Narrative:

This is my third and hopefully my last ever 2-crew member only crossing of the atlantic late at night. Before each one of them; I tried my best to prepare physically and mentally for them. I commute; so I try to start early to reduce the stress of trying to get to work (not counting the constant delays; like today); and try to get some sleep before my late night; 2 pilots ocean crossing. I have never been able to achieve restful sleep in the middle of the afternoon; especially downstairs at ops. So going on an all-night flight with no possibility of a break is stressful enough. I've tried standing up often; I've tried drinking coca cola ( I don't drink coffee; and drinking sugary drinks just for the caffeine is not good for my blood sugar levels); I've tried engaging in conversation with my first officer; none of that compensates for having at least a short break in the cabin to recharge your batteries. I've always felt very fatigued at the end of these flights; questioning the safety of doing so. What if we have to divert for a sick passenger or worse; an engine fire/failure? We don't have the additional resource of one more crew member to help get the airplane safely to some obscure location in the middle of the atlantic; in the middle of the night!for a company that professes [the importance of safety]; it sure is a shame that they have twisted the meaning of far 117 and chosen monetary gain over conducting a safe operation. The company seems to prefer to save the money of an additional crew member on these flights because supposedly we are 'acclimated' for the flight back. I don't think any of us have a problem staying awake during daylight on the way back. But all of us feel fatigued doing this late night two crew member crap![all pilots] urge [company] to stop this unsafe practice of sending late night flights overseas with only two pilots. It's not safe or reasonable!

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B767 Captain stated he feels his company's policy of flying some East Coast to Europe North Atlantic flights with just two pilots is unsafe.

Narrative: This is my third and hopefully my last ever 2-crew member only crossing of the Atlantic late at night. Before each one of them; I tried my best to prepare physically and mentally for them. I commute; so I try to start early to reduce the stress of trying to get to work (not counting the constant delays; like today); and try to get some sleep before my late night; 2 pilots ocean crossing. I have never been able to achieve restful sleep in the middle of the afternoon; especially downstairs at Ops. So going on an all-night flight with no possibility of a break is stressful enough. I've tried standing up often; I've tried drinking Coca Cola ( I don't drink coffee; and drinking sugary drinks just for the caffeine is not good for my blood sugar levels); I've tried engaging in conversation with my First Officer; none of that compensates for having at least a short break in the cabin to recharge your batteries. I've always felt very fatigued at the end of these flights; questioning the safety of doing so. What if we have to divert for a sick passenger or worse; an engine fire/failure? We don't have the additional resource of one more crew member to help get the airplane safely to some obscure location in the middle of the Atlantic; in the middle of the night!For a company that professes [the importance of safety]; it sure is a shame that they have twisted the meaning of FAR 117 and chosen monetary gain over conducting a safe operation. The company seems to prefer to save the money of an additional crew member on these flights because supposedly we are 'acclimated' for the flight back. I don't think ANY of us have a problem staying awake during daylight on the way back. But ALL of us feel fatigued doing this late night two crew member crap![All pilots] urge [Company] to stop this unsafe practice of sending late night flights overseas with only two pilots. It's not safe or reasonable!

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.