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Hi Captain Lim,
You have made a very informative website and I really appreciate it very much . However, I am curious about some aspects in the flight routine of a pilot that I can't seem to find the answers around here.
Firstly, I heard from a SIA pilot during a presentation in my school that pilots work in shifts throughout the year. For example, they have like 2 weeks of continuous flying and then 2 weeks of break to stay at home and spend time with their family. I was wondering if it is true and is the flying and staying at home block so defined?
Secondly, I want to know about how long will pilot stay at a destination before moving on to the next. I heard that on a single flight routine the pilot will move on to many countries before flying back home. So, I am wondering about how long will the break be between each flight for the pilots.
Thirdly, also with regards to the answers to the above two questions, I am wondering if they apply to the cabin crew as well.
I am referring in the context of Singapore Airlines, but if you are not that clear about SIA, please also let me know in general of all the other airlines.
Thank you very much! 
Yours sincerely,
Hei Yao
Hi Hei Yao,
It is not exactly true that you would fly continuously for two weeks (regulations do not permit it) and then have a long two weeks off. What he is trying to say is that, in a 4-weeks roster, you may have a total of 2 weeks of flying away from home and a total of 2 week off. So your 14 "off" days may be something like, 2+2+3+4+3 in the four weeks. You may have the more days off block after a longer period away from home.
Depending on the frequency of flights to a particular city, the duration of the night stops vary from a day to two. Yes, you can hop from one city to another. For instance, you can stay a night at Amsterdam from Singapore, then continue to New York the next day and rest for another night. On the following day, you would return to Amsterdam, rest for one more day or two before returning to Singapore.
Yes, the schedule may, more or less, apply to cabin crew as well.
Generally, all airlines do adhere to international regulations (Flight Time Limitations) such that the pilots and cabin crew have sufficient rest and not overworked for safety reasons.
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