I flew on Qantas' 'Project Sunrise,' a nonstop flight from New York to Sydney, Australia, which took almost 20 hours and covered nearly 10,000 miles - here's what it was like
David Slotnick/Business Insider
- Qantas just completed the first-ever nonstop flight between New York and Sydney, Australia, designated "Project Sunrise," and Business Insider was on board.
- The flight - which lasted 19 hours and 16 minutes and covered almost 10,000 miles - was a research flight, as Qantas staff and scientists studied how to help passengers and crew stay adequately comfortable and rested on an ultra-long-haul flight.
- Researchers closely monitored pilots and flight attendants, and tested a new cabin service flow meant to help minimize jetlag.
- It was a fascinating and enlightening experience, and left me feeling great for a morning in Sydney. Read on to see what it was like to be on board this first test flight.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
I've just spent a day in the air.
No, not just a day traveling, heading to airports, dealing with buses and terminals, and making connections. But nearly a full day in a pressured metal tube alternating between roughly 34,000 and 42,000 feet above the Earth - most of that above the Pacific Ocean.
The Australian airline Qantas ran a test flight for its "Project Sunrise" initiative - a program to launch regular commercial service from Sydney to New York and Sydney to London.
The flights, at about 9,900 and 10,500 nautical miles, respectively, represent the farthest - and currently the longest, in terms of time - nonstop flights today. While a nonstop flight from London to Sydney has been achieved once, 30 years ago, it hardly counts - it was flown with a completely empty 747 that had no seats, and it barely had enough fuel to make it. The New York-Sydney route has never been done without a stop in Los Angeles.
When it landed, the flight, designated QF7879, became the longest commercial flight in the world, surpassing Singapore Airlines' regular commercial service between Singapore and New York, although next month's test of the London-Sydney flight will surpass this one.
Airplanes and airlines are more technically advanced now than ever before, with better fuel-efficiency, longer ranges, and computer-aided logistical planning. But as some flights get longer, the question is whether passengers and flight crews can tolerate more hours in the air without a layover to break things up.
Qantas used this flight - and plans to do the same for the London route - to conduct research into how pilots, cabin crews, and passengers cope with the long flight time. In particular, data gathered from monitoring of the pilots and flight attendants will be used to help Qantas make a case to Australian aviation regulators that it's safe to have crew work in shifts for potentially 20 hours or more.
The airline also tested a redesigned cabin service, meant to help passengers minimize the effects of jetlag as they cross 15 time zones, and reduce the magnitude with which an ultra-long-haul flight can exacerbate those symptoms. Cabin lighting, meal services, and food options were tailored to help passengers and crew either feel more awake, or be more attuned to nighttime.
This flight also doubled as a delivery of a new Boeing 787-9, from Boeing's Seattle plant. There were only 40 passengers and 10 crew, including four on-duty pilots. Passengers included several Qantas frequent flyers participating in the research study, off-duty Qantas employees, researchers, and media, including this reporter.
The flight with a full load of passengers and cargo is not currently possible - the heavier load would reduce the plane's fuel range.
Two planes in development from Airbus and Boeing would be capable of flying these routes. Qantas has said that it will decide by the end of 2019 which one it will use and that it expects to start commercial service as early as 2023, Alan Joyce, Qantas' CEO, said. The airline had previously hoped to launch service by 2022.
Due to the low passenger load, each person was allocated a business-class seat that could convert into a bed. Passengers were also encouraged to spend some time in the coach cabin in order to balance the plane.
Although the flight would obviously be a different experience in coach with a full plane, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce discussed several options to make an ultra-long-haul flight in coach more comfortable.
Regardless, the nearly 20-hour trek in business class, with the redesigned cabin service, was a notably different experience compared to other long-haul flights I've flown in premium cabins, including first and business class.
Aside from that, it was truly a unique experience. After all, it's not every flight that you see an airline CEO doing calisthenics in his pajamas.
While it is Business Insider's policy not to accept free travel, we were not able to pay for the New York-to-Sydney trip because it was classified as a "ferry flight," for which US Department of Transportation regulations prevent the airline from accepting any money for fares. Business Insider did pay for the return flight with the airline.
