While airline passengers frequently interact with members of the cabin crew during the course of
flight, what they generally are unaware of how many are personnel are piloting the aircraft.
While most understand that there are two main cockpit seats these days,
long-haul transatlantic flights require major planning by airlines, and this also includes the
number of pilots needed for such flights. Let’s look at the required numbers in today’s video.
These days, typical transatlantic flights last anywhere between 6 and 14 hours,
depending on the route and direction of travel. In order to facilitate long flying hours,
airlines follow specific guidelines to deploy the number of pilots for each flight.
The requirement for any large commercial flight (short-haul or long-haul) is to have a minimum
of two pilots, regardless of the nature of the flight. That comprises a commander
of the aircraft (the captain) and a co-pilot (also known as the first officer). Since the
piloting job comes with great responsibility, two pilots are primarily required for safety.
Pilots share the workload of flying the airplane, monitoring flight parameters,
making crucial piloting decisions, and communicating with air traffic
controllers. Moreover, in case of an in-flight medical emergency with one
of the pilots, a second pilot can step in to operate and land the aircraft safely.
The requirement of having more than two pilots depends on the length of the flight. Generally,
if the flight is longer than eight hours, a third pilot (second officer) is required onboard.
That requirement may vary slightly between operators. While some airlines require a
third pilot for flights longer than seven hours, others may extend it to 10 hours.
If the flight is longer than 12 hours, a fourth pilot is required. Similarly,
the 12-hour requirement for this fourth pilot may slightly differ
across airlines. The two additional pilots (also known as relief pilots) on long-haul
transatlantic flights switch duties with the captain and the co-pilot in flight.
It is noteworthy that special flights, such as inaugural or training flights,
may have additional pilots and flight engineers regardless of the length of the flight.
Pilot requirements are generally set because most regulatory authorities across the world limit
pilots from actively flying the airplane for more than eight hours in a 12 to 14-hour work shift.
A pilot must take rest for a specific number of hours after they have completed the allowed
flying time. The aircraft operators calculate these factors based on the length of the flight.
So a typical transatlantic flight between Los Angeles and London has a block time of 10 hours
and 30 minutes. Thus, an airline would deploy three pilots with a work shift of 13 hours.
The duration of the work shift covers additional duties of the pilots,
including pre-flight checks and other paperwork required at the beginning and end of a flight.
The requirement of having at least two pilots on controls during the block time results in a
total of 21 hours in this case. Since one pilot is limited to active flying time of up to eight
hours, the three pilots share the active flying time between them for a total of seven hours each.
Similar arrangements can be made for longer flights with four pilots.
The regulations of destination countries, rest facilities onboard, work shift limitations for
crew, and internal union agreements, are just some of the factors that shape staffing requirements.
Did you know about these pilot requirements? Let us know by leaving a comment.