Originally Posted by
Magnum9
The FAA piece I was missing. Thank you.
8+ hours blocked on LHR-BOS? We’re in Winter when headwinds are strongest and that flight isn’t even close to 8-hours let alone 8+:
UA25 LHR-BOS 7h 5m
https://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL25
I fully support Pilot’s needing proper rest, but these short BOS-LHR-BOS TATL hops don’t even touch 8-hours.
BOS-SFO can be just as long in winter as LHR-BOS. Does UA block a J seat and put a 3rd pilot on those flights?
I tried to keep it simple here, but there is much more that goes into this than just the block times.
I have not flown on the 756 in over a year so I don’t know how the BOS pairings are currently being built. Considering there is no BOS Pilot base, I’d guess the pairing is designed as a 6 day trip called a “W” ex: IAD-LHR-BOS-LHR-IAD.
Part 117, JCBA , WOCLs, all factor into the decision to augment a flight.
Having a third pilot allows flexibility and increased duty times because the pilots are not going to be in Europe long enough to become acclimated.