Why do so many commercial pilots have mustaches?
Posted by TurntechGodhead777@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 102 comments
Can someone please explain the allure of the stache to me?
StrangePersimmon5695@reddit
“baby face without, can’t have beard” - exact words from my husband
Ruepic@reddit
In Canada we can have beards, only 1.25cm long tho.
Historical-Pin1069@reddit
But you can have tattoos on your arms lol weird rule
888MadHatter888@reddit
Disallowing tattoos might present a problem when a very large number of pilots come from the military. Eliminating that entire pool of talent over something like tattoos that are sliiightly more difficult to get rid of than, say, a beard, seems fairly short sighted, IMHO.
21MPH21@reddit
Interesting. Never heard there was a limit. Is it documented somewhere?
TripNo1876@reddit
Company manual
21MPH21@reddit
Would like to see it, if it's published online
Ruepic@reddit
Actually had some news articles on it.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/air-canada-pilots-get-permission-to-wear-beards-1.4825104
21MPH21@reddit
Nice, thank you!
QuietGarlic7788@reddit
Some corporate gigs allow beards from what I’ve seen. Some Part 135 and 137 (American for unscheduled and agriculture) ops also don’t seem to mind beards
Initial-Pain8869@reddit
Bald head, need some hair on my head, can’t have beard.
deltajvliet@reddit
Tell him a mustache doesn't help a baby face 😬
whywouldthisnotbea@reddit
How many baby's do you know that a rockin a mean stashe?
bennygoodman90@reddit
clearly its the Power-Move-Mustache upon the peasants
MarthaKingsButtplug@reddit
Your mom loves them
CaptainChris1990@reddit
W name
TurntechGodhead777@reddit (OP)
My mother prefers her men clean shaven.
dash_trash@reddit
How could she have possibly told you that with her mouth full?
TurntechGodhead777@reddit (OP)
My mother has also told me that she has never given a blowjob.
Bipolar_Leprechaun_7@reddit
How the fuck did that conversation come up?
TurntechGodhead777@reddit (OP)
Well, when I was first becoming sexually active I asked her for blowjob tips and she declined to give me any citing that she had never given a blowjob.
Bipolar_Leprechaun_7@reddit
Why the fuck would you ask your mom for sex advice?
TurntechGodhead777@reddit (OP)
Why wouldn't I? She had been married for over 20 years at this point, so ostensibly she should've had at least 20 years of fellatio experience. I was a teenager so my peers would have at best had 2 years of dick sucking experience.
20>2
Wingmaniac@reddit
.....did you perchance ever have two broken arms?
daygloviking@reddit
I understood that reference.
It’s also possible he had a coconut…
daygloviking@reddit
It’s better than telling the police where your uncle touches you
slay1224@reddit
Damn not even a birthday beej for dad? I feel sorry for the man.
aftcg@reddit
This is true
Kopinu@reddit
When you get the license it happens instantly, the women too
Goop290@reddit
The gf hates the feel so I shave on the drive home. In the morning its back. Can't get rid of it.
CaptainChris1990@reddit
All the girlfriends? Bad luck dude
Gloomy-Employment-72@reddit
And sunglasses.
CapytannHook@reddit
And the prenup
goatfuckersupreme@reddit
as if pylotes are getting prenups...
SurroundSex@reddit
And the divorce.
odin_the_wiggler@reddit
It's very much like the Teen Wolf transformation.
mikepuyallup@reddit
Top gun Maverick
XBacklash@reddit
The number of people who think they're Miles Teller. I don't have the heart.
cincocerodos@reddit
I don't know why that's who they'd be aiming to look like, his moustache looks like a skeezy 13 year old's. Although to be fair it's pretty accurate for about of junior officers in the Navy.
XBacklash@reddit
There was a huge uptick at work after Maverick came out.
cincocerodos@reddit
Mine looks great until I have to wear glasses and then I just look like I belong on a registry.
nellonthemellon@reddit
Looks cool
ImmaPilotMeow@reddit
How else do I keep my lip warm?
Random61504@reddit
Because if I shave it off, I'll look like I am 13 and trying to find my mom.
mfsp2025@reddit
I’ve always gone for a clean shaven look. I had one time a passenger asked the flight attendant why a 16 year old was flying the plane. Maybe I need to grow out the stache.
NoDistribution9217@reddit
Yeah… us men don’t look like men when clean shaven. I’ve never understood the no beard rule, just make it required to be neat and clean. Looks a lot better than 16 yr old looking boys flying the jet!
mfsp2025@reddit
Agreed. I always love seeing the guys with beards and automatically knowing they’re international crews (as if the 16 flight attendants in a teal blue uniform following them doesn’t give it away)
Random61504@reddit
I tried growing a beard after I graduated high school but it came in patchy and I just looked homeless so I've shaved it ever sense. I've kept the stache though, I think that is the one thing keeping me from looking like a teenager. Although I've been told my stache makes me look more like a skateboarder than a pilot hahaha.
FinbarJG@reddit
Have you tried looking at her boyfriend's place?
A_Squid_A_Dog@reddit
I am also trying to find this redditors mom
Efficient-Mind-2213@reddit
Helps when determining the crosswind component for landing and serves as a wind shear detector.
alcoholwipe3880@reddit
i’m a female and when i passed my commercial checkride it started growing. so weird!!!
OptFire@reddit
The stache generates extra airflow and thus more lift.
Staffalopicus@reddit
Freddie Mercury tributes
One_Action2515@reddit
The bigger the moustache the better the landings, principles of flight 101
Mcdonahue_official@reddit
Ohhhh you mean the FO stache! They are called pipe cleaners, you know to keep the flight deck morale up!
legimpster@reddit
Because they can…but not because they should
Ok-Cryptographer7080@reddit
The real reason
AlexJamesFitz@reddit
Prevents ice buildup on the leading edge.
gritsource@reddit
“With great mustache comes great responsibility!”
Impressive_Jury_2211@reddit
My wife calls it the womb broom
casualcrusade@reddit
Mine calls it a saddle.
N1BugUp@reddit
To hide the cold sores, duh!
shaftman14@reddit
Can confirm. Girlfriend passed her CPL checkride and her stache had grown by the time she got home.
dfelton912@reddit
It's actually a line item on the ACS. If you're not at least getting stubble on the approach for landing full stop, automatic unsat
flight_char_@reddit
I just wish power off 180s were as easy as growing mustache for me.
InJailForCrimes@reddit
They're the peak of good looks and masculinity.
The_5star_Golden_God@reddit
Because they can’t have beards because of the oxygen masks in the cockpit.
Apprehensive_Cost937@reddit
Not because of oxygen masks, it's because some airlines are stuck in the 1960s mindset.
Ruepic@reddit
Transport Canada acknowledges there can be some negative effect of having a beard but airlines like Air Canada allow up to 1.25cm.
daygloviking@reddit
That’s not a universal regulation ;-)
knuckles53@reddit
Because they are locked out of the larger cultural trend. Right now beards are very popular (I have a theory as to why, but that's not important for this opinion), but most US airlines don't allow full beards, so pilots have to settle for mustaches.
KITTYONFYRE@reddit
I think mustaches are almost, if not more popular. especially with the 20s crowd, I feel like I see them more
but I have a stache so I see who I want to see lol
nhorvath@reddit
probably because thier parents are millennials with beards.
TurntechGodhead777@reddit (OP)
What is your theory about beards?
jetstrea87@reddit
Some countries allow full beard, flew some captains with square beard
Apprehensive_Cost937@reddit
Not some countries, but pretty much every airline outside of USA.
jetstrea87@reddit
The airline I use to fly allowed up to have facial hair as long it was well groomed
theaviator10@reddit
Because otherwise it looks like my mom is waiting to pick me up after the flight.
derdubb@reddit
I don’t know the why, but some of y’all look absolutely ridiculous.
SyncTheSquirrel@reddit
aerodynamics.
aftcg@reddit
It's a tribute to Robin Olds
EnvironmentCrafty710@reddit
Because they're young and insecure.
Turbulent_Face_Cake@reddit
Because I can’t grow my pubes out.
Brambleshire@reddit
It's the only facial hair permitted
rick_rolled_you@reddit
Honestly I’ve been contemplating shaving it for such a long time. Maybe when I lose some weight, but then my stache will look even better…🤔
twistenstein@reddit
Air Force cold warriors couldn't grow beards, so they punished everyone else.
Nojoyonthattraffic@reddit
They will take your certificate if the stache goes away.
Crazy_Arrival_1052@reddit
There is one guy at DL that has one of the worst rat-staches I have ever seen. "Influencer" Type. Can't believe no one over there has told him to loose it.
grumpyoldman10@reddit
Top gun.
21MPH21@reddit
Just don't grow the handlebars like your in Vaudeville.
Pornstash moooostash
TxAggieMike@reddit
The stache that Jack Lemmon had as Professor Fate was an epic one.
Same with Muttley’s parner, Dick Dasterdly.
Swimming_Way_7372@reddit
That Dastardly reference is a deep cut.
scottyh214@reddit
I’ll shave that answer for when you become one.
Actual_Environment_7@reddit
Because it’s socially compliant.
exteriorcrocodileal@reddit
Regular beard is out of regs (can’t seal a mask either)
Vincent-the-great@reddit
Its our culture sir
Roger_Freedman_Phys@reddit
It all goes back to the 1930s and Roscoe Turner.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscoe_Turner
sirrubeyk@reddit
It’s in the PHAK somewhere but I already forgot that stuff
fly_awayyy@reddit
When you can’t have a beard so you have a stache…
sugardab@reddit
my girlfriend says i don’t have an upper lip…
rFlyingTower@reddit
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Can someone please explain the allure of the stache to me?
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