From takeoff to landing, plus before and after, read on to see what the 19-hour and 16-minute flight was like.
The world's longest flight started somewhere much more ordinary — a bus, chartered to take passengers and staff from a hotel in Times Square, where several Qantas employees were staying, to JFK. In a portent of the long flight ahead, traffic getting to the airport was a virtual standstill.
Qantas flies from JFK's Terminal 8, which principally houses the airline's Oneworld alliance member American Airlines. For this particular flight, there was a dedicated check-in counter.
There was also a special touch on the boarding pass.
We headed through security to a cordoned-off area in the American Airlines lounge, as we waited for our boarding time.
Soon enough, we went down to gate 12 and got a first glimpse of our home for the next day: a brand-new Boeing 787-9 airplane, registration VH-ZNI, delivered to Qantas from Boeing's factory in Seattle just a few days before.
Here we go!
The business-class cabin on Qantas' 787-9s is split into two sections — a larger cabin to the left of the boarding door, and a smaller "mini cabin" with just three rows to the right. I was in the smaller cabin.
Here's my seat, 11E.
Each of Qantas' business-class seats has a small side table, and are consequently staggered, meaning some seats have the table between the seat and the aisle, and some seats — like mine — are directly against the aisle, and have the table on the inside. On some planes, this can feel a lot less private and make sleeping a bit harder, although it certainly wasn't an issue on this flight — more on that later.
Each seat had a pair of headphones ...
... which used a proprietary 3-prong plug that worked with the airline's in-flight entertainment system. Each seat also had a USB port and a universal power outlet...
... and a small storage area down near the floor.
There was also a storage area in a cubby under the seat in front of me. When the seat is turned into bed mode, this serves as the end of the bed — there's plenty of room for your feet.
As we took our seats, flight attendants came around handing out Qantas' iconic business class pajamas...
... and this set was printed specifically for the Project Sunrise flights.
They also distributed amenity kits ...
... stocked with in-flight essentials.
As we settled in, the cabin manager gave his unique preflight announcement.
This may not have been a normal commercial flight, but many of the same rules applied — including the mandatory safety demonstration.
But aside from those formalities, this was very much not a normal flight. For instance, we got to see and access some things that most passengers don't even know exist, like the pilot's crew rest.
To objectively measure the pilots' alertness and adaptability to the long flight, each of them was outfitted with an EEG (electroencephalogram) headset to measure brain activity ...
... an activity monitor ...
... and a light monitor.
The pilots also gave urine samples every four hours, including before and after the flights, so their melatonin levels could be assessed.
Passengers taking part in the research study wore slightly different activity monitors, and kept a journal logging their exercise, sleep, and meals in the days leading up to the flight — they'll continue these in the days immediately after.
Passengers and crew also completed an iPad-based reaction-time test at regular intervals.
We also took a look at the flight attendant break area. Unlike the pilots crew rest, which only had two bunks, the flight attendant area had six — one for each member of the cabin crew.
After a surprisingly short taxi to the runway, we were in the air at exactly 9:27 p.m. ET
Another unique feature of this flight — aside from the fact that it only had 40 passengers on a plane that could fit more than 200 — was that the moment we took off, we began operating on our destination's time zone, rather than our origin's.
Just behind the business-class mini-cabin were a few rows of Qantas' premium economy. I spent some time in the seats, and was very impressed.
A crucial aspect is the leg rest, which shockingly few premium economy products offer.
When it's extended and the seat is reclined, it's actually quite comfortable. There's a net beyond the leg rest which serves as a comfortable foot rest.
There's a decent amount of legroom, or pitch, as well. Even when the seat in front of you is reclined, it does so at an angle where there's still plenty of room for your knees.
The economy cabin is closer to the standard product you'd expect, but it has a couple little tweaks that help make a long flight more bearable — although 20 hours in one of these seats would certainly be tough.
Economy seats have about 32 inches of pitch, which is on the higher side of standard for long-haul airplanes.
