Right Hand Seat

Following WW11 the airline uniform was virtually a civil copy of the military uniform but as the years rolled by the airline uniform was altered to appear less military and more that of smart business attire.

Airlines at large work on the premise that a neat and tidy pilots uniform is in keeping with the image that the airline wants to project to its fare paying passengers, that of an air of competency and to give confidence as well as authority should the need arise. Passengers like to see pilots look like their idea of how a pilot should appear. The uniform does that.

These days all airlines have a dress code that their aircrew and cabin staff are required to follow. For pilots that uniform is typically blue trousers, a white pilot shirt with tie and epaulettes as well as metal or fabric company wings. Virgin Blue favours brown garb. A jacket typically compliments the shirt and trousers.

A pilot’s uniform is also practical by being comfortable to wear sitting in the cockpit for long periods of time. The shirt is most often short sleeved. Long sleeves, while impressive for business meetings and covering tattoos, can snag things in the cockpit.

In the GA field most charter operators go for the blue pants and white shirt, with or without wings and shoulder stripes.

In outback Australia blue or brown work pants and shirt can be seen, sometimes with shorts, as a compromise against hot dusty conditions.

Floatplane pilots may wear a polo shirt with shorts and slip-off footwear like Crocs.

Large flight schools also have a dress code that requires commercial students to wear a uniform, again typically the blue and white combination.

And what is the flight school trying to achieve?

The uniform puts all students on an equal dress footing and creates a sense of identity, hopefully a professional one at that. Properly worn it will stamp ‘pilot’ on the wearer but more importantly it will encourage an attitude that will go with the candidate as he or she moves into the world of commercial flying. It takes a certain attitude to focus on the goal, that of getting a commercial licence. That licence is not something that simply turns up at the bottom of a cornflakes packet. It is something that has to be worked for and something that takes blood sweat and tears. While there are exceptions to the rule the wearing of a pilot uniform at flight school can assist.

It is not unknown for some schools to send a student home if they turn up in less than the stated uniform. For other schools there may be a more relaxed attitude towards the wearing of a uniform. In both cases it is not unknown to have a student wear a uniform that is slightly different to the standard. Shirt tails hanging out and the shirt in need of a wash and a hot iron are but two examples. Shoes can be an interesting sight with fashion shoes trying to interfere with the pedal controls and in need of a polish. Trainers or even white sneakers can sometimes be seen as a student tries to tell the world that he is going to do things his way.

A little story. A helicopter flight school instructor looked over his bunch of students, who were dressed in board shorts, tee shirts and boat shoes. He made the comment to them that they should treat everyday as if it were job interview day. The next day they all turned up in blue pants and white shirts! They got the message. And that message is one that all commercial trainees need to understand. With the uniform comes personal discipline and attitude, the discipline that goes with properly presenting themselves and the attitude that is required to study for and obtain a commercial pilots licence and later to fly an aircraft commercially for an employer.

It takes a little work to arrange to have a uniform washed and pressed and shoes cleaned, the things that make an organised pilot.

Wearing a pilot uniform at flight school is not the magic bullet to an airline cockpit but all things being equal it will help. Aircraft operators and fare paying passengers are basically conservative people. They like to see things done a certain way and the wearing of a pilot uniform by aircrew goes toward that.

The motto, talk like a pilot, act like a pilot, look like a pilot, be a pilot comes to mind. The uniform helps.

Contact Dave by email at [email protected]