Oh, Are You a Pilot?

Dear Shawn,

Shortly after the devastating events of 9/11, Mother Airlines decided that we needed to update our image. She gave us new uniforms. I don’t mind change, and I did love the old uniform, especially in contrast to the new one, but in order to save a few nickles, they did away with our stripes. The pilots kept theirs, but the flight attendants lost out.

I was upset, mainly, because we now looked like any ordinary person wearing a dark blazer. I was working in the back of a 757 during boarding, helping people get settled in. I heard the purser make an announcement for all passengers to take their seats. “Good,” I thought, “I’m ready to push back and get home.” A second announcement was made asking for all passengers to be seated. I looked around and saw no one out of their seats. Who was she talking to? When the third announcement was made, I realized that she was talking to me. Without my stripes, I was a nobody.

Secondly, as a safety professional, I felt that I had earned my stripes. You’d never see the pilots get new uniforms without them, why would we? We are the ones in the cabin dealing with the masses and are the face of the airline. We should have our stripes to maintain our image of being just those professionals.

Fortunately, I was not alone in this feeling, and a few years later, we got new uniforms once again, and this time, our stripes returned. The uniform I wear now has two stripes on my epaulets and blazer sleeves, which I love, especially when people mistake me for a pilot. “Look out, Billy,” I’ll hear as I’m walking through an airport, “that pilot is trying to pass you.”

Tonight, while waiting for my flight, a young man approached me and asked if I was a pilot. I let him know that I was not, that my two stripes meant that I worked in the cabin, and explained that the first officer has three stripes, and the captain has four. I then asked if I could answer his question, anyway, and he told me about how he wanted to become a pilot. I encouraged him to follow his dream, wishing I’d started my career in the skies much sooner than I did, and reminded him that we will soon be facing a shortage of pilots. He was enthusiastic and grateful for the chance to talk to someone who obviously loves the career. And something tells me that sometime in the future, I’m going to see this young man come onto one of my planes with three, or possibly even four, stripes.