Flight duty limits explained: FAR 117 and EASA FTL in plain terms

Duty limits look simple on a crew room poster and get complicated the moment a delay hits. The maximum length of your day depends on when it starts, by which clock, how many legs it has, who is on board and what happened in the days before. This article lays out the main US and European limits, then shows how to read your own duty day against them.

It is a plain-language summary for information. The legal texts are linked throughout, and your company's approved scheme and procedures decide what applies to you.

The words that matter

Most mistakes start with the definitions.

Flight duty period (FDP). Under 14 CFR 117.3, it begins when a pilot is required to report for duty with the intention of flying, and ends when the aircraft is parked after the last flight. EASA's definition in ORO.FTL.105 is close, running from report until the aircraft comes to rest and the engines are shut down at the end of the last sector you operate.

Duty is broader. It includes the FDP and anything else the company requires of you, such as deadheading, training and office work.

Which clock. Both systems enter the tables at your report time in the time zone your body is used to. The FAA calls you acclimated after 72 hours in a theater or 36 consecutive hours free from duty there. EASA uses "acclimatised" and a table of time-zone difference against time elapsed since reporting.

Window of circadian low (WOCL). 02:00 to 05:59 in that same time zone, in both rule sets.

FAR 117: the US pilot limits

How long the duty day can be: Table B

For two-pilot crews, Table B of Part 117 sets the maximum FDP by scheduled start in acclimated local time and the number of flight segments:

Values are hours. If you are not acclimated, the limit is 30 minutes shorter and the start is read in the local time of the theater where you were last acclimated (117.13). Deadhead transportation counts as duty, but not as a segment for Table B.

With a third or fourth pilot, Table C allows 13 to 19 hours depending on the start time and the class of onboard rest facility, with at most three segments and set in-flight rest for the pilots at the controls for landing (117.17).

How much flying: Table A

Flight time, which means block time, is capped separately (117.11): 8 hours for a report between 00:00 and 04:59, 9 hours between 05:00 and 19:59, and 8 hours between 20:00 and 23:59 acclimated time, for a two-pilot crew. Three pilots may fly 13 hours, four pilots 17.

Extensions

Under 117.19, if unforeseen operational circumstances arise before takeoff, the pilot in command and the airline may extend the FDP by up to 2 hours. An extension of more than 30 minutes may happen only once before the 30-hour weekly rest, and never past the cumulative limits. After takeoff, the FDP can run as long as needed to land safely at the destination or an alternate. Extensions are for the unexpected. They are not a scheduling tool.

Rolling totals and rest

117.23 adds four rolling limits: 100 hours of flight time in any 672 consecutive hours, 1,000 in any 365 consecutive days, 60 hours of FDP in any 168 consecutive hours and 190 in any 672. They slide forward hour by hour; nothing resets on the first of the month.

117.25 requires at least 10 consecutive hours of rest before any FDP or reserve, measured from release, with an 8-hour uninterrupted sleep opportunity, and 30 consecutive hours free from all duty in the 168 hours before any FDP. Rest is not sleep looks at what those hours give you in practice.

US flight attendants

Flight attendants fly under 14 CFR 121.467 instead. A scheduled duty period may be up to 14 hours, followed by at least 10 consecutive hours of rest, which may not be reduced. Longer duty periods need extra flight attendants beyond the minimum crew, one for up to 16 hours, two for up to 18, and three for up to 20 on flights that land or take off outside the 48 contiguous states. Those are followed by 12 hours of rest, or 10 if a rest of at least 14 hours begins within 24 hours of the start of the shorter one.

EASA ORO.FTL: the European limits

How long the duty day can be: Table 2

For acclimatized crew, ORO.FTL.205(b) sets the basic maximum daily FDP by the start at reference time and the number of sectors. In short form:

The table never goes below 9:00, whatever the number of sectors. In an unknown state of acclimatization, the limit is 11:00 for one or two sectors, then 30 minutes less per sector to 9:00. The same rules apply to cabin crew, whose FDP may start up to an hour earlier when their briefing needs it.

Extensions and commander's discretion

A planned extension of up to 1 hour is allowed at most twice in any 7 consecutive days, with 2 more hours of rest before and after, or 4 more after (ORO.FTL.205(d)). It is limited to 5 sectors, or fewer when the duty runs into the WOCL. The certification specifications, CS FTL.1.205(b), don't allow it at all for an FDP starting between 19:00 and 06:14 reference time.

Unforeseen problems are handled separately. Under ORO.FTL.205(f), the commander may increase the FDP by up to 2 hours (3 with an augmented flight crew), after consulting the crew on their alertness, and must report it. The rest after can be reduced, but never below 10 hours.

Rolling totals and rest

ORO.FTL.210 counts all duty: 60 hours in any 7 consecutive days, 110 in 14 and 190 in 28. Flight time is capped at 100 hours in any 28 consecutive days, 900 in a calendar year and 1,000 in any 12 consecutive calendar months.

Rest under ORO.FTL.235 is at least as long as the preceding duty, with a minimum of 12 hours at home base or 10 hours away, the latter including an 8-hour sleep opportunity. A recurrent extended recovery rest of at least 36 hours, including 2 local nights, must come at least every 168 hours.

Reading your own duty day

Six questions, in order.

1. When do you report, and by which clock? Take the report time on your roster and convert it to the time zone you're acclimated to. After a long trip, check that you still are.
2. How many segments or sectors do you operate? Count operating legs only. Under Part 117 a deadhead isn't a segment; under EASA, positioning before operating counts as FDP but not as a sector.
3. Read the table. Find the row for your report time and the column for your segments.
4. Adjust. Under Part 117, take off 30 minutes if you're not acclimated. Under EASA, use the unknown-state table if that applies.
5. Work out the latest end. Report time plus the limit is the latest scheduled block-in of your last operating leg. Check flight time against its own limit too.
6. Check the totals and the rest after. Look at the rolling windows, then count the rest from release to the next report.

Two examples:

• FAR 117. You report at 05:40 EDT in Boston, acclimated, for three segments. Table B gives 12 hours, so the last block-in must be scheduled by 17:40 EDT. Table A caps flight time at 9 hours. If you're released at 18:00 EDT, the next report can't be before 04:00 EDT.
• EASA. You report at 07:10 CET in Madrid for four sectors. Table 2 gives 13:00 minus 1:00 for the two extra sectors, so 12:00, ending by 19:10 CET. A planned extension could take it to 13:00, within the twice-a-week allowance and with the longer rest that goes with it.

Your contract may be tighter than the regulation. A shorter duty day, a longer minimum rest or a lower monthly cap in the contract is the number you fly to, as long as it is the stricter one.

How LogAloft helps

LogAloft builds your duty periods from your roster and checks them against FAR 117, FAR 121.467, EASA or limits you enter, including your contract's stricter numbers. Reports → Duty & rest shows each FDP against its limit and the rolling totals, and What if… on a work day shows what a delay or an added leg would do before you accept it. It is a planning aid, not an approved scheduling or fatigue system. Duty and flight-time limits explains how it counts and where its checks stop.

For how LogAloft plans sleep inside the rest these rules give you, see How LogAloft plans your rest.

Sources

1. 14 CFR Part 117, Flight and Duty Limitations and Rest Requirements: Flightcrew Members, Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
2. 14 CFR 121.467, Flight attendant duty period limitations and rest requirements, Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
3. Easy Access Rules for Air Operations, Part-ORO Subpart FTL (Regulation (EU) No 83/2014), EASA
4. CS-FTL.1, Certification Specifications and Guidance Material for Commercial Air Transport by Aeroplane, Scheduled and Charter Operations (ED Decision 2014/002/R), EASA