I am a pilot, and I am tattooed. (see my tattoos and story here)
That statement itself is a bit of a paradox in the mind of many aviation and pilot folks out there. By nature, the hobby and career attracts conservatively-minded people who may never consider tattoos as a form of expression. Others who may consider a tattoo are fearful of the career consequences of getting one… a fear that’s promoted by the opinions of many on the web in forums and advice websites.
Regardless, I am a private pilot, work as a professional in the aviation industry and have many friends and colleagues who are as conservative as you can get. I rarely speak about my tattoos unless asked and it’s even rarer to see them displayed. To me, they are very personal expressions of my innermost feelings and passions.
And ironically, that passion is flight.
So as a result every one of my tattoos uses flight as a theme. Eventually most of my “private” body will be illustrated with flight-themed work — that’s how much I love flying.
There’s an ongoing arguement whether tattoos will keep you away from getting hired by an airline, and I have yet to see clear evidence of the impact. Certainly any tattoo that’s visible when you are wearing your uniform (let’s use a short-sleeve shirt for the sake of arguement) might risk employment due to dress code standards, but what about hidden tattoos?
Some have the opinion that company physicians report tattoos, even hidden ones, to recruiters. This I have NEVER found evidence of. Others say the AME (Aviation Medical Examiner) reports these to airlines in First Class Medicals — again, I have never seen proof of this. My AME did document my tattoos, but it’s within his own file and he said it’s only there for the sake of body identification if it was required after a crash. Kind of morbid, but certainly not public info.
Of course, if anyone has evidence of these practices, I am interested in hearing about it… email me at tattoosinflight@gmail.com to let me know and I will change the statement above.
