Need advice on student’s daily attire

Hello all. Looking for your thoughts on this matter. I’m a new Chief instructor at a Part 141 flight school here in Washington. Nearly every student at this flight school dresses normally for their lessons day to day. (Nice pants, decent shirt, regular shoes - nothing really special but presentable nonetheless) But there is a student that showed up to his stage check with me last week wearing old sweat pants, crocs, an old oversized t shirt, and hair an absolute mess. He comes in often like this. We don’t have any uniforms or rules regarding attire for students at all. But my thoughts are that he’s coming in for a stage check, not looking presentable or even remotely professional. He apparently wants to become an airline pilot. Mind you, he’s 35 years old.

What are your thoughts on the his very common day-to-day attire? Are we saying anything or not a big deal? I believe he should be more presentable when coming in for his flight training. But am i being too much of a dictator concerned about the way he dresses showing up to flight training? Or do i address this? Any and all thoughts are appreciated!

Posted Jul 5, 2026, 9:03 PM UTC

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