{"id":63092,"date":"2026-07-28T22:01:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T22:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/63092\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T22:01:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T22:01:17","slug":"we-went-inside-the-secret-crew-rest-area-on-a-dhl-boeing-777-freighter-with-bunk-beds-and-reclining-seats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/63092\/","title":{"rendered":"We went inside the secret crew rest area on a DHL Boeing 777 freighter, with bunk beds and reclining seats"},"content":{"rendered":"

A DHL cargo plane was on display at the Farnborough Airshow in the UK.<\/p>\n

We got a tour from an executive in charge of managing DHL’s fleet.<\/p>\n

The crew’s bunk beds looked cramped, but there were reclining seats, too.<\/p>\n

Cargo flights often operate throughout the night \u2014 and pilots need a place to sleep.<\/p>\n

Business Insider got a look at the crew rest area<\/a> and other features on a DHL Boeing 777 freighter at the UK’s Farnborough Airshow last week.<\/p>\n

The bunk beds and rest area provide the pilots with the features they need to stay sharp on long-haul flights as they alternate shifts in the cockpit.<\/p>\n

The Boeing 777-200LR<\/a> was originally a passenger jet flying long-haul with Delta Air Lines until the airline sold it during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Then, it was converted into a cargo plane<\/a> by the American company Mammoth Freighters.<\/p>\n

Business Insider got a tour on board with DHL’s senior vice president for global air fleet management, Malcolm Macbeth.<\/p>\n

It was fascinating to see what life is like on board for the pilots who transport everything from small packages to semiconductors and live animals.<\/p>\n

This DHL cargo plane was at the center of the aircraft display at Farnborough Airshow.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Pete Syme\/Business Insider<\/p>\n

After Delta retired the plane, it spent six years out of service before being converted.<\/p>\n

“This plane was basically not flying for six years, and now it’s about to get flying again,” Macbeth told Business Insider. “So, it’s a 16-year-old airplane, but is only actually closer to 10.”<\/p>\n

All the passenger interior was stripped out, and the floor beams were replaced with stronger metal ones.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Pete Syme\/Business Insider<\/p>\n

It’s typically much cheaper to convert an airliner into a freighter than to buy a new plane.<\/p>\n

This airplane can carry a payload of up to 102 tons.<\/p>\n

Up front, much of the galley has been transformed into a crew rest area.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Pete Syme\/Business Insider<\/p>\n

This part of a cargo plane is called the supernumerary area.<\/p>\n

Pilots and mechanics get top priority as they may need to be repositioned for work, although all DHL staff can go on board for business trips. DHL, a multinational package delivery corporation headquartered in Germany, has a fleet of over 200 planes. That includes 35 regular Boeing 777F aircraft. It has 13 converted 777s on order from Mammoth.<\/p>\n

“We joke that there are all these guys going around in private jets<\/a>, well, we’ve got the biggest private jet of anybody,” Macbeth said.<\/p>\n

Above the four seats are cupboards for storing belongings.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Pete Syme\/Business Insider<\/p>\n

Underneath those are chargers for the passengers, too.<\/p>\n

Macbeth said he sometimes flies on DHL planes from the company’s British hub at East Midlands Airport to the US base in Cincinnati, rather than spending thousands of pounds on a British Airways flight from London Heathrow.<\/p>\n

The seats include leg rests and can recline up to 45 degrees.<\/p>\n

\"Four<\/p>\n

Pete Syme\/Business Insider<\/p>\n

We got to try it out, and while it wasn’t quite as good as a lie-flat business class seat, it was definitely comfy and at least as good as premium economy.<\/p>\n

Opposite is a small kitchen area for the crew and any passengers to prep their own meals.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Pete Syme\/Business Insider<\/p>\n

You might not get the same catering standard as a passenger airline, but there’s enough to get by for hourslong flights.<\/p>\n

And to the side, a door opens up to a small sleeping area.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Pete Syme\/Business Insider<\/p>\n

Cargo flights operate at all hours and, especially on a Boeing 777, over very long distances. So, they bring three or four pilots to alternate shifts flying the airplane.<\/p>\n

It seemed a very tight space.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Pete Syme\/Business Insider<\/p>\n

On passenger planes, many crew rest areas<\/a> are located above the cabin ceiling. So, even though the beds are essentially in a cupboard, there’s more space overall.<\/p>\n

There was another USB-C charger inside.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Pete Syme\/Business Insider<\/p>\n

And a pouch to store glasses or a phone.<\/p>\n

We also got a peek inside the cockpit.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Pete Syme\/Business Insider<\/p>\n

The beds might not have been the roomiest, but they’re a similar standard to what pilots and flight attendants experience on passenger airliners.<\/p>\n

If you enjoyed this story, be sure to follow Business Insider<\/a> on Yahoo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A DHL cargo plane was on display at the Farnborough Airshow in the UK. We got a tour…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63093,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21057],"tags":[1000,48359,48358,17018,48361,48344,48338,21073,21072,48357,48360],"class_list":["post-63092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dhl","tag-boeing","tag-boeing-777-freighter","tag-bunk-beds","tag-business-insider","tag-cargo-flights","tag-cargo-plane","tag-crew-rest-area","tag-deutsche-post","tag-dhl","tag-farnborough-airshow","tag-pete-syme"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}