Economy seats also have an adapted version of the premium economy footrest, which was definitely an improvement.
The flight menu offered a description of the full service schedule.
Here's the full "flight plan."
And here's the full menu ...
... along with a description of the rationale for the food options
For the first course — essentially a late lunch, Sydney time — I started with the spicy tomato and saffron soup with Gruyère croutons. It was fabulous, not too spicy, but enough so that it was flavorful — and definitely helped me wake up. Reminder: the flight began operating on Sydney time (noon-ish) after we took off from JFK just before 9:30 p.m. ET, so this New Yorker was feeling ready for bed.
For the main course, I had the chicken breast with Spanish rice, kale, tomatillo sauce, and pepita salsa. This was genuinely phenomenal; I was blown away by how tasty it was.
I was also genuinely impressed that the chef and cabin crew could put together something so tasty in such a small, cramped galley — even though much of it, obviously, was prepared before the flight.
Here are the individual ovens used to prepare everyone's dishes ...
... and the order sheet the crew used to keep track of everyone's orders.
The tiny little galley was a flurry of activity, basically a fully functional kitchen in the sky.
A little while after the first meal, Dr. Marie Carroll, the researcher leading the passenger jet-lag study, brought all of the participating passengers to the empty rear galley for a short group exercise, including stretches and squats.
Even Alan Joyce, Qantas' CEO, joined in the exercises. It turned into something of a party, with Dr. Carroll playing "Macarena" over the PA system and leading a dance. Truly a unique experience.
After the exercise party, I was getting quite tired. After all, it was two in the morning back in New York, and I had been up since a little before 7 a.m. However, following Dr. Carroll's advice — and not wanting to miss anything — I powered through, starting to process photos from earlier in the flight on my laptop.
At around 3:30 a.m. New York time, or 6:30 p.m. Sydney time, the flight attendants took our orders for the second meal — "dinner" — and they came through to fit mattress pads onto our seats. "That way, you can go to sleep as soon as dinner's finished."
I started with a small bowl of the roasted sweet potato soup with nutmeg crème fraîche. Like the first meal, it was fantastic and flavorful, but definitely more of a sleep-inducing comfort food.
The chicken and Swiss cheese sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and herb mayo, also hit the spot.
The dessert, though — panna cotta trifle with raspberries and toasted almonds — was the star. I devoured it.
And then, finally, it was bedtime. A handy button on the seat control panel turned the chair into a bed in about 30 seconds.
There was plenty of space in the footwell to be able to turn over comfortably, and the mattress pad made it quite comfortable.
A few minutes after I woke up, warm-toned lighting gradually enveloped the cabin. It was almost time for sunrise for this Project Sunrise flight.
Gradually, I — and everyone else — stirred and woke, and the cabin crew kicked into action with breakfast. They kindly took our orders earlier in the flight, so that they could get breakfast ready right after we arose.
I started with the wild berry granola, a cold-pressed green juice, and, most importantly, a coffee.
For my main, I had the egg, bacon, and herb tart (basically a quiche) with caramelized onion relish. Like everything else I ate during the flight, it was perfect.
By the time we finished breakfast, the sun was fully up, and it was time to prepare for the end of our journey.
We entered Australian airspace at just around 5 a.m. Sydney time.
It was pretty incredible to see the long journey coming to an end.
As we approached the Australian coast, the pilot-in-charge, Captain Sean Golding, came over the PA to point out a small speck to our right: QF12, the Qantas flight that goes from New York to Sydney, but stops in Los Angeles on the way.
Captain Golding also said that based on the approach pattern we were given, there would be great views of Sydney Harbor on the left side of the plane. Thanks to the fact that the flight was mostly empty, those of us seated on the right and in the center were able to grab spare window seats on the left.
And wow, was he telling the truth. As we approached, we got incredible views of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge ...
... and more views as we looped around to line up with the runway.
We landed at 7:43 a.m. Sydney time, 19 hours and 16 minutes after leaving the runway 31L at JFK.
It was certainly the most festive disembarkation I've experienced. Here is the entire flight crew, plus the passenger research study participants.
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