By Name And Nature

Aviators have always lived in a twilight zone of categorisation. Each time they sit down to complete a form, the field asking for ‘tertiary qualifications’ leaves them in a quandary. Despite having sat a multitude of exams and having undergone numerous subsequent checks of their proficiency, professional pilots don’t seem to fit into the ‘degree qualified’ realm. Are they tradesmen or professionals, white collar or pale blue? And how do they bond as a community when they are so illdefined? It is a conundrum that has confronted various trades for centuries. In the Middle Ages, ‘livery companies’ and ‘guilds’ emerged out of London to give trades that sense of community and take on such roles as training, regulation and maintaining industry standards. Grocers, tailors, drapers and fishmongers were among the first livery companies and 500 years later there are only just over one hundred ofthese companies in existence. One such livery company is The Honourable Company of Air Pilots.