Avoiding crew fatigue on empty leg flights
An empty leg is a private jet flight where there are no passengers on-board. It's a one way return trip home for private jet charter or other luxury jets, similar to how rental cars must be driven back to their base if the drop off is in a different city. Or it can be a pilot who is going some place for personal reasons. Or a pilot who needs miles or air time.
I am not travelling as crew, but rather as a passenger. My longest empty leg flight this year was several weeks ago to Stavropol which lasted just under 8 hours. I have been thinking about getting one from Washington DC to London in August. Although the duration is about an hour less, and I'm not too concerned about the flight over, I wanted to ask…
Does the directionality, west to east in this case, have an increased effect on crew fatigue? And if so, is there anything I can do as a passenger to help the crew alleviate fatigue? Normally on empty leg, you can speak with, or even visit the pilot (things you cannot do on a regulated flight) but is there anything other than initiating conversation every so often that might be more effective?
Note: I only take the opportunities that are free or near-free, so a full-crew with redundant personnel is rare. Also FAA regs are usually not applicable.
One example is that pilots flying commercially have strict limits on the time that they are allowed to fly or be on duty. Pilots of private aircraft don't have any limit, other than not to fly if it would be unsafe.
Source: Are regulations covering private jets different from those covering commercial jets?
The consensus view on aviation.stackexchange.com appears to wholly contradict TSE's conclusion in the comments given below.
Pictures about "Avoiding crew fatigue on empty leg flights"
How do you mitigate fatigue in aviation?
The optimal method of avoiding fatigue is to have sufficient (night-time) sleep. This is often difficult to achieve in aviation, however, especially during military deployments, as sleep in the field is often of lesser quality and duration than sleep at home (Kelley et al., 2018).What causes pilot fatigue?
Fatigue is particularly prevalent among pilots because of "unpredictable work hours, long duty periods, circadian disruption, and insufficient sleep". These factors can occur together to produce a combination of sleep deprivation, circadian rhythm effects, and 'time-on task' fatigue.What do you think the best solution is to cope with the stress and fatigue you experience as a result of being a crew member?
Avoiding stress with good planning, foresight, effective time management and problem solving are the most powerful coping mechanisms. Healthy lifestyle including taking care of physical condition and eating right support stress free life. Good communication and coordination between crew also reduce stress at work.Why is crew rest important in aviation?
Recommendations. Based on the present findings, it is recommended that airline operators consider the importance of sufficient rest for adequate recovery and for facilitating a work-life balance in support of employees' health and wellbeing.Empty Leg Private Jet Deals - What they are and how to get them, by TheVIPSeat.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: SpaceX, Plato Terentev, Andrea Piacquadio, Andrea Piacquadio