Qantas wires people up for 19-hour endurance flight
Passengers — mostly employees — will be fitted with wearable devices to collect data
SYDNEY— In a test of airline-passenger endurance, Qantas Airways Ltd. plans to send wired-up employees on a 19-hour trip to see whether humans can keep up with technological advances that have airlines vying to create ultralong flights.
Pilots on two nonstop trips from New York to Sydney this year will wear a device to track brain-wave patterns and alertness, data that could help shape the future of air travel. Researchers from Melbourne-based Monash University will work with crew members to record their levels of melatonin—a hormone associated with sleep—before, during and after the flights.
Cabin passengers—mostly Qantas employees—also will don wearable devices. Scientists and medical experts from the University of Sydney will monitor sleep patterns, food and beverage consumption, lighting and human movement in the cabin during the test flights. No ticketed passengers will be on board.
Global airlines are seizing on the opportunity to provide ultralong flights made possible by new fuel-efficient aircraft. What isn’t clear is how long people will be willing to sit in a plane and what airlines can do to improve the passenger experience. They also must ensure that long-haul pilots and crew stay alert.
The Qantas test flights on new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners will carry 40 people, including crew, with luggage and catering kept to a minimum to extend the aircraft’s range. The airline will fly the planes from Boeing Co.’s factory in Seattle to New York to embark on the test flights. A third nonstop test flight, from London to Sydney, is also planned.
On long-haul flights, cabin lights are typically dimmed about two hours after take-off and turned back up about two hours before landing, said Sveta Postnova, a senior lecturer in neurophysics and brain dynamics at the University of Sydney. Depending on the destination, that practice can make jet lag worse, she noted.
One of the test flights from New York will follow the normal pattern. But on the other flight, lights will stay on for about six or seven hours after departure. Researchers will compare passenger data from the two flights to determine whether the lighting change affected jet lag. Meal service will be aligned with the lighting, Ms. Postnova said.
Light plays a key role in regulating sleep, but “recently we are learning that
meals, exercise and other environmental factors also affect our body clock,” Ms. Postnova said. A big unknown for air travel is how to schedule lighting, meals and exercise to minimize jet lag.
Qantas says it will decide by December whether to add the new routes to its passenger service. If it does, the airline is considering longer-range Boeing 777Xs or A350s from Airbus SE for those trips, whose duration is expected to be about 20 hours. When Qantas launched aroughly17-hour nonstop flight between Perth and London last year, the airline said menus were designed to maintain hydration, aid sleep and reduce jet lag. A yoga studio was also included in the airline’s new Perth lounge to help passengers relax. After a year in operation, the flight had the highest customer-satisfaction rating despite being the longest in the Qantas network.
Other airlines are stretching their long-haul flights. Singapore Airlines Ltd.’s nonstop service between Singapore and Newark, N.J., lasts about 18 hours. Alan Joyce, chief executive of Qantas, said the airline needs to get global aviation regulators on board since current rules don’t allow flights longer than 20 hours. Qantas also needs “productivity gains” from its pilots to make the flights economical, Mr. Joyce said. He declined to elaborate on what concessions pilots would have to offer.
“This is ultimately a business decision, and the economics have to stack up,” Mr. Joyce said. “And if they don’t, we won’t do it.” The Australian and International Pilots Association, the union that represents Qantas pilots, said it is seeking more detail on what the carrier needs from pilots.
“Pilots have long been at the forefront of Qantas’s pioneering spirit, and we look forward to meeting the challenges of ultralong-range flying, with safety always being our top priority,” said Mark Sedgwick, the association’s president.
William Brougham, 42 years old, who flew in economy from London to Perth last week, said he felt he had more space than usual. He said meals such as a beef stew were served at the appropriate times, helping to minimize jet lag. His only quibble was a lack of compelling options on the entertainment system. “If you can survive 16 hours, you can probably survive 19, 20 hours,” said Mr. Brougham, who lives in Sydney but is from London and would be interested in a nonstop flight between the two cities. “I’d probably want to challenge myself. I’d definitely do it once.”