At a party Saturday night, several of us compared notes regarding recent flights we've taken and had us wondering about the length of flights, and safety regarding the crew with sleeping, breaks and so forth. I told them I'd find out from the well traveled Fodors forum

For example, when flight time from one country to another is 20 hours, it's likely broken up with connections. Or maybe not? So what is the longest flight you're aware of? Also, on these lengthy flights, does the crew actually sleep, or just take breaks?

Serious questions. We all wondered since crossing the pond to the UK and Italy were our lengthiest trips, which we all hope will change sometime soon!

My friend is in the US currently. he is about to return on a Qantas flight I believe from Dallas Fort Worth to Brisbane Australia for is about 15 hours.

Here is a little bit of a story about it


Are we there yet? A pesky but predictable question 14 hours into a flight. With the exception of two other flights, you'd be there by now, wherever there is. But this is QF7 and it's taking us from Sydney to Dallas-Fort Worth.

It's Qantas newest and longest flight -- 13,804 kilometres to be precise and a scheduled flying time of 15 hours and 25 minutes. It's the third longest flight across the world, only Newark to Singapore (15,327km) and Singapore to Los Angeles (14,09km) are longer.

The 747-400 landed and and was given a water shower from two DFW fire trucks before arriving at Terminal D. Photo: AP

It's also the longest route in the world flown by Boeing 747 jumbo jets.

The airline opted to cease flying direct to San Francisco in favour of Dallas as the latter is major hub for flights in North America. It is also the headquarters of Qantas's US codeshare partner American Airlines.

Singapore airlines flies from Newark to Singapore in an all busines configuration. Only 99 people make a lighter Airbus A340.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-stop_

General rule of thumb

0-9 Hrs 1 crew

9-12 1 crew plus 2 back up rested pilots

12 + 2 Full Flight Crews

14 hours is generally maximal "on duty" period.

A non-stop flight, especially in the aviation industry, refers to any flight by an aircraft which does not involve any intermediate stops. A "direct flight" is not ...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-stop_flight

sorry for link pooch...

As mentioned, Singapore Airline's SIN-EWR is the longest scheduled commercial flight, for both distance and duration.

SQ21 EWR-SIN takes around 18 hours in the air - with various flight paths. Sometimes over North Pole, sometimes across Atantic.

SQ22 SIN-EWR takes around 19.5-20 hours in the air. Crosses over the Pacific.

There is absolutely nothing to worry or wonder about the crew. Regulations and pilot union demands make sure it's as safe as shorter flights, if not MORE safe.

The planes for long haul flights are being designed with sleeping areas for crew above or below the passengers so they don't have to just rest in some seats with curtains around them.

For example, on a recent DL Airbus 330, the flight attendants took a break in the lie flat area they accessed from a door by the lavatories between the two sections of coach.

As an international flight attendant with a major US carrier I would like to respond. All flight attendants must have a crew rest with any flight over 7 hours in accordance to FAA rulings.Our crew rests are determined by how much time we have in the flight subtracting all of our beverage/meal services along with doing dutyfree,etc.

If we are flying from the US to LHR, the flight time is around 8-9 hours so we usually have a rest period between 1 and a half to not quite 2 hours. On a flight that is usually 17 hours from Africa to the US, we might have a crew rest of 5 hours.Flying from South America to the US we usually fly at least 10 hours so a crew rest of 2-1/2 hours.

When flight attendants go on crew rest, the breaks are usually started after we have completed the first beverage/meal service and done the dutyfree service.There is always one purser( A or B cabin) along with half of the flight attendants on duty while the other half is on crew rest.(Pilots also have crew rests and always have a complete complement in the cockpit at all times!)

Most of the airlines now have crew rest bunks up above you in the economy cabin-a stairway to 6-8 crew bunks with curtains. Some of the planes also are configured with a crew rest "container" that can be moved in and out(if the flight is used for a domestic flight for cargo)that is located downstairs next to the cargo containers. It can be really hot or really cold and sometimes noisy if there are animals in the next hold to our crew container.Again there are 5-6 bunks with curtains,reading lamps with blankets and pillows.
All of these configurations are sooo much better than our old crew rest seats which used to be in the back of the economy cabin with a curtain back by the lavatories which was always noisy with people standing and sitting on your arms.
My longest nonstop flights that I have worked have been to Johannesburg SA/17 1/2 hours and Dubai which is usually about 15-16 hours.