Pilots Lose Jobs for Losing Uniforms

By Stephen M. Silverman

Monday April 28, 2003 07:36 AM EDT

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Talk about your friendly skies.

Two nearly naked Southwest Airlines pilots were recently fired after they reportedly took off all or part of their clothes in the cockpit while flying -- and then summoned a flight attendant to bring them paper towels and soda water.

"We conducted a thorough investigation and terminated the two pilots involved for inappropriate conduct," Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Ginger Hardage tells the Associated Press.

The pilots -- who have not been named, nor their flight numbers released -- have reportedly appealed their firings, arguing that they were flying that way after one of them had spilled coffee on a uniform.

That still doesn't explain why the second pilot followed suit.

As recalled by New York's Daily News, when the low-budget Southwest first took to the air in 1971, one of its selling points was that the flight crew showed a little skin. Flight attendants wore hot pants -- the females, at least.

But generally, Southwest pilots have always worn uniforms.