Changing the Beard Rule for United Pilots

Generations of US pilots have been subject to personal grooming rules that say they may have a mustache but no beard (facial hair below the upper lip.) Originally, the issue was oxygen masks not creating a proper seal around a beard, but that has long changed with newer technology.

The newer version of the rule seems to align more closely with a dress code, that considers beards to look unprofessional. As decades pass, what may have once been considered unruly, perhaps largely from the military backgrounds of many pilots post-WWII and Vietnam, is no longer the case.

Well-manicured beards and facial hair are much more commonplace than even twenty years ago. An article from last year stated that 67% of New York men had some form of facial hair. Politicians, lawyers, businessmen, and other professions that once were clean shaven have loosened rules. And perhaps most pertinent: airlines from around the world (plus Hawaiian domestically) allow there pilots to grow beards.

Regardless of whether you'd like to sport a beard or think pilots look better without them, I hope we can have consensus that it should be left up to individual choice rather than our employer as long as it is kept up well. It could even help recruit young new pilots.