Originally Posted by
LHR/MEL/Europe FF
It was your proposition that it would not prevent these incidents, based on circadian rhythms. But it is an interesting question as to whether mandatory crew rest periods are based on circadian rhythms rather than set time periods. I know for many crews at many airlines they don’t have the luxury of layovers based on circadian rhythms. Not sure if BA is different. I agree it’s not ideal that crews have to sleep in the allocated time, even if they might not be tired. But that’s the way the industry is.
no I explained that circadian rhythms meant that the crew arriving two hours earlier doesn’t mean they would get any additional rest, nor does it stop their sleep being interrupted.
it is a very different thing to have a tots plan twitch a known night shift, for example, a well designed rota will either have a period off beforehand and the individual is able, knowing what they will be doing, to plan for it in advance, or shifts that swirl progressive around the clock, rather than regressive.
in this case we are talking about short haul. They don’t fly overnight.
to be clear as you continue to persist with this idea- the crew arriving early would not prevent their rest period being interrupted and the legal issue this then presents. The reality is it would just increase costs for the airline with no benefit.
This also is not my “proposition”, it is the consensus opinion of sleep specialists including those who specialise in aviation, based on research. I’m no expert but I did do a structured review into pharmacological fatigue countermeasures so I do have some knowledge on the subject. But I would also point that it isn’t just me, but equally other posters have Pinter out that what you are suggesting would provide no benefit. I’m failing to understand why you persist to think otherwise.
The minimum rest period is defined by national regulators, as I understand it the CAA require a minimum of 11 hours rest (12 hours if the airline doesn’t provide the rest facilities or twice the previous period working if higher and any travelling time over 30 minutes added on top of this, 10 hours must have access to the facilities (hotel room). So for a flight departing at 0705, they will need to have landed by 2005 the previous night. In theory this would mean that the crew operating BA986 could be the night stopping crew- indeed that would give an additional 70 minutes on the legal minimum but the reality is BA use an even earlier flight to night stop. This has not prevented this crew having their rest interrupted.