As a long-haul captain, I read with horror your report on the Airbus A340-500 (Flight International, 24 February-1 March) and the futuristic plans for extended duty times for flightcrew on ultra-long-haul aircraft. Thank goodness CAP371 has not yet been modified to allow for duty periods of more than 18h for UK airlines.
Passengers go on extended cruises on board ship with no adverse effects, as do the crews. To ask airborne crews to do likewise ignores the cramped space, the dry atmosphere, noise levels, and radiation levels.
I shall be retiring before too long. With ideas like this it may be sooner rather than later.
Dick Greveson Burgess Hill, Sussex, UK
Source: Flight International
