Ask The Pilot

[jb747]

How does an airline handle crew rest on a once a week rotation, such as the new route that Maldvian Airlines have just commenced between Male and Melbourne? Do the crew do the return flight, stay in Melbourne for nearly a week or pax back on the flight they just flew in on?

Routes like this are unlikely to be cost effective.

You could leave the crew in Melbourne, but the accommodation cost alone would add up. You could pax them back on the aircraft they arrived on, but your issue then is where do you then get the crew for the return journey. Slip time isn’t long enough to use the crew that brought the aircraft in, or even to pax a crew in on the arrival flight. So, where else in Oz, or elsewhere, might they have a crew?

 

[Cynicor]

Routes like this are unlikely to be cost effective.

You could leave the crew in Melbourne, but the accommodation cost alone would add up. You could pax them back on the aircraft they arrived on, but your issue then is where do you then get the crew for the return journey. Slip time isn’t long enough to use the crew that brought the aircraft in, or even to pax a crew in on the arrival flight. So, where else in Oz, or elsewhere, might they have a crew?

I guess what might make it cost effective is it’s the Maldives, so you can charge what you want. Plus the appeal of direct flights means you can charge even more!