How Many Pilots Are Needed For A Transatlantic Flight?

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.

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[MarceloTrindade]

These rules apply for all long-haul flights, not only transatlantic.

[RonPiggott]

We should be talking about the push from financial holders to try and get there to be 1 pilot in the cockpit.

[cdl]

Time zone changes and schedule are other factors. One individual leg of a trip may be well within allowed hours; however, a combination of time zone changes and overall schedule make it unsafe without relief crew on board. It can be a source of friction between airline management and crew. Strapping a member of management in the jump seat for the tour has been known to resolve these arguments, because they are fast asleep for most of the flight!

[szechunglui]

more factor to consider
pilot report time is one,
normally, pilot will have more allowable flight time if flight departs at daytime
less in early morning / late evening, even less on mid-night (red-eye) flights
**Time zone different / rest before operation are also affecting max allowable flight time
flight sector is another,
2 or below sector, nil reduction on max pilot flight time
3 or above sector, approximately 30min reduction per extra sector
**All subject to airline home base restriction

[paulselby]

Good video and explanation on time and requirement for Pilot on long haul flights.

[kolbase]

Wham flying from Frankfurt to Chicago we had only the two pilots as the flight was under 8 hours

[tonylam]

You left out one major sector, the military, where all the civilian rules are out the window, especially in times of national emergencies, then you be on duty as long as they need or till they find another pilot. Get tired in flight, they can always sleep a few hours in the front office and let the other guy man the store.This was done quietly till some airline made it an accepted practice. I heard of cases in the military long ago when all three are asleep and "George" was flying. Often, flights crossing oceans, there were just 3, 4 hours between turn around, and booze is cheap (duty free) in the military, so you down 1/2 a bottle just to sleep. A rigid hours of service rule will not work well anywhere, I saw that in trucking too, and sometimes it is actually more dangerous, ask KLM !

[DavidB]

When I worked as a ferry pilot, it was one!

[bbbl]

I knew more than two pilots were required, but I didn't know how many hours of flying were required to add the additional pilots.

[LimaAlpha]

what about the crew of qantas's project sunrise ?

[Soordhin]

That video is clearly based on FAA rules. EASA rules allow flight duty times of up to 14 hours for a two pilot crew and with up to 2 landings. And of course, as flight times vary with wind, track, airspace restrictions and so on, while rosters have to be finalized up to six weeks in advance (rosters have to be published 2 weeks prior taking effect and are usually published for a full calendar month), me and my fellow union reps actually used great circle distances when we negotiated augmented crewing for longhaul flights under EASA rules to make sure pilots would not have to routinely work that long. Nevertheless, even then 12 hour duties for pilots were still the norm, as they are even now commonly for shorthaul crews doing 4 flights in such a duty.

[JxH]

Halifax to Dublin (or similar *shorter* Transatlantic flight) on a 737 was about 5h. I didn't see any evidence of extra pilots, but can't be sure.
12h or 16h, sure. Very obvious.

[brookeintheair]

Relief crews are expected though and nothing new

[davexx]

It depends on the type of aircraft for the amount of pilots to be on a transatlantic flight

[nijenplayz]

Do one for pacific and indian ocean please.

[christopherhennessey]

No, I didn’t know, but I had a feeling.

[TheNthbeach]

Wonder how many we’re going to need for Qantas SYD-LHR and SYD-JFK with flight times of 21 hrs. Not sure how many are used on the current LHR-PER.

[gnhansen]

How many pilots are there on a Perth to London flight?

[IAHSpotting]

I was thinking about 3 pilots were the average.

[Perich]

Trans Atlantic flight is like OTR Team drivers.