I flew on US this holiday season across the atlantic from PHL to FRA. I was really surprised to see that the airline blocked off the bulkhead seats in the rear cabin of the aircraft as a "crew rest area". I've never seen this before on any other airline crossing the pond. Is this something that is common with US airlines, or something that is unique to US. I'm wondering because it doesn't seem to make much economic sense. Any information would be appreciated.

Carlos

I'm assuming that you were aboard a 767-300 as they have no designated (specific) crew rest areas separate from the passengers' cabin. Lots of airlines do this on overnight or longer 767 flights. Haven't been across the Atlantic like this, but SYD-NRT on QF 763 they did this and LAX-APW-TBU-AKL & LAX-PPT-RAR-AKL on NZ 763 also.

Many flights have a third or even fourth pilot on board to satify regulations, so they need a place to be. There are also felief F/As on board some ultra-long haul flights (12+ hrs). It may also be written into the F/A contracts that they will have rest seats (rather than jumpseats) on flighs over a certain period of time.

Sorry, I guess I should have elaborated a bit. I flew on a A330-333. It isn't a long flight at all, about 71/2 hours from take off to landing. For about four hours of the flight, the cabin crew were in these rest areas, sleeping and watching tv. It really surprises me because thats a lot of lost revenue for the airline, something which US could really use.

C

Carlos1979:

This is a common practice. There are normally 2 or 3 or so, depending on the size of the airplane, seats blocked off as crew rest seats. The airline usually curtains those seats off, but US chooses not to do that. The reason anyone rarely sees this is because it's usually behind a curtain.

A 747 or 777 going across the pond has a kind of built in crew rest area. The 767s and 330s do not have that.

Well, you normally receive crappy service on US Scareways transatlantic service, so, you may as well see what the hell the disenchanted FAs are doing anyways!!!

A 747 or 777 going across the pond has a kind of built in crew rest area. The 767s and 330s do not have that.

The crew rest modules (either overhead, underfloor or seperated) are a customer option that can be installed on pretty much any aircraft. They are not standard on the 747/777 and they can be implemented on the 767/330 if so desired.

AF has a crew bunk behind the cockpit and another one under the floor amidship on the A340.saw that one on the ground at cvg several months back.but they are just different 

I flew CO from AMS to EWR on a 777 Thanksgiving weekend and they blocked off 4 of the first class seats with big curtains for the crew rest area.

Sometimes when the flight isn't full some airlines block off seats in the cabin (usually the last row in Y) for the crew, this way their is no lost revenue.

At UA our international 763's have four Recaro Recliner seats in Business class that are closed off by curtains and adjacent to the Galley for FA's. The Pilot rest is a center seat in First Class. There are always three pilots on international segments on widebody planes at UA and they rotate through breaks during the flight.

The 777's have two layouts. Some have a lower lobe bunk room with six bunks in the belly at door 3 for flight attendants. This same plane has a mini-bunk area by the cockpit door that closes off and features two bunks for the pilots to rest. This plane is required for flights of 12 hours or more according to our contract (FA's must have a bunk for ultra-long haul).

The other 777 has a curtained off area of six Recaro Recliner seats in the very forward part of the Economy Cabin for crew rest. The Pilot's rest is a United First Suite in First Class which is covered by a curtain.

The 744's at UA all have bunkrooms up in the tail with six bunks and two business class seats for FA's. Pilots have their own bunk room upstairs behind the cockpit.

FA4UA

NW opted for the "downstairs" crew rest area on the new A330. The doorway for it at the second bulkhead. I was seated near it and saw the F/A's going down for their rest period.

Excuse me!!!???

Ok, a 7 1/2 hrs flight isn´t the longest!!!

But hey, how long is an average workday for a secretary, or a store assistance or maybe a nurse??? And YES, they do take breaks throughout the day!

7 1/2 hours is just the time from take-off to touch down! The workday for a crew working such a flight is much loooooonger!!!

F/A´s are human beings and not robots! We need to take breaks as well as anybody else needs to have some rest! And where could it be on an aircraft, other than reserved crewrest seats, if there is no crewbunk or compartment???

If there wouldn´t be some blocked seats with a curtain to "hide" behind, the F/A´s would never be able to get at least a little break and some rest!
Passengers would never leave them alone while sitting on a jumpseat in the galley! And believe me, working a full flight over the pond definetley isn´t just a piece of cake!!!

Most carriers give at least 4 seats for a restbreak on flights longer than 7 hours.
On LH´s A340, crewrest containers will be installed on flights longer than 7 hours, the 744´s have crewbunks anyway!

So you´re talking about lost revenue for the airline??? You can´t be serious?!
Ok an airline needs to make money, but an airline also needs well prepared and attentive F/A´s NOT falling asleep while on approach!
The F/A´s must be able to handle any kind of emergency situation which (you know it) are most likely to happen during take-off AND, yes you got it LANDING!

Oh, and now for all of you who think that Emirates is such a wonderful and professional airline! They don´t give their crews any kind of crewrest area! And we all know that Emirates is operating really long flights! To Asia and Australia for instance! If the flight is fully booked there is not a single seat for F/A´s to withdraw! I don´t even know if their crews are allowed to sit on empty seats in the cabin!
Now imagine a full Boeing 777, after a long flight, involved in a landing accident in SYD, having trashed and wrecked F/A´s sitting next to the doors who worked for 14 hours (or maybe even longer) without a break!
There is absoluteley no doubt, that such a scenario would result in a major disaster!!!
Very unsafe and unprofessional in my opinion!

I hope you got my point Carlos1979!?

Best regards,

L1011Lover

If I recall this correctly I remember seeing some 4 or 6 seats blocked off in UAs B777 economy. They appeared to be regular economy seats, except for the foot rest and reclining angle I believe. Not sure though so maybe some of the UA employees can enlighten us.
BTW only FAs were using that area.

When I was on UA918/935 from IAD-LHR-LAX (B777-200 version B) the crew rest was in the middle of the plane (on the left side looking head on). Unfortunally I could not have those seats, but they had about double the legroom, footrests, and the people sitting there were in HEAVEN!

--KLM11

Oh, and now for all of you who think that Emirates is such a wonderful and professional airline! They don´t give their crews any kind of crew rest area! And we all know that Emirates is operating really long flights! To Asia and Australia for instance! If the flight is fully booked there is not a single seat for F/A´s to withdraw! I don´t even know if their crews are allowed to sit on empty seats in the cabin!
Now imagine a full Boeing 777, after a long flight, involved in a landing accident in SYD, having trashed and wrecked F/A´s sitting next to the doors who worked for 14 hours (or maybe even longer) without a break!
There is absolutely no doubt, that such a scenario would result in a major disaster!!!
Very unsafe and unprofessional in my opinion!

You're wrong L1011Lover!
EK's cabin crew DO HAVE rest onboard! They use the last seats on 777 and A332 and they have a separate rest area in the cargo area on A345. Emirates have only few flights over 8 hours (PER, KIX, MNL, SYD). Except SYD which is operated by A345 for all the other flights the last seats in economy will be kept for the crew rest. The relief cockpit crew will have two seats in First Class for their rest. Emirates have some of the hardest working cabin crew in the industry but this is just about the way they choose their people.
Every briefing is about safety and EK's safety record proves that.

On Continental's 767-200s the last 2 rows on the right hand side of the aircraft are for crew use only... seats 36KL, & 37KL

AA has F/A crew bunks between 3L/R on B777. On the B767-300 crew rest seats are on the left hand side fwd of the window exits. Bulkhead walls surround the seats not curtains. However, on some of our B767-200's still have crew rest seats on the right hand side fwd of the window exits. Bulkhead walls surround the front and back of the seats, on the side it's just curtains.

AA Cockpit bunks on the B777 are right behind the cockpit. The B767-300 they sit in F/C.

AASTEWLGA

On my flight from ATL to Gatwick, Delta closed off the last 4 rows on
our 767-300 for the crew.

PIA777

Hey hey hey CanainUK!
Well, you normally receive crappy service on US Scareways transatlantic service, so, you may as well see what the hell the disenchanted FAs are doing anyways!!!

I beg to differ... my experience on US Airways from the US to the UK was absolutely GREAT last September!!
A nice A330, and really nice IFE and food and drink!
I would fly em again!

At AirTran we sit on a beer kit in the galley!  

I flew US PHL-LGW and received fantastic service on their A330 aircraft.
It remains one of my best flights ever.

But hey, how long is an average workday for a secretary, or a store assistance or maybe a nurse??? And YES, they do take breaks throughout the day!

But hey, how long does a secretary or store assistance spend sitting down?

But hey, how much crap does a secretary put up with compared to a FA? Can a FA descide just to walk out the plane to take a break? Does a secretary go down the office hallway collecting trash and saying "Thank you" with a smile or serve grumpy people what they want?  

Let the FAs keep their seats!
-Will
P.S. I have some information on ATA Crew Rest Seats that I'll post later.

Scareways? What a stupid thing to say! US AIRWAYS has fantastic service!

Period.

On AC here's the scoop:

B747-400C
19HJK (1st row bulkhead Cabin C) allocated for crew breaks on International Flights--an "old" contractual item

MDCRC (Main Deck Crew Rest Compartment) container installed by entering the cargo hold at L4. Accomodates 7. Used for approved crew sleep for flights of 11:30 and over. Used when aircraft flew over the Pacific. Now mainly YYZ/LHR-FRA & YUL/FRA.

A340-300
LDMCR (Lower Deck Mobile Crew Rest) modified below container which sleeps 7 on flights of 11:30 and over. Accessed by stairs from main deck.

B767-300
MDCRC (Main Deck Crew Rest Compartment)
Permament main deck compartment at the back of the Y/C Cabin. Sleeps 3 for flights of 11:30 and over. On non-equipped aircraft, 3 J/C seats curtained off.

A330-300/A320/A321/A319/B767-200
Last row of seats left open where possible on flights which are not full.

In a nutshell...zzzzzz...good night!

B747-347B:

A 747 or 777 going across the pond has a kind of built in crew rest area. The 767s and 330s do not have that.

The crew rest modules (either overhead, underfloor or seperated) are a customer option that can be installed on pretty much any aircraft. They are not standard on the 747/777 and they can be implemented on the 767/330 if so desired.

Thank you. I knew that the 747s and 777s usually had some kind of built in crew rest area. However, I've never flown those, so I wasn't sure just how optional it was.

I have no idea where one one build in a crew rest area on a 762, other than to use curtains. US 330s simply have seats blocked.

PiedmontGirl:

Seem to remember that Varig 767-200's had crew module with 2 parallel bunks right behind J/C Class on the left side. Perhaps one of our friends from RG could confirm?

Cheers FLYACYYZ