7 ms·

I'm surprised that this ever became a thing. I've done lots of Sydney to X long haul flights. When the A380 first came out I mentioned the fact of Sydney to Lon

I'm surprised that this ever became a thing. I've done lots of Sydney to X long haul flights. When the A380 first came out I mentioned the fact of Sydney to London non stop to a stewardess, and she said that it'll probably not happen because of staffing issues: That is, a long haul involves a stop, generally 9 to 12hrs in. At that point the whole crew changes over. However, you can't keep the same crew on call for 20hrs without paying them, even if not actually on duty. That is, the staff requirement doubles for the long haul flights. It must've been worked out tho, to allow this one.

robjan 7y ago
Even on a 12 hour flight the staff are required to rest in the crew rest area. I guess they will either rotate resting staff back on or block out some of business class for crew rest. The real issue is that the staff will have to rest downroute for a long time and be grounded more due to cosmic radiation limits.
- tallanvor 7y ago
  Airplanes for such long distance flights already have crew rest areas. Here's an article that talks about the ones for the 787: https://www.executivetraveller.com/here-s-where-qantas-pilots-sleep-on-the-boeing-787-dreamliner https://www.executivetraveller.com/here-s-where-qantas-pilot...
  - robjan 7y ago
    All long haul jets have crew rest areas but, having stayed in then myself, I'm not sure if they have sufficient space for multiple crews e.g you would probably need three sets of people on the flight deck unless they rotate the first set back in.
    - cyberferret 7y ago
      Most long haul flights have 2 complete 2-person flight crews. Generally comprised of Captain, first officer, and 2 second officers. Rotation is such, that at any one time, either the Captain or the First officer is on the flight deck with one of the two second officers. Critical parts of the flight (such as take off and landing) will have the two most senior pilots in command, but less demanding parts in cruise, one of the second officers will be backing up one of the senior crew while the other 2 crew members have mandated rest. Because these are 'hot bunks', you only need 2 available for the flight crew at any time. I assume the cabin crew have a similar rotation system.
bluGill 7y ago
London to Sydney has good stopover points, since you are over land about half way through the trip. North American to Sydney doesn't have a good stopping place in the middle, if you only have a few more hours to you may as well just get there instead of stopping.
- bluesquared 7y ago
  Pardon my ignorance, but what about Honolulu?
  - ryanlol 7y ago
    Looking at the great circles Honolulu is probably fine, however there may be other issues than the location.
    - mastazi 7y ago
      You are right, this is the great circle route SFO-SYD http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=sfo-syd http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=sfo-syd
  - bluGill 7y ago
    The detour it too far. Remember the earth not flat: the shortest line is curved not straight. The most direct route typically goes too far north. A stop in Russia or China would make more sense, but even than the detour is a bit too much.
    - ryanlol 7y ago
      I'm just a lowly PPL so I have zero practical experience with this kind of route planning, what am I missing here? https://i.succ.in/6mEsINqD.png https://i.succ.in/6mEsINqD.png I just don't see how you could reasonably stop in Russia or China while flying from the US to Sydney.
      - bluGill 7y ago

robjan 7y ago

Even on a 12 hour flight the staff are required to rest in the crew rest area. I guess they will either rotate resting staff back on or block out some of business class for crew rest. The real issue is that the staff will have to rest downroute for a long time and be grounded more due to cosmic radiation limits.

tallanvor 7y ago
Airplanes for such long distance flights already have crew rest areas. Here's an article that talks about the ones for the 787: https://www.executivetraveller.com/here-s-where-qantas-pilots-sleep-on-the-boeing-787-dreamliner https://www.executivetraveller.com/here-s-where-qantas-pilot...
- robjan 7y ago
  All long haul jets have crew rest areas but, having stayed in then myself, I'm not sure if they have sufficient space for multiple crews e.g you would probably need three sets of people on the flight deck unless they rotate the first set back in.
  - cyberferret 7y ago
    Most long haul flights have 2 complete 2-person flight crews. Generally comprised of Captain, first officer, and 2 second officers. Rotation is such, that at any one time, either the Captain or the First officer is on the flight deck with one of the two second officers. Critical parts of the flight (such as take off and landing) will have the two most senior pilots in command, but less demanding parts in cruise, one of the second officers will be backing up one of the senior crew while the other 2 crew members have mandated rest. Because these are 'hot bunks', you only need 2 available for the flight crew at any time. I assume the cabin crew have a similar rotation system.

bluGill 7y ago

London to Sydney has good stopover points, since you are over land about half way through the trip. North American to Sydney doesn't have a good stopping place in the middle, if you only have a few more hours to you may as well just get there instead of stopping.

bluesquared 7y ago
Pardon my ignorance, but what about Honolulu?
- ryanlol 7y ago
  Looking at the great circles Honolulu is probably fine, however there may be other issues than the location.
  - mastazi 7y ago
    You are right, this is the great circle route SFO-SYD http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=sfo-syd http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=sfo-syd
- bluGill 7y ago
  The detour it too far. Remember the earth not flat: the shortest line is curved not straight. The most direct route typically goes too far north. A stop in Russia or China would make more sense, but even than the detour is a bit too much.
  - ryanlol 7y ago
    I'm just a lowly PPL so I have zero practical experience with this kind of route planning, what am I missing here? https://i.succ.in/6mEsINqD.png https://i.succ.in/6mEsINqD.png I just don't see how you could reasonably stop in Russia or China while flying from the US to Sydney.
    - bluGill 7y ago