Hours of service? Airline plots.?

Question

What is the max # of hours a pilot and co pilot can be ON DUTY in any 24 hr period. (On duty being , "on the clock" whether or not flying.) such as , having mechanics check a minor problem.
How many hours can he fly? Define " flying ." Is this only the time the plane is in the air, or does it mean whenever the aircraft has engines on, taxiing , waiting to take off, etc.

What happens if , due to bad weather, the pilot is running out of time. Can he (within reason) complete his tour of duty?
He may be out of time in Phila, but he is assigned to still do a Phila-Baltimore hop. Can he do it?

Next question, hours of rest. Please define it. Does this mean, sent to a motel to sleep?
Or, is he considered "resting" when, for example, he arrived Baltimore at 2PM, left the airplane at 230PM and doesn't have to be back until 330 PM and he goes to lunch?
How does this work?
Also how do you measure a "day." Noon to Noon, Mid to midnight, and how about time zone changes?
Thanks

Answer 1

1) What is the max # of hours a pilot and co pilot can be ON DUTY in any 24 hr period?

For DOMESTIC operations, 14 hours in a 24 hour period in the USA

However, that duty day can be extended up to 16 hours if something "beyond control of the airline" occurs (weather).

2) How many hours can he fly?

For DOMESTIC flights, 8 hours (but possibly up to 10 if the situation above occurs per Federal Aviation Regulation 121.471 subpart G).

"Flight time" is defined as any time the cabin door is closed with brakes released to brakes set and the door open at the destination (at my airline anyway).

3) What happens if, due to bad weather, the pilot is running out of time. Can he (within reason) complete his tour of duty?

Yes, as mentioned above.

4) Hours of rest? Please define it.

A rest period is when a pilot is released from duty, not breaks between flights. How it is defined varies slightly by airline contract. Mine begins 15 minutes after arrival. On a short overnight, (late arrival PM, early AM departure) this may mean only 8-9 hours scheduled time between flights. This translates into less than 6 hours sleep at the hotