Originally Posted by
totti
Hi there!
I did a search but could not find the information I was looking for (maybe because of the search terms?).
I flew PHL to FRA (AA700) the other day. The flight was operated by an Airbus 330-200. Right after takeoff, one of the pilots left the cockpit, settled in 5A right behind me and had a nap. When I got up shortly before arrival in FRA, another pilot removed the crew rest curtains in 5A and went back to the cockpit. So I assume there were 3 pilots on duty this flight. Is this standard for AA on this route? At least on BA and LH I always only had two pilots on flights to the northern East Coast cities (e.g. BOS, NYC, PHL). Just curious how this works.
Cheers,
totti
There would normally be one at least Captain and two First Officers on that route; it's not unusual to have a couple of Captains and a F.0. On my recent LAX-DOH-LAX flights (~16 hours) we had four cockpit crew.
On some aircraft like the newer 777s, there is a crew rest area in the crown (there's what looks like a secured closet door forward that opens to the stairs leading there) and there's an FA rest area as well (the CRC, or Crew Rest Area).
On others, A330, B757, B767 there are no rest areas so seats are set aside for the PNF (Pilot Not Flying) and the Flight Attendants (the NGBC 767 has the seats at row 17 set aside for crew rest, therefore the curtains, leg rest and extended recline - I'm not sure of the 767 CIP). Crew rest issues are usually negotiated between management and cabin crew / Union representatives and at minimum adhere to FAA regulations governing crew rest.
See the crew rest areas in several newer aircraft from representative airlines
here, c/o Airline Reporter, and
here c/o the Daily Mail.