767 Crew Rest
A while back I took you on a
tour of a Boeing 777, which included pictures of the
lower lobe crew rest. Fancy digs on that 777, right?
Here is the ugly stepsister
crew rest on a Boeing 767. It consists of four coach seats that have been placed in the Business cabin, across from the galley, with a heavy curtain that surrounds them. On flights scheduled for 8 hours or more, our contract provides for a rest period, so the seats are not sold to passengers. On flights scheduled for less than 8 hours, the seats are sold as coach seats (without the curtain around them, of course!) and the passengers that end up sitting there are usually surprised that we treat them as if they were Business Class passengers (drinks, meals, amenity kits, etc.)
After all the meal services are concluded in each cabin, you might see some of the Flight Attendants scrambling to get themselves something to eat, while one of us will unfold the heavy curtain that is stowed behind the seats of the crew rest. Scarfing down a quick bite, the four Flight Attendants then hurry over to the seats to 'claim' the one they want. Pillows and blankets from the overhead compartment are situated
just right as the Flight Attendants then hurry to get situated into the crew rest seats. The break is timed, so everyone is trying to get settled in as quickly as possible.
There are two rows of two seats each for the crew rest. This photo shows my view from the second row of the rest area, with a safety card finagled into place to darken the "Fasten Seatbelt/No Smoking" light.
The back two seats are right up against a lavatory...so, if you can't get to a deep sleep (and really, who can?) you hear the
swooooosh of a toilet flushing for your entire break. For those that have a hard time sleeping in crew rest (
moi, for example) that rest break can be maddening. Can't sleep, then just doze off and
swooooosh...okay, back to being wide awake...now dozing off...
swooooosh! Sometimes, I'll listen to my iPod, other times I use earplugs...both help to diminish the sounds. But, not enough.
Some people can fall asleep quickly when they go into crew rest...how do I know? The snoring, of course!
The length of time for crew rest is determined by the Purser...and the length of the flight. But, it never fails...just as I am
really falling asleep, the scratching sound of Velcro being torn apart wakes me up. The smiling face of a fellow Flight Attendant who has opened the sealed curtain to quietly let us know that our time is up, and we have to get up, so the other Flight Attendants can take their break.
And, usually that Flight Attendant has made fresh coffee for us!
