Cabin crew in flight rest explained: the bunks on the 777, 787, A350 and A380, who gets the bunk and when, rest periods by flight length and the rules

Air NZ Auckland, nine years, long haul purser, everything is 12 hours from here, and the in flight rest is the thing the ultra long haul crew live by and the applicants have never heard of. The bunks, the rest periods, the rules and the reality: here it is from the aircraft and the regulations as a purser applies them.

The crew rest compartments

The 777 (the overhead crew rest above the aft cabin, six to eight bunks, the ladder from the galley), the 787 (the overhead rest above the forward or aft cabin, six bunks typically, tight), the A350 (the overhead rest, six to eight bunks, the quietest of the four), the A380 (the lower deck rest on some configurations, the most spacious, or the overhead on others). The bunks are a mattress, a curtain, a reading light, a seatbelt, an oxygen mask, a call button and the airflow. They are dark and they are the best sleep the crew get on the ultra long haul. The A330 and the A340 and the older types have the rest in blocked seats or in a small compartment, which is the next paragraph.

Who gets the bunk and when

The rest is divided into breaks (two or three on the ultra long haul) and the crew are divided into groups (A and B, or three groups on the longest flights), with the groups taking the breaks in turn after the first service and before the last. The purser allocates and the allocation is by the service plan and the positions, with the seniority and the preferences a secondary factor at most airlines (the first break is the one the body wants least and the one the junior crew get most). On a 17 hour flight each group gets a break of three to four hours in the bunk, and the time in the bunk is the difference between a functional crew at hour 15 and a dangerous one.

The rest periods by flight length

The regulations (the national FTL rules and the airline's scheme) set the minimum in flight rest by the flight duty period length and the rest facility class: the class 1 bunk allows the longest duty extension, the class 2 (the seat in a curtained area) less, the class 3 (the reclining seat in the cabin) least. A 16 hour flight with the class 1 bunk and the augmented crew is legal; the same flight with class 3 rest is not, and the rules are why the ultra long haul aircraft have the bunks. The crew should know their scheme's table because the purser applies it and the crew can check it.

The seat rest on the aircraft without bunks

The medium long haul on the A330 or the 767 or the older 777 configurations without a crew rest: the rest is in the blocked passenger seats behind a curtain, in business class on some carriers and economy on others, and the rest is a seat sleep, which is a different quality. The crew on these fleets know the sleep is worse and the fatigue is higher, and the FTL tables give them less extension for exactly that reason.

The rules the crew should know

The minimum rest is a minimum, and the purser who shortens it for the service is breaking the scheme. The rest must be uninterrupted (the call button is for the emergency, not for the extra blanket). The rest time starts when the crew member is in the bunk, not when the break is announced. The crew who do not get their minimum rest should report it (the fatigue reports on the health board are the mechanism). And the crew who cannot sleep in the bunk should still lie in it in the dark, because the rest is the regulation's requirement and the sleep is the body's gift when it comes.

For the applicants

The ultra long haul job includes the bunk and the bunk is the thing that makes the 17 hours possible. The medium long haul on the aircraft without one is a harder flight at a shorter length. The rules exist and the crew who know them are the ones who get their rest. And the first break at hour two, which the junior crew get, is the one the body learns to use, eventually.