happen.

No napsack/ rugsack, fine, and I'll even wear my hat in the airport terminals looking like ace mc kool but wouldn't a nice little email suffice or even a gold stamped letter? No cost cutting on 2200 full color plastic handouts. Darn, so tired, I left mine in the car...

As a side dish, the HKG flight is now a complete waste of time. We are now staying at the airport !! There is NOTHING around and the MTR is a long trip to the city. We have to be the only international airline staying at the airport. Now there's some cost cutting with zero consideration to the crew. May i suggest you set your alarm for 5am Dubai time to take advantage of the free breakfast. Allowance not included. Pathetic.

The "Hat" thing is bizaar.

Etiquette dictates that
1) Gentlemen should not wear hats indoors.
2) Gentlemen should not wear hats in vehicles.
and
3)Common sense dictates that you don't wear a hat on the apron as it's a potential FOD hazard.

So taking into account 1+2+3 when would be the time to wear said head garment?

Just asking:ok:

Hat in Terminal no worries, but on the crew bus/car, they can foxtrot oscar :mad:

Notice that LOS is also now "All Inclusive", what joy habibs. Even more points against one of those. The good $$ on that layover was the only thing going for it. I guess grog isn't included :sad::sad:

SyB :zzz:

The lunatics really are running the asylum :ugh: ED is a complete and utter tw*t :yuk:

Hi,

save some costs by binning the hat. As mentioned above, when is it actually possible to wear the thing anyway. Added to that, it looks silly in my opinion.

Rgds.

Where does one put their PJ's? Next trip just grab some first i guess.

It funny how it all works out... there obviously seems to be a major culture differences amongst pilots views on wearing hats.

Take for example in the UK the only pilots you often see wearing hats are British Airways pilots. Nowadays most pilots in the UK don't wear hats even when there airline issues them, this rose to the situation wear the airline bean counters had there way and the airline stopped issuing pilot hats (mine included). The idea being if they won't wear it then don't waste money making them.

However there seems to be a bigger issue here, there seems to be a sense that the hat is embarrassing, or more a taboo over wearing them.

Having said that there are some pilots mainly ex Air Force who still wear there's even after the company stopped issuing them (we are probably talking about 5 pilots at the most, out of XXX total).

Now in direct contrast to this if you go to any part of Asia or the Far East the majority of pilots are wearing there hats, granted this could be because the airline has imposed rules/guidelines (we have all heard the stories at Qatar) but I'm a firm believer that there's more to it. Even if they had a choice I think that the cultural aspect plays a big role and many would wear them. It seems to me that there's a sense of professionalism about it, one which dates back many years.

Take Japan for example it does not matter what job you do around the airport but everyone has a uniform or overall. Its the idea of being professional and adds a sense of respect.

I'm not saying either is right or wrong, it just always puzzled me why some did and other did not wear them. I guess culture has a big part to play with how pilots around the world view the wearing of a hat as part of their uniform.

Aka.

Joe Public can't tell what airline you are any way.

How many times have you smiled, given the knowing nod to a pair of pilots from another airline walking the other way and thought I have no idea who they work for.

So if we (pilots) can't tell then the pax sure as beans can't either.

Even if we walk with our crew (Which doesn't happen often).
The pax don't give a rats, all they care about is price and making it to the other end alive.

What a waste of money... Well done EK

AKAFresh: you mention BA and hats, well guess where this comes from?

Yep, ex BA man himself TCAS!

Ed just delivers the good news. Muppet.

Please file the plastic letters on receipt in the appropriate bin. The more they pile up there the more they can register the contempt we have for these idiots who should have better things to do.

Quite frankly I don't give a rats ass about wearing our hats. If the company demands it, then so be it. I do wish management was smarter though.

I noticed the girl taking notes when I went down the escalator the other day so I approached her. Naturally I was not wearing my hat, since it interferes with my Afro, so I was curious why she was taking notes.

She was nice and pleasant and all, but she refused to show me what she was writing on her clipboard. I had a good chuckle and I expressed my POV regarding the subjective viewing of pilots and cabin crew going to work when NO ONE of consequence was within eyesight.

This company is led by morons. ED is the KING... that is a given but there are others rivaling his dominance.

This company and city makes me laugh sometimes.

On a personal note: probably the best thing to ever happen to the MEL boys, is their resignation from EK, although they probably don't view it that way yet. Sometimes a negative in one's life actually turns into a positive. My compassion and best wishes goes out to them.

A question: (not emotional; just a simple quest for knowledge). Do the female EK pilots have a hat, blue, ridiculous issued to them as part of their uniform, and if so, is it the same hat, blue, ridiculous as we mere males wear (or, in many cases, don't)?

...and are they issued with the same shoes, black, ridiculous as we male crew?

---------------

Second - sorry, third - question (to prove my total immersion into Old Fartdom): is there anyone out there among the EK pilot group who really thinks walking through an airport terminal in a uniform, double-breasted, blue, ridiculous with the coat unbottoned and billowing is a "good look" and one likely to engender feelings of awe and reassurance among the travelling public?

A gaping uniform jacket and a "fifteen thousand hour bash" in the hat (some examples of which that I've seen must involve three kilos of fencing wire) is a fashion statement worthy of a teenage Melbourne tram conductor (back in the days when there were such creatures).

--------

In closing, I think everyone, from beancounters to the line pilots, would benefit from a change of policy that dropped the hat.

Some (few) will have been around long enough at EK to remember the days when the stewards also wore hats... and that utterly DREADFUL grey uniform with the unspeakable red tie we all wore. At least we can be thankful that awful grey uniform is gone.

AKA fresh..BA stopped wearing hats a number of years ago after a vote ( democratic show of opinion for those that don't know or forget :}).



As someone posted people see a pilot in an airport and have no idea who they fly for.

But is seems funny that after years of spending billions on marketing it seems that EK will only make money if we wear a hat and do a nice PA. Horse.:ugh:

Joe public chooses where he wants to go, and by and large chooses the cheapest way of getting there.

And as for rucksack being un-profeshanul, wait till I start carrying my Ek issue PJ's over my arm as I walk thro' the terminal..:ok:

We have some prize morons in our management team.

Er no they didn't - my mate sits in the right seat for BA (and I used to work for them to) and I was having a nose through the department press only a couple of months ago.

"Hats are for heads not for elbows" was the quote I seem to remember along with a paragraph and Uniform standards and the requirement to wear hats whilst walking through the terminal (T5 making that a more common occurrence these days.)

In my entire time there I rarely if ever saw a Pilot walk the terminals without it.

That said my Hat makes me look a complete idiot but at the same time I have no problem with wearing it - it still is quite smart.

Now 145qrh, you nearly had me thinking I was going blind!

EYXW - you got to just love the quote though ''Hats are for heads not for elbows''. Ahhh Good old BA! :}

Aka.

environmental head cover
 

Yeah I think you should all wear the hats as I've discovered that inside is a solar panel which when fully charged sends a signal as to where you are on earth....they always will monitor your movements!!1

How are we meant to carry the extra stuff we need for ULH ops....

So which bin should we file them in.

Just so we can all get it right. :)

Why not just wear the hat backwards in sympathy with the policy....

As someone asked on the previous page... is a hat part of the female pilot uniform? Perhaps one of the ladies could tell us.

Haven't cleared my box since the plastic card appeared. Do they now insist we wear a titfa when wandering around EGHQ doing admin stuff or having a cuppa coffee? If so, to quote Effie, "how embarrassment". I'd feel a proper git.

Hats are sexy!:}

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