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Today, the world's longest route by great circle distance is Singapore Airlines' service from Singapore to New York JFK Airport, at 8,285 nautical miles (15,349 km) with a block time of over 19 hours during part of the year. The close number two is the carrier's services from Singapore to Newark, followed by Qatar Airways' flights from Doha to Auckland, and flights by Qantas from Australia to Europe and the US.
They push the envelope of what's possible with modern aircraft, and have greatly benefited consumers by connecting far-apart cities with nonstops that were previously impossible. However, these routes can be extremely long, which makes them expensive to operate and brings up crewing challenges.
Legally, pilots are only permitted to fly a certain number of hours per year, and the length of routes like Singapore Airlines' New York services means that some crews aren't allowed to actually fly all that often. What's more, pilots are required to rest for much longer after operating such long flights, resulting in longer layovers and more time at home in between flights. This makes ultra-long-haul routes lucrative for pilots and expensive for airlines.
How Flight Deck Staffing Works On The World's Longest Flights
Most airliners currently in production can be flown by two pilots, but pilots generally can only work up to eight or nine hours in a given day. For longer flights, airlines are required to add another crew member, either a first officer or a junior first officer/second officer who sits at the controls during cruise but does not perform takeoffs/landings.
For a flight over 12 hours, airlines are required to add a fourth crew member, who can be a captain, senior first officer, junior first officer, or second officer. The actual staffing varies by airline. On the world's longest routes, however, airlines are required to staff flights with two captains and two first officers who are qualified to perform takeoffs/landings (as in, no cruise-only pilots).
This increases staffing costs since these pilots are generally the highest-paid crew members within their position, and this also means that the pilots earn a serious paycheck from operating these flights. Exact scheduling practices vary by airline, but are generally decided based on seniority, and senior pilots opt for these flights when possible. Generally, airline pilots are not allowed to fly more than 1,000 hours in a given 12-month period.
This means that, for Singapore Airlines' services between Singapore and New York, a pilot may only be allowed to work the round trip up to 26 times in a given year, or more realistically, two times per month. What's more, they would not be able to operate any other trips during this period if they only flew the New York route. What actually ends up happening is that they may only fly to New York occasionally, but still, these routes eat up a significant amount of a pilot's legal hours.
Why Long-Haul Flights Are Desirable To Pilots
Widebody airliners pay out higher hourly rates/salaries to flight crews than narrowbodies, but as a whole, working long-haul flights is difficult. The flights are extremely long and pass through multiple time zones, which strains the body significantly more than working short-haul routes.
However, the route lengths are also the reason why these flights are typically preferred by most senior pilots, because operating primarily long-haul routes means that pilots earn the same number of hours or more while working less. On top of their basic salary, pilots are only paid hourly rates when the aircraft is moving, and a four-day long-haul trip (such as from San Francisco to Taipei) only consists of the departing leg, followed by the return.
A four-day domestic trip may earn a similar number of hours, but these multi-leg journeys involve more time on the ground in between flights. This makes long-haul trips much more compelling for crew members. In addition, because these trips only entail a departing leg and the return, the possibility of experiencing a delay or reroute is quite low.
A short-haul trip with two, three, or four legs in a given day has a significantly greater risk of being impacted by flight delays. This can shorten or extend the working day and also introduce the risk of timing out at an outstation. This creates more unpaid time on the ground and, in the worst cases, can cause chaos when pilots are stranded.
The Rest Requirements For Ultra-Long-Haul Flights
The primary reason why ultra-long-haul flights are staffed with up to four pilots is to allow for in-flight rest. All pilots are present inside the flight deck for takeoffs and landings (with two pilots sitting in the observer seats), while two crew members rest during cruise. Widebody airliners generally feature dedicated rest areas for onboard crew, which may include a separate bed and seat, with the crew creating a rest schedule to optimize rest time throughout the flight.
Each regulator requires pilots to rest after flights, with requirements varying by jurisdiction. You may see ten to 12-hour layovers on short-haul flights, while most long-haul flights are scheduled with 24-hour layovers at destinations with daily service. With longer flights, pilots usually have two or three-day layovers to meet rest regulations, while some of the longest flights are scheduled with four-day layovers.
Pilots do collect 'per diem' pay for time away from base. However, this time is otherwise unpaid, and it can make some ultra-long-haul trips not as productive as you'd expect. Once the trip is done, pilots can't get back into the cockpit the next day if they've worked an ultra-long-haul flight.
The FAA mandates at least 56 hours of continuous rest after flying 60 degrees longitudinally and being away from their home base for over 168 consecutive hours. With these requirements, pilots can fly shorter trips relatively frequently, four to five times a month, to be specific, but the ultra-long-haul flights can't be flown as frequently.
How Pilot Schedules Work
Everything in an airline's life revolves around seniority, or how long it's been since a crew member's date of hire. Overall seniority determines a pilot's position, aircraft, and base (depending on the airline), while relative seniority within a category determines schedule. Pilots usually either choose between a reserve or a line, where a reserve pilot has a select number of 'hard' days off while being on call for the rest of the month. A line, meanwhile, essentially features scheduled trips.
Some airlines feature a preferential bidding system where pilots build their desired days off, layovers, routes, credit hours, as well as other parameters. Taking these factors into account, an algorithm then builds a schedule that takes into account the crew members' requests while also considering seniority. Some airlines pre-build schedules that pilots can select, while others may simply assign a roster to their pilots. However, this is generally less common than the other two systems.
Generally, pilots are not permitted to fly more than 100 hours in a month, but they'll rarely fly this much. In the US, lines generally range from 75 to 80 hours, with the possibility to pick up additional open flying at a premium. Some airlines, however, are known to schedule their crew members with demanding schedules. The Middle Eastern 'big three' (Emirates, Etihad Airways, and Qatar Airways) are notorious for rostering their pilots on lines that can exceed 90 hours of flying per month.
The Pay Of An Airline Pilot
Airline pilots are traditionally paid hourly, with the rate dependent on aircraft type, position, and time with the company. Captains are paid more than first officers, and widebodies come with higher rates than narrowbodies. In addition, crew members are generally entitled to per diem, which is compensation for expenses during layovers, and is paid out for the entire time that the pilot is away from home base.
In the US, a pilot's yearly salary can generally be calculated by taking the hourly rate and multiplying it by 1,000. This is not universal around the world, but it is the most common structure. The US, meanwhile, is also known for having some of the highest pilot salaries at major international carriers.
Indeed, wwidebody first officers bring in over $300,000 (no US airline staffs cruise pilots on its flights) while widebody captains can earn close to $600,000 per year. Meanwhile, widebody captains at airlines in other nations still bring in over $300,000 or $400,000, but still much less than what US pilots earn. US pilots are particularly well-compensated because the nation's largest airlines have generally performed quite well financially and are growing.
Meanwhile, senior pilots are retiring at unprecedented rates. What's more, pilot training is extremely expensive, and budding aviators can only qualify for an ATPL after 1,500 hours of flight experience (in most cases). There's a significant issue with supply versus demand, which has resulted in pilot unions successfully demanding strong wages, especially considering that some US carriers are posting record profits.
