Quoting Bazzamundi
" Genex, QF are the only airline in the world who carry 2 second officers as part of the crew complement. Cathay and Air NZ carry one s/o and 2 f/o's. BA, United, Emirates and others all carry a heavy 4 crew complement of 2 Captains and 2 F/O's."
Air NZ have a 4 pilot crew as standard on a few routes, PEK, YVR and on occasions when there is a short turn around on slightly shorter routes normally crewed as a three Pilot Crew..
The Standard crewing for 4 pilots is 1 x Capt, 1 x F/O and 2 x S/O. Only when there is a shortage of S/Os, then they may be replaced by either a Capt and/or F/O.So if a four pilot crew included only 1 x S/O the the extra Capt/F/O is acting as a temporary replacement for the missing S/O
Last edited by ghw78; 15th Apr 2010 at 11:33.