Eating Break Whilst on Flying Duty
 

Dear ALL,

I', not sure if this is the right place for it but here it goes.

I work for a scheduled airline in the UK and was wondering what is the law regarding our rights as Cabin Crew/Flight Crew to minimum Lunch Break or just a break whilst on duty flying?

I used to work in an office and the requirement is that for every 4hrs of work you MUST take a 20min break.

Our turn arounds are 30min and most of the time you don’t get a chance to eat crew food because we have to clean the a/c do security check and the next thing you know the pax are at the door step.

I have gone without eating on sectors and I know that’s not good and even sometimes felt weak.

Some Capt give us a few mins and stop boarding so that we can eat, they then get into trouble with management for being late. Other Capt are just worried about their own a*** to go on time and then they eat their food up front during the flight where we can’t eat at all because there is no time as sectors are short.

I’m looking for some legislation to show to management that air crew must have minimum break during the day and on average I fly 8hrs a day, I need to eat and be watered if only that, after all we are humans too. There is just so much commercial pressure to be on time it’s not good for all of us any more and not eating has to be a safety issue.

It seems that we as air crew seem to have less rights than factory workers!!!

Does this happen in your airline?
Can something be done about this?

Thank you in advance, all replies welcome.

HBP.

I was talking to my crew yesterday about this! Did a four sector day yesterday, high pax loads all day. 30 Min turnarounds and every time we had finished the services to get a break seatbelt signs came on for landing.

We found ourselves stuffing our faces whilist taxi-ing. My crew were so hungry and exhausted.

Is there some regulation regarding cabin crew breaks??

Ian J.

As captain I brief the SCC member that I am quite happy for CC members to eat in the flight deck so that they can have a break away from the pax and have some time to eat with out the constant disturbances from pax who won't give the crew even a 10 min break.

I an constantly surprized at how few CC take up the offer of a meal break away from the pax.

Hi!

Speak to your union about it, there would definately be a regulation on how long and how often you should receive breaks and they should be able to help you in regards to this and even approach the airline to remind them of this aswell.

Oz

Food For Thought
 

I advise my cabin crew to take a break as they see fit. They are there for the safety of the passengers. If they are de-hydrated or hungry then they are not concentrating on the job.

Jaffa. :cool:

Did you hear this joke............

How do you know when you have had a flight attendant for dinner?

She eats it in 2 mins flat, standing up, then wipes her hands on the curtains!!!

Well, its not quite a joke, its true! When i was working for a budget airline, 6 sectors a day, it was just a matter of grabbing something when you could. There are no laws about breaks like there are if we were on the ground.

When i was in EK, we did get breaks, especially on long flights.

My advise is to have a big meal before you go to work, the crew food sucks anyhow!

Hi!

Where i work, getting your 20 minute break or whatever it is, is just an expected thing. Although, obviously on short sectors when there's no time, you try and get something to eat when you can, but you should definately be getting breaks no matter whether you work on the ground or in the air! Definately look into it. On longer sectors (where i work anyway) it is up to the Onboard Manager and the Second Senior to organise crew breaks for their respective crew.

Oz

There are laws, or agreements with unions, governing breaks in most countries.

As a supervisor it is up to you to ensure your crew are 'fed and watered'. If you have to change the onboard service to allow breaks to be taken then thats what you have to do.

Its all about 'Duty of care'

Hi,

Did anybody ever find out any more about this?

:)

You really need to talk to your union. At my work place we change the services to allow crew breaks especially on short flights. Management at some airlines dont care about crew breaks they find revenue more important. However saying that we have excellent flight deck and they look after us. Good luck

I too used to work for a scheduled carrier in the UK that did not plan for meal breaks. At the tiem (and maybe now, I'm not sure) the union wasn't recognized by the airline and therefore couldn't do anything about it.

As the sccm, I would rotate the crew at the back and in the middle for boarding duties so that one could be in the rear galley eating with the curtain across the galley entrance. This was far from ideal, but at least they managed to eat. I would just grab something when I could.

Crew Breaks
 

When working as a purser, during check-in SEP and First Aid questions, I would always organise a crew break with the crew members and agree a rotation by concensus. A HAPPY CREW IS A HAPPY CABIN. Obviously if circumstances onboard demanded an increased workload, the working team would agree a change to fulfill our commitment to the service. Again this was by concensus and consequently nobody had a greivance against myself or management. 'An Army Marches On It's Stomach' and all employers should prioritise meal breaks as well as adequate food and drink for its workforce.

The CAA and DfT are looking into this universal problem. Most short haul crew can sympathise with this issue. Up until recently there was no legal standards in place for us crew, so we were exploited. The new working time directive now incorporates flying as crew so we should see some drastic changes in the next couple of years. It ill be interesting to see how much bite they use as giving us breaks will have a huge impact on schedules, turn arounds, crew numbers etc. I cant see the public wanting to pay higher ticket prices just so the crew can have the same humane standards that are given to animals on the way to the slaughter house. Until then its snatching a mouthfull when you can.

6

Looking at the legal rules regarding rest breaks, a worker is entitled to a 20 minute break if they are working 6 hours or more a day.

But............it does say that transport workers are a different case. Are cabin crew classified as 'transport workers' I wonder?? :confused:

That was a rhetorical question.............wasn't it? :ugh:

No not really.

I just thought that the term 'transport workers' might be all about lorry and train drivers who have stricter rules about how long they can work. The site I was looking on was not specific about the definition of 'transport worker'. :)

My airline has a 'supplementary payment form' for crew to submit if we don't achieve our breaks. It is signed off by the cabin supervisor, and needs to show the reasons for breaks not being achieved. Crew then receive a penalty for any hours worked over the 6 hour thresh-hold. I have seen it make a considerable difference to some crews paypackets.

If your airline has this type of system it needs to be utilised to its full extent. Every little dollar adds up and if the airline starts to "bleed" this money I'm sure the beancounters will start to ask why. :E

Can't get involved in the legality question as I'm not a lawyer (any more).
What I would like to know is what CC mean when they offer you "drinks". Is it:
a. Our company sop says we have to contact the f/d every 20 mins so here we are to offer you drinks even if we don't have time.
b. We are bored and looking for something to do.
c. I want to come onto the f/d and talk about some crm/operational issue.
d. something else (please specify).
Some guys take drinks whenever they want, yet some guys deliberately abstain.
Comments please.:confused:
Cn.

Well, we have to call you every 20 minutes and as we're generally a polite bunch we offer you a drink at the same time.

Sometimes I wanna come in and sit down for 2 minutes away from the passengers.

Sometimes I just want to marvel at the expertise with which you soar and glide through the clouds.

Very rarely I've come to get an eyeful of one of you I've got the hots for... :}

A and C, while I admire you for offering this to crew, it might not be so much that they don't take you up on the offer rather than that they simply can't because they don't get a chance.

Another likely reason is that we tend to take our break at the same time and the team "spirit" carries through this and we like to eat as a group.

As for legislation, it's all a bit grey at the moment, but if you have a Union recognised then get them on the case. At Britannia (ok, tfly) we are quite happy to (and have done so when required) to drop a service to ensure that the crew get an oppertunity to sit down for a half an hour and get some food in them at some point in the day. Management have no comeback. Perhaps something to look into threatening your companies with.