For long-haul cabin crew and pilots, the crew rest area is an essential, ensuring that crew fatigue doesn’t set in and affect safety. Crew rest is a specified period during flights, when pilots and cabin crew change over, allowing some of the crew to get some sleep before returning to duty. Crew rest areas feature on most long-haul aircraft, but what will happen when there is no crew rest area, but crew are still performing on long-haul flights?
Now, with the introduction of single-aisle aircraft with longer range and with flights of up to eleven hours, the strategy for crew rest needs to be changed, so what could this look like? The Airbus A321XLR is an example of an aircraft that is changing the way airlines operate long-haul flights but adequate crew rest areas are still needed. Let’s find out what the options are.
What Is A Crew Rest Area?
Crew rest areas are small rooms with fitted bunks for pilots and cabin crew to take their rest time during long-haul flights. They are separate, with the flight crew rest area being close to the cockpit and the cabin crew rest area being at the rear of the aircraft. They are hidden away for privacy and safety reasons, so are rarely seen by passengers. They are for crew use only and contain a blanket and a pillow and are quite basic but fine for an hour or two’s rest.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has three classes of crew rest facilities. Class one is a separate bunk that allows space to lie flat, that is temperature-controlled and provides isolation from noise. Class two is a lie-flat seat in the cabin, separated by a curtain and free from disturbance. Class three is a seat in the cabin that reclines at least 40 degrees and provides leg and foot support. These are defined by the maximum flight duty period of flight crew or cabin crew, so the longest duty requires a class one rest facility.
With the single-aisle Airbus A321XLR in mind, with no crew rest area and flights of up to eleven hours, it is likely that flights will not be long enough to require class one facilities. In this case, seats may be curtained off for crew use. No augmented crew are carried, so airlines are not so concerned about dedicated crew rest areas, especially as they take up space and are expensive to fit. Rest areas also have to comply with regulations and the Flight Time Limitations (FTLs) set by the airline. It is thought that flights will be between eight and eleven hours ultimately.
How Crew Rest Areas Differ
Pilots and cabin crew rest areas are slightly different. The flight crew have a small room close to the cockpit, in case they need to get back urgently. There are usually two bunks and sometimes a seat with in-flight entertainment. The cabin crew rest area is a small room with between six and ten bunk beds, either one up, one down or facing opposite with an aisle in the center or ‘coffin style’ side by side. Each bunk can be curtained off for privacy.
The positions of crew rest areas can differ on widebody aircraft. For example, on most aircraft like the Boeing 747 and 787 Dreamliner the flight crew rest area is close to the cockpit, but on the Emirates Airbus A380, it is at the rear of the aircraft. The cabin crew rest areas are at the tail of the aircraft, just above the rear galley and cabin, as seen on the Boeing 777. On some aircraft like the Airbus A330 and A340, the crew rest area is a module in the cargo hold that can be removed if the space is needed.
The crew rest area in widebody aircraft uses unutilized space in the crown of the aircraft or in the cargo hold, depending on the aircraft type and the airline. Crew rest for cabin crew usually takes place on flights over seven and a half hours, with a minimum of 45 minutes to an hour rest, and for an eleven-hour flight, crew rest would be about two hours.
Which Widebody Aircraft Have Dedicated Crew Rest Areas?
The secret areas hidden on a long haul aircraft, for the crew to get some much needed rest.
New Design
Last year, German manufacturer Diehl Aviation came up with a solution to the issue, and it was presented at the Crystal Cabin Awards. They presented a crew rest compartment especially designed for narrowbody aircraft like the Airbus A321XLR. It was originally featured by use of computer animation, but then a full-scale model was presented at AIX 2025 in Hamburg.
The compartment is fitted between the space between the first row of passengers and the entrance door. It can be fitted as a module with two beds that fold out onto the cabin crew jumpseats. The beds can easily fold up and be pushed back into the stowage in seconds in an emergency. This design extends the galley area slightly, but saves on floor space in comparison to designated seats or beds.
The company is also said to be developing another variant with two beds shelved above one another, according to Flying Insight. This would save more space and they are considering other applications for it too, to be used for medical emergencies and even as a bookable sleeping space for passengers. Using this design eliminates the need for a designated crew rest area as seen on widebody aircraft. The design was shortlisted for the 2023 Crystal Cabin Award.
Potential Issues
There are some potential issues with crew operating a single-duty, long-haul flight on the Airbus A321XLR. There are no augmented crew onboard and no crew rest area, so potentially crew would have to have a layover. There is an option to curtain off a row of seats for crew rest, as seen on the Boeing 767, but this is not conducive to rest and airlines would rather sell the seats, as a rule. The alternative is to have one business class seat that can be curtained off, for a third flight crew member, when required.
An eleven -our flight would require an extra pilot, meaning there are three onboard to rotate duties. They would rotate every two to three hours, taking a break of around one and a half hours. There is no requirement for extra cabin crew as they are still within the maximum duty period, with or without crew rest.
Other issues with the design are that the cabin crew jumpseats are utilized by the beds, so they cannot be used by the cabin crew during their use. Also, it is not really designed for two people to be able to use it for crew rest at the same time. The forward galley would also lose some space, in which meal preparation would normally take place. There is also some doubt about how quickly it can be put away in an emergency, as every second counts.
How Airbus Has Revolutionized Long-Haul Travel
Airbus’s A321LR and A321XLR reshaped long-haul travel, opened new routes, cut costs, and enabled narrowbodies to fly where twin-aisles once ruled.
The Airbus A321XLR
The Airbus A321XLR has already transformed how we see long-haul travel. The aircraft has a range of 4,700 nautical miles or 8,700 kilometers. This could allow for flights of up to 11 hours, although more likely they will be used on transatlantic flights, meaning that flights between New York and Rome or London to Vancouver would be possible. The aircraft is also economical to operate and meets the airline’s sustainability goals. It has 30% less fuel burn and CO2 emissions per seat and is 50% quieter.
The Airbus A321XLR can seat up to 244 passengers and incorporates the Airspace cabin, which offers a better passenger experience. The seats are wider in economy and there are lie-flat seats in business class, depending on the airline. It has the widest single aisle cabin in its class and has the latest generation of in-flight entertainment and connectivity.
Airlines currently operating the Airbus A321XLR include 
American Airlines, 
Iberia, 
Aer Lingus, and Qantas. Wizz Air also operates a limited number of the aircraft and canceled their previous order. 
United Airlines and IndiGo have the Airbus A321XLR on order and Qantas and American Airlines are expecting more of the aircraft. Airbus has received over 500 orders for this variant.
The Future Of Long Haul Crew Rest
Long-haul flights on narrowbody aircraft will most definitely be a thing of the near future. With airlines looking to expand their routes, without risk and the flexibility the aircraft offers on different routes, it is likely we’ll see more long-range narrow bodies on airline fleets. The Airbus A321XLR is much cheaper to operate than traditional widebody aircraft and also requires less cabin crew to operate.
The decision regarding crew rest areas will come down to the airlines and what fits inside the regulations for crew rest and duty times. Single-aisle aircraft do not have the capacity for crew rest areas, unless they use a design like the one from Diehl Aviation that optimizes space. It is more likely that a single business class seat that lies flat will be provided for flight crew to rotate rest and for cabin crew a row of three seats in economy, curtained off, if at all.
There is no doubt that the Airbus A321XLRs long-range capabilities could be challenging for pilots and cabin crew in regards to crew rest. Although the aircraft seems to be popular with the airlines, who see it as a game changer, it probably won’t be so popular with the crew who operate it.
