Qantas Sunrise special event tonight

[HockeyMonkey]

In the JFK American flagship lounge right now and there is a Qantas special guest area set aside for the passengers of the Project Sunrise test flight that departs tonight.

 

[Hvr]

Are you on it?

Bright lights, spicy food: Will they prepare you for Qantas' 20-hour flights?

Being locked in a metal tube for 20 hours with two hundred other humans might be some people's idea of torture. But Qantas hopes it will soon be Australians' preferred way to travel.

www.smh.com.au

 

[HockeyMonkey]

Are you on it?

Bright lights, spicy food: Will they prepare you for Qantas' 20-hour flights?

Being locked in a metal tube for 20 hours with two hundred other humans might be some people's idea of torture. But Qantas hopes it will soon be Australians' preferred way to travel.

www.smh.com.au

I wish...

just on the boring QF12/QF96 run I’m afraid. Keeping an eye out to see if any interesting guests arrive in the meantime

 

[samh004]

Keeping an eye out to see if any interesting guests arrive in the meantime

Isn't AJ meant to be on the first service?

 

[HockeyMonkey]

Isn't AJ meant to be on the first service?

Don’t imagine he would slum it in the Flagship lounge though

 

[cove]

A bit of body punishment is what I am thinking about Project Sunrise.

 

[HockeyMonkey]

A bit of body punishment is what I am thinking about Project Sunrise.

I wouldn’t mind it in J. Not in Y though.

 

[Melburnian1]

In numerous media articles about this, Mr Joyce keeps referring to the "success" of the daily PER to LHR QF9, and boasts of 95 per cent J occupancy and 92 per cent in Y.

However he always omits how in substituting a B789 for the previous MEL to DXB and LHR A388, QF cut its number of seats on this route, albeit now via PER, by about 50 per cent.

Perhaps QF9 and QF10 are now marginally profitable, but IIRC the London routes may overall still incur losses.

It is hardly a "success" if one cuts output by 25 per cent in total, measuring all own metal QF seats available from Oz to LHR.

A better indication would be if QF ran two daillies MEL - PER - LHR and return. The percentage of seats occupied might then crash.

As a matter of interest, how many Y or J seats are either not sold or occupied by QF crew on 'the 9' and 'the 10'?

A bit of body punishment is what I am thinking about Project Sunrise.

The QF intention to not feed the 50 passengers on this test flight for a reputed six hours is aimed at putting body clocks to SYD time on boarding.

However not everyone will have been in a lounge priot to boarding. And some do not buy anything at the airport, while for most of us in a daily routine it is a typical five hours between meals, not six or - with check in time - nine hours between main meals.

Maybe, though not reported, QF serves a snack and drink an hour after takeoff, but if it does not, passenger blood sugar levels must become low.

 

[moa999]

Wonder how long in advance the regular passengers were invited to the flight

 

[Melburnian1]

Wonder how long in advance the regular passengers were invited to the flight

One also wonders under what implied pressure each will be under to say 'oh it was wonderful.'

As usual on first flights, they'll receive better service than normal, and there will be a higher staff:passenger ratio.

I bet none travel in Y.

 

[Melburnian1]

New B789 VH-ZNI looks to have pushed back in JFK at 2108 hours on Friday 18 October, eight minutes tardy, taking off at 2128 hours.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

I wouldn’t mind it in J. Not in Y though.

I am not keen on it even in J.
Maybe in F in one of the EY apartments with a shower on board.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

And here's another article confirming the flights will only work with large (and full) premium cabins.
Personally I wonder if there is a length of flight time at which, even in a premium cabin, most people will say "no, I'd prefer to have a transit stop".
For me it's about 15 hours.

 

[toowongman]

Interesting email from the union that covers the flight attendants...

Urgent. Project sunrise test flights. Please read.

Urgent. Project Sunrise Test flights. Please read. Dear members and colleagues, Please read the entirety of the following. It has become necessary...

gem.godaddy.com

 

[Hvr]

Are the UK crew are flying JFK-SYD? That seems wrong. Surely it should be Australian based crew?

And if the union newsletter is correct then an NDA would prevent the crew from talking to anybody except QF management about their experience working the test flights. I wonder if they would be allowed to speak to their WH&S reps about the issues that will surely be uncovered during the test flights?

 

[esseeeayeenn]

This is appalling. The issues which AJ is having with the pilots' union and the flight attendants' union are not just about payment or protecting their conditions but also about safety. Duty hours, rest arrangments, layovers, minimum rest times, all of these are safety issues. In the unlikely event of an emergency I don't want to be relying on crew who are exhausted.

 

[Melburnian1]

Since the flight is operating with some passengers, some cabin crew must be on board.

My experience of international flights, whatever the length of seven hours or more is that most cabin crew rest during mid stages. If QF feeds patrons six hours into the flight, as above, that may change, but what will not is how no crew member works nonstop for the full duration.

I remember in the 1980s how Deluxe and other interstate express coach drivers worked 'two up' from Melbourne to Perth, a far longer period of duty than the QF munchkins. That said, there were not the large time changes as on a TransPacific flight, but sleeping in a small bunk at the back of a road coach with engine noise must be as unnatural as same on a long distance flight. The latter is quieter in dB output for staff.

We cannot however examine fatigue in the context of a sole period if duty. Before and after are as important.

 

[Melburnian1]

Are the UK crew are flying JFK-SYD? That seems wrong. Surely it should be Australian based crew?

And if the union newsletter is correct then an NDA would prevent the crew from talking to anybody except QF management about their experience working the test flights. I wonder if they would be allowed to speak to their WH&S reps about the issues that will surely be uncovered during the test flights?

All aimed at no one saying it wrecked them.

 

[Mrmaxwell]

Again I ask - who are the people begging for these non stop 17+ hour flights?

AJ keeps on gloating how QF will be solving this 'problem' of the stop over...I certainly never had an issue with a stop over (I like).

It seems AJ is determined to solve this 'problem' that no one has asked to be solved.

 

[samh004]

Regarding the union stuff, I'd heard independently previously about this issue. Originally Australian crew were due to operate, but there was a dispute as Qantas wouldn't share flight data. As a result, I believe they refused to operate and then Qantas shifted it to the UK crew, but they don't want to upset the Australian crew so there's a big mess all because the data from the flight isn't being shared. I had assumed it was resolved, considering the flight is operating. But who knows?

As for stopovers, I'm neither for or against but can see the value in a direct to JFK/LHR. I think such a route would only make sense with a heavy premium cabin, which seems to be what QF are heading towards already with the large Y reduction on the A380 refit.

Certainly, I would not want to be flying 20 hours in Y, but in J or a decent PY it could have some advantages, so long as it saved me more than an hour. I'm thinking a few hours (3+) saving would be where it's at.