Why flight crews get better accommodations than passengers during flight delays

For the second time in a month, United Airlines has made the news and is apologizing to passengers.

On June 3, it released a statement expressing its regret over the behaviour of a flight attendant on a United-operated flight who refused to give a Muslim passenger an unopened can of Diet Coke, believing the woman could use it as a weapon. After an investigation and public outcry, that attendant lost her job.

Then, a few days ago, the airline acknowledged that last Friday’s unexpected diversion to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Nfld.—where 176 passengers had to sleep in chilly military barracks short on blankets while the crew checked into a hotel—was “a considerable inconvenience.” In this case, however, some of the public outrage was instead directed toward “entitled” passengers.

Flight 958 had been travelling from Chicago to London on June 12 when the pilot announced it would be landing in Newfoundland for a maintenance check. Thanks to social media, friends and family of the passengers were able to follow events from the ground in real time. Several tweeted rants went something like this:

Saturday morning, school buses were deployed to move the town’s surprise guests from the barracks to a mess hall and then onto the airport. That’s when the groggy passengers learned that while they had slept in their summer clothes in unheated rooms (without access to checked luggage), the 11 crew members of the flight had been catching their shut-eye in a warm hotel.

This ostensible double standard the airline did explain via Twitter, saying that the crew needed to be well-rested to continue the flight. In a tweet that has since been deleted, the company wrote, “You can rest on board the aircraft knowing that they are in charge.”

It was an explanation that made perfect sense to many Twitter pundits, like this woman:

In fact, not only is it hard to argue with the reasoning that says pilots and flight attendants shouldn’t be feeling sleep deprived on the job—it’s futile. The U.S. Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) and Transport Canada have set standards mandating “a minimum rest period” and “suitable accommodation” for flight crew to ensure they will be fit for duty.

According to the Canadian Aviation Regulations, a minimum rest period is “a period during which a flight crew member is free from all duties, is not interrupted by the air operator, and is provided with an opportunity to obtain not less than eight consecutive hours of sleep in suitable accommodation, time to travel to and from that accommodation, and time for personal hygiene and meals.”

What’s considered “suitable accommodation?” Nothing especially luxurious. “A single-occupancy bedroom that is subject to a minimal level of noise, is well ventilated and has facilities to control temperature and light levels. Where such a bedroom is not available, an accommodation that is suitable for the site and season, is subject to a minimal level of noise and provides adequate comfort and protection from the elements.”

Heather Poole, flight attendant and author of Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama, and Crazy Passengers at 35,000 Feettells Yahoo Canada that the only time she’s heard of a crew not being checked into a hotel during an unplanned stop was during the events of 9/11, when some crews had no choice but to sleep on planes.

(In fact, during the September 11, 2001 crisis, hundreds of passengers found shelter in the same Royal Canadian Air Force barracks in Goose Bay that were home to last week’s stranded passengers, but without complaints.)

In the U.S., says Poole, the minimum number of hours a crew member must be allowed to rest before flying depends on whether someone is a pilot or flight attendant and if the journey is international or domestic. “Domestic crews get 8 hours minimum rest, pilots get 10,” she says.

The FAA’s definition of “suitable accommodation” is similar to Transport Canada’s, except it says a sleep facility must provide “the ability to sleep either in a bed, bunk, or in a chair that allows for flat or a near-flat sleeping position.”

“Remember if we don't get rest, we can't fly,” Poole says. “Trust me when I tell you you want your crew to be alert at work. If we're taking care of passengers, we're not resting, which means we're not going to be alert, and the airline will either have to bring in another crew or delay a flight even longer so we can get our rest.

“When there's an emergency, we have to act fast. That's important.”

Poole also explained that attendants are only paid for flying time. “Not time on the ground. Not during boarding. That means the flight attendant greeting you at the door is not being paid. When we land, flight crew is off the clock and ground staff takes over.”

Perhaps this second piece of information indicates why United Airline representatives were apparently MIA last Friday night, leaving the grounded fliers in the dark about what to expect. Many passengers said the lack of communication from the airline was actually what they found most aggravating.

In an email to media outlets, a United spokeswoman has since said: "We apologize to our customers for the disruption, and we recognize this was a considerable inconvenience, so we will be refunding their tickets to London and providing additional compensation."

Someone else who deserves an apology may be Happy Valley-Goose Bay Mayor Jamie Snook, who told CBC radio that the tweeted insults about the town caught him off-guard, though he was happy to see past visitors defend the town and describe fond memories of it.

Snook suggested that the military barracks were fairly standard, nothing to complain about, and that “they cook good food up there [at the base.]” He wishes he had been called to have breakfast with the passengers, and said, “I’d love for them to come back and give us another shot.”