crew rest

[ac666]

Grüß Gott,

I would like to know what the policy is for Lufthansa (and other airlines) in regards to crew
rest on long haul flights for Flight Attendants. We currently have a policy of no sleeping and
no crew rest facilities (or even seats) on any flight under 11.5 hours (with no regards to
departure times or night flying). One example is a flight on a 767 from HNL - SYD with 7
F/A's that departs at 01:30 local time with a 10.5 flying time and we are not entitled to any
crew rest. After that our layover is 24 hours and we turn back to HNL. Unfortunately we
have a very poor contract and I would like to know what other companies policies are
concerning crew rest.

Vielen Dank und ich wünsche Euch alle einen schönen Sommer.

[chiemseenixe]

Hi triple 6!

I am in shock! You don't have anywhere to rest on a long distance flight??? That's terrible...

LH differenciates between two types of long distance, one being the regular long distance with a total flight duty time of less than 14 hours and the so called "Schnellstrecke" where the fdt is 14 hours or longer (here the cockpit crew is enlarged by a senior first officer)...

On the regular long distance flights (on an A 340) the cockpit crew rest (2 bunk beds) can be used for the break and also 2-4 economy crew seats (they are located next to the rest rooms, btw)! This is decided by a "drawing", so if you have a seat on the flight there you usually have a bed on the return flight.

Here's also some additional info from our operation manual:

Resting on board:

Only on night flights the purser may allow the cabin crew to sit but not lie down in the seats in the pax cabin when:
-the pax cabin is darkened
-the majority of pax are asleep
-the whole seat row is unoccupied

Should a crew member's break coincide with the presentation of the film, the resting cabin crew member may watch the film in m-class (eco), provided pax are cared for with respect to their needs and a whole seat row is available. Watching the film during daytime flights is prohibited.
...

On the Schnellstrecke flights mobile crew rests are loaded onto the plane and everyone is able to get some sleep in a proper bed... with nice clean crispy sheets, proper pillows and a blanket...

[chiemseenixe]

Nevertheless, have a great summer and happy landings!!

Nixe

[Wizguy]

"Watching the film during daytime flight is prohibited!" ???? How come? what about if you are walking around the aisle many times or sitting on the crew seat at the back of the aeroplane so that you can see the movie!!

[chiemseenixe]

It is not allowed to watch the movie on a day time flight because the company doesn't want the pax to get the impression that we are not doing our job. (Imagine 4 f/as on their break sitting there watching the movie, now that would really raise some questions by pax, wouldn't it?)

A "regular" pax would not know that it is your time off and that other colleagues are on watch now...

[ac666]

Hi Nixe,

Thanks for your reply. Sounds like you guys have it right. I just read the article in our
operations manual in regards to crew rest and it reads as follows.
"Crew members are forbidden to sleep and should not appear to be asleep at any time while on flight duty on board an aircraft, except during an approved crew rest period in the crew rest area" The only flights that qualify for crew rest are flights with a scheduled duration of 11.5 hours or greater. Also the company can draft us to operate a domestic flight after
operating an overseas flight as long as the duty day does not exceed 14 hours. This means if you are operating an all night flight from HNL - YYZ (9 hours with no crew rest) you can be forced to work domestically up to 14 hours. I think we have a long way to go on achieving good working conditions.

Schönes Wochenende...