China Eastern (MU) pilots flying airbuses single pilot?
Hi,
I've flown China Eastern as a passenger several times recently. I've begun to notice that when reaching cruise, if first class is empty, one of the pilots comes out of the flight deck, sans tie and epaulettes, and sits in 1st class for several hours.
I'm sure you're thinking it's probably a relief pilot on a long haul flight staffed with 3 or more pilots. No. This is on short hops such as HKG-PVG in an A320 series. At first I assumed that the white shirted individual was some sort of cabin crew supervisor but no, they clearly come out of the flight deck at TOC, then re-enter the flight deck at TOD and don't re-emerge.
The resting pilots returns to the flight deck near top of descent. However, I am a bit concerned that they are flying the majority of these flights single pilot (for hours at a time).
Please, someone allay my fears and tell me that MU staffs their short haul flights with 3 or more pilots. I hope this is the case and that I'm just being paranoid.