A passenger took a photo of the refugee camp setup that Brazil’s Gol airlines uses as the crew rest area on its Boeing 737 MAX, flying from Brasilia to Orlando. That flight is scheduled at 8 hours 20 minutes. One person on social media offered, “I believe most people call this a blanket fort.”
Did an 8hr flight on a B38M today. Crew was 5 flight attendants and 3 pilots and this is the crew rest area. They mounted 2 of these.
On longer flights, space needs to be set aside for pilots and flight attendants to take rest. Some widebody aircraft have dedicated crew rest space, for instance this is from a Boeing 787:
Some widebodies like the Airbus A330 don’t have built-in crew rest and passenger seats can be used. On JetBlue’s Airbus A321, which is a narrowbody plane flown across the Atlantic, there’s at least a lie flat seat and they curtain it off.
Here it appears that Gol chose these seats because they’re among the worst on the aircraft. Since they’re right in front of the exit row, they don’t recline. The airline doesn’t want to give up prime passenger space while meeting their regulatory obligations.
Ultimately the Boeing 737 wasn’t originally designed to fly long enough distances where crew rest would be required. The 737 MAX has a longer range, and some airlines do push its limits on routes like this one, and create makeshift solutions to the conditions that develop as a result.
In the second photo, it looks like have some sort of mattress pad.
Maybe this airline and others should invest in Air New Zealand’s economy sky couch.
Our 767s had a dedicated, curtained FC lay flat rest seat.
The 757s we flew to Europe, we blocked the last row (AC side) of business, still lay flat. One had to improvise with a couple blankets to make it private.
The FAs had a very nice set of rest seats in the main cabin that also had curtains. Super comfy. The 757 had the last row of coach for the FAs.
The “curtains” on the GOL flight at least look tailor made for its use.
They should call this route the Bolsonaro! Goooool! You know, because that fascist had to flee from Brasilia to Orlando after his failed coup attempt on January 8, 2023. If only the USA had the balls to hold its insurrectionists accountable instead of elevating the guy to god-king status. Bring the heat, fellas, I’m ready.
This is terrible.
“Some widebodies like the Airbus A330 don’t have built-in crew rest and passenger seats can be used.” But, can’t they install one in the cargo hold? I think I saw them using that on a DL A333.
@1990
The election is over. You lost. Now go cry more.
To be fair, AA did this one time albeit in a buiness class then they still flew 767s to Europe, must’ve been back in 2012 IIRC
@1990
Bolsonaro arrived in MCO 12/30/22, nine days before the 1/8/25 protests. He wasn’t fleeing from anything; he simply wanted to avoid handing over the presidential sash to a convict on 1/1/25. Odd that you would bring Bolsonaro to an aviation forum. We know about TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome); I think what ails you is BDS (Bolsonaro Derangement Syndrome).
@mantis
typical maga deplorable to “forget” that your felon cult leader lost and cried non-stop for 4 years.
@ Dave W
A330s have the option to include crew rest facilities under the floor. It is the cheap skate airlines that choose not to specify it.
Wow, that went downhill quickly.
Back to the topic at hand for those too slow to realize this isn’t the NYT Politics Commentary Forum.
FAs and FD crew deserve rest on long flights, and it may be a requirement. Just because the flight is long but not “that long” doesn’t mean there aren’t other accrued hours in the day meaning multiple crews need to be on board.
Pretending that anyone can get good rest on board today’s aircraft is absurd.
If they want to make a tent fort or whatever, fine by me with one caveat. If anyone else (you know, some couple and their children) want to make a fort DO NOT WITHHOLD BLANKETS, DO NOT WITHHOLD PILLOWS, DO NOT TELL THEM IT’S A SAFETY VIOLATION, and treat them the same.
If you’re in the main cabin (all classes of service after the galley after the FD) you get treated the same.
If that “standard” is valid, I’m all for it. I’d love to have a blanket fortt the next time some pugnacious 95 year old AA FA wants to bother me about anything like what angle my headrest is (it’s your broken headrest, not mine) or whether I have chewing gum (it’s not SG) or whether I didn’t IMMEDIATELY RISE to kiss her ass and hand her seat-pocket trash from the previous pax.
Airline staff at all level except FD crew have become obnoxiously self-important. That’s why I went from platinum medallion + 1K to zero.
@Regis “oDd ThAt YoU’d BrInG uP..” Gol!!! (The airline in the post is a Brazilian airline; Bolsonaro, the former Brazilian president, who lost, haha, went to Florida, like the plane in the post, after he lost his election; but you already knew all this). I’m satisfied with you and the other apologists responses defending global corruption. It’s fun to watch your pretzel logic in action. I’m always hungry, so feel free to feed me more. Yumyum.
How many employees get the privilege of resting/sleeping on a 8 hour shift? This is a luxury even as a sad curtained off fort.
Bring back Varig! Those who know, know. They were like Brazil’s Pan Am.
Gary, stay in your lane. That is a designated crew rest area. If you happen to look before spewing, you will notice the track on the ceiling where the curtain – not a blanket – encloses the seats. You really are a PITA and hate on every crew. Please drive or fly private.
The old AA 763s required the resting pilot to take a seat in Row 1 of business. The flight attendants had row 17 which was a non flat bed old business class style seat but I think there was a curtain they could draw. It was also separated and next to a galley. That row would be made available at the airport to flyers on non crew rest flights.
It is curtain , not a blanket. Low traffic of news, I see.
I’ve been in the exit row behind the crew rest row a few times, and it’s the best place to be on the plane. The pilots have a mini bed placed over the seats, and put the curtain up. The row behind it is quiet and private. It’s also set up on the Fortaleza flights. Much better than the premium economy offering. Of course, the curtain gets put away for take off and landing.