They're not glamorous, but they're very comfortable, with padded bunks and sometimes even in-flight entertainment! With 14- to 18-hour flights no longer unusual, pilots and cabin crew have legally mandated rest times —and airlines also realise that a rested, refreshed crew member is a happy crew member.
They're not glamorous, but they're very comfortable, with padded bunks and sometimes even in-flight entertainment! With 14- to 18-hour flights no longer unusual, pilots and cabin crew have legally mandated rest times —and airlines also realise that a rested, refreshed crew member is a happy crew member.
The cramped conditions and long periods of being less active on a flight can cause pain, stiffness or swelling of your legs. Being less active can lead to slow blood flow in your veins which increases your risk of developing a blood clot, known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
Remember that anything over 6 hours flying time is considered long haul, but flights of longer than 10 hours are not uncommon either. One important thing to remember is to keep your seat belt fastened at all times in case of unexpected turbulence.
With three pilots, flight time can be 13 hours and up to 17 hours with four pilots. That means that on long-haul flights of this duration, pilots will rotate to cover the flight time.
Crew require a minimum of three hours rest when the flight duty period exceeds 14 hours (from when crew 'sign on' to 15 minutes after engines off). For flight duty periods longer than 18 hours, 4.5 hours bunk rest is required. The crew take turns for rest breaks. The first group will rest after the first meal service.
In addition, cabin air is very dry, so the likelihood is that you will be a bit dehydrated (more so if it's a long flight). This can result in a case of constipation and bloating which will add a couple of pounds on the scale.
The record-breaking flights will take place on Airbus A350-1000s, the airline industry's largest wide-body aircraft. In 20 hours, you could bicycle the entire 200 miles from Baltimore, Maryland, to New York City (and maybe even have a couple hours to spare).
In 1958, that Cessna 172 flew nonstop for 64 days, 22 hours and 19 minutes and covered 150,000 miles (240,000 kilometers). That's about six times around the Earth or 15 Sydney-New York flights without touching the ground, and still stands as a world record, according to the Guinness World Records.
For long flights over twelve hours, there are one or two relief pilots onboard so that the two pilots who performed the takeoff can take a break and get some sleep or relax. There are just two pilots on short long-haul flights of eight or nine hours.
The simple answer is yes, pilots do, and are allowed to sleep during flight but there are strict rules controlling this practice. Pilots would only normally sleep on long haul flights, although sleep on short haul flights is permitted to avoid the effects of fatigue.