What's a good word for airship crew?

[Svrtnsse]

I currently have the following sentence in my wip:

Everything she knew of the world she'd seen on television or heard from sailors and fly boys.​

It should be pretty clear what sailors refer to - pretty much anyone who works on a boat. The question is what's a good corresponding word for the crew of an airship? Google says fly boy indicates a pilot, but on an airship there's more crew than just the pilot.

Any suggestions?


EDIT: I ended up changing it to sailors and travellers two minutes after posting the thread. Suggestions are still welcome though.

EDIT 2: I changed it back to fly boys again. It sounds more romantic.

 

[CupofJoe]

I think they were [historically] named as if on a ship. There was a Captain, Helmsman, Deckhands, a Mate, a Chief Engineer etc.

 

[pmmg]

On a passenger jet, they would be the flight crew. Could call them air crews?

 

[Yora]

The technical term would be aeronauts, I guess. Though that might be too fancy for everyday use. Unless airships are meant to be fancy cutting edge technology.

 

[skip.knox]

Aviators.

 

[Orc Knight]

May or may not be a joke, though probably one. Skyguys.

 

[World Anvil]

Skymen (like seamen) or Cloudriders

 

[FilipePassosCoelho]

depending on how common or dangerous, you can use a humorous approach to naming them. If it is a fairly new concept, your population would see airships as magic, unnatural, sinful, you name it. and out of spite, the crew might have adopted those names, like "pigeons" or "hawks". if you are coming from a more modern POV, where airships would be seen as something awesome, people would be jealous of those crewing such a wonder, and you can probably use terms like aeronauts, or skywardens

 

[Miles Lacey]

I would want to know what the primary function of the airship is. Is it the transportation of cargo? The transportation of passengers? The conduct of military operations such as bombing raids?

If it mostly carries cargo you could call them "sky mules". If it's the transport of passengers they could be called "air stewards". If it's for military purposes they could be called "sky demons".

If being derogatory they called be called "Flying swineherders", "flying donkeys" and "sky jocks".

 

[SithLord]

Maybe airmen (for vagueness or official rank identification) as in the modern Air Force.

 

[Heliotrope]

Actually, flyboys and skyguys were my favourite suggestions. They sound slangy and like something Amelia Earhart might say, which added voice and authenticity to the narrator.

And yes, much more romantic.

 

[Miles Lacey]

Actually, flyboys and skyguys were my favourite suggestions. They sound slangy and like something Amelia Earhart might say, which added voice and authenticity to the narrator.

And yes, much more romantic.

Flyboys was the nickname given to pilots in the U.S air force during World War One primarily because of their age. It was used as an insult originally but the term can be used in both a complimentary and derogatory way, depending on context.
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Skyguy is a registered trademark for a German on-line game and a nickname given to Anakin Skywalker during the Clone Wars in the Star Wars saga so check the copyright before using it. If you get past that hurdle skyguy is certainly more romantic and it is a more upbeat and positive term to describe a pilot or airship crew. It has that whole Golden Age of Aviation feel to it.

 

[ChasingSuns]

Agreed that flyboys and sky guys sound great. Even with the historical connotation of the term flyboy, it could possibly give the readers a reference point, something familiar that they can associate with. Maybe play around with it, airboy, skyboy... perhaps something like cloudchaser? Idk, now I'm just kinda spitballing. But I would say, maybe just play around with different words that represent the sky or the wind. You could also do two different terms, one official and one slang. Like, for example, aeronaut, but people casually refer to said aeronauts as skyguys.