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Single-Pilot Airline Ops in High-Altitude Cruise

Above FL350, that pilot will have to have their O2 mask on the entire time they're alone in the cockpit. Not to mention the EgyptAir scenario.
that is not necessarily true. how much 121 experience do you have?
 
Sorry -- FL410.

14 CFR 121.333(c)(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (c)(2) of this section, if for any reason at any time it is necessary for one pilot to leave his station at the controls of the airplane when operating at flight altitudes above flight level 410, the remaining pilot at the controls shall put on and use his oxygen mask until the other pilot has returned to his duty station.
 
Sorry -- FL410.

14 CFR 121.333(c)(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (c)(2) of this section, if for any reason at any time it is necessary for one pilot to leave his station at the controls of the airplane when operating at flight altitudes above flight level 410, the remaining pilot at the controls shall put on and use his oxygen mask until the other pilot has returned to his duty station.
correct. glad you could learn something!

-dean
 
Point 1) Unless the airplane is fairly light, it takes some time to burn off enough fuel to climb above FL 410.

Point 2) I suspect not too many pilots would do so, just to avoid that issue.
 
masking up for hours is a real pain. BTDT.
i know about it all too well, I’m sure I have you beat. and those red outlines it imprints on your face after a good bit of usage. that part I don’t miss.
 
Point 1) Unless the airplane is fairly light, it takes some time to burn off enough fuel to climb above FL 410.

Point 2) I suspect not too many pilots would do so, just to avoid that issue.
spot on and it rarely ever happened in the 787 and if it did, it was very late in the flight. I never understood how fl410 became the magic number myself, but it is what it is.
 
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Obviously, the effects of low air pressure increase gradually with altitude rather than being a step function, but they had to draw the line somewhere.
 
41,000 feet ~ 12,500 meters 🤷‍♂️
I'm pretty sure it has something to do with time of useful consciousness (which goes down as altitude goes up and reaches 5 seconds at about 41000) versus time to don the mask (which doesn't change with altitude). IIRC, the FAA defines a quick-don mask as one which can be donned with one hand in less than five seconds which would mean above 41000 you conk out before you can get the mask on.
 
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Having flown 15-16 hour international flights, I wouldn’t recommend having ONLY one pilot in the cockpit. Military tactical pilots often resort to GO pills for transoceanic flights. Even in the military, we flew multi-leg flights across the Pacific, all on the same day, to arrive 10 hours out of whack. I’ve flown Antarctic flights and Arctic flights with 24-hours of daylight when you realize you are just a big sunflower with the sun dictating your physiology.

Weather threats, altitude changes, frequency changes, border crossings, back side of the clock schedules, diversions, emergencies, time zone changes of 10 hours or more, systems failures, and non-homogenous pilot skill levels are just a few of the variables that interrupt those hours of boredom.

As a check airman in the 727/757/767/777 fleets for the last 20+ years of a 36 year career at a major airline, FLASH, not all pilots are created equal. That is not in the constitution. Even half of all doctors graduated in the bottom half of their class. Most guys and girls get it, a few never do, some are trapped in a financial rewarding career they can’t replicate elsewhere.

Fortunately, most of the pilot population never face a complex problem, just like most career law officers never have to discharge their weapon. The airlines deliberately do not pair up new pilots together, with the union’s blessing, Some new guys having problems are paired up with check airman for extended periods. I know of pilots who must sign agreements to never bid Captain or are demoted from a captain position. Cockpit Resource Management was a great development but a few dictators are always going to lurk in the weeds, you know, like other professions.
 
Pro pilots hate to be alone:

 
According to the article, the only portion of the flight that would be single-pilot would be cruising at altitude, so there would still be more than one pilot on board.
Memories of doing a transpacific on a C5 with everybody on board the airplane, including the pilots just sawing wood
 

One more reason to think that the people at Airbus have never ridden in the back. No thanks.
 
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