View Full Version : Pilots travelling with their company
RexBanner
26th Nov 2007, 11:33
Just a quick question. Do Pilots travelling with their employers (and not flying the a/c themselves) be it for positioning flights or general travel get to travel in Business/First Class if there are spare seats? I might get laughed off the forum for asking this but I was under the impression this used to be usual practice. Obviously its a different world nowadays! Does it still occur?
It depends on the employer - and, of course, if there is such a class:)
No longer ATC
29th Nov 2007, 16:12
Yes..in theory anyway! In BA,flt deck crew on duty travel should be in F or J.
chornedsnorkack
29th Nov 2007, 20:49
Do Pilots travelling with their employers (and not flying the a/c themselves) be it for positioning flights or general travel get to travel in Business/First Class if there are spare seats?
Do pilots on duty travel get to travel in first class when there are NO spare seats?
Obviously, it is better that one paying passenger should be involuntarily denied boarding than that 500 passengers should be grounded because a pilot does not show up to fly the plane. And duty travel ought to be first class rather than economy seat or jumpseat: would you feel safe landing if the pilots flew 8 hours previous AND spent the 16 hours immediately preceding in an economy seat?
IRRenewal
1st Dec 2007, 11:58
would you feel safe landing if the pilots flew 8 hours previous AND spent the 16 hours immediately preceding in an economy seat?
That pilot wouldn't be allowed to operate. Positioning before a flight duty counts as duty time. Flight time limitations would kick in and stipulate a minimum rest period.
chornedsnorkack
1st Dec 2007, 12:53
That pilot wouldn't be allowed to operate. Positioning before a flight duty counts as duty time. Flight time limitations would kick in and stipulate a minimum rest period.
In which case a question arises what is rest and what is not rest.
After all, you have the A340-500 and B777-200LR planes which land after 18 or 19 hours airborne. Someone must land them. They have to rest somehow when airborne. An economy seat probably does not qualify as rest, and neither would jumpseat. But does a first/business class seat qualify as rest?
No longer ATC
1st Dec 2007, 17:23
That's what the "heavy" crew, and bunks are for !!!
darrylj
2nd Dec 2007, 11:30
btw,..
where are the crew sleep bunks on a 747 400?.
i was told its near the tail.
many thanks.
Orangewing
2nd Dec 2007, 15:25
The crew rest on 747-400 is near the tail and upstairs for the cabin crew, and a separate bunk at the back of the flight deck for the pilots. Shame really...:E
Nicholas49
3rd Dec 2007, 18:44
Straying slightly from the thread, is it frowned upon for flight deck members to talk to pax during a flight? Of course, I'm talking long-haul and when the crew are not on duty on the flight deck. I've never seen this happen.
Similarly, one hardly ever sees pilots outside the flight deck by the main door saying goodbye to passengers. Is this just a consequence of shorter turnarounds and more concentrated flying?