DAVID LEARMOUNT / WASHINGTON DC
Ultra-long-range crewing practices and onboard rest facilities will have to be better than those used on existing augmented-crew long-range flights, according to an initial study by Airbus, Boeing and the Flight Safety Foundation. The study so far has made recommendations for operational best practices that include onboard rest accommodation going beyond simply providing facilities for horizontal sleeping.
Ultra-long-range flights are defined as those of more than 16h, according to Boeing's chief engineer for human factors Dr Curt Graeber. Ultra-long-range operations with the A340-500 are about to be launched by Emirates and Singapore Airlines. Dubai-based Emirates is poised to introduce its A340-500s on non-stop 14h Sydney services next month, and will start flights to the US West Coast next year. Singapore Airlines will begin non-stop 16-18h flights to Los Angeles and New York next year.
Addressing the Flight Safety Foundation's Washington DC international aviation safety seminar last week, Graeber said that recommendations by the working group so far include a sleeping cabin - ideally within the cockpit security system. It should be quiet, and include furniture to allow a reclining as well as a flat sleeping position, washing facilities and in-flight entertainment systems. It should also feature a humidity-supplemented air-conditioning supply.
Even so, the report says, while this may be a necessary improvement compared with the best existing arrangements, the restorative value of sleep or rest gained on board will not be as good as it would be in hotel accommodation.
The working group also recommends that world standards are drawn up for ultra-long-range crew rostering practices, and time off between duties, because the problems addressed are unlike any that airlines have ever had to face.
Source: Flight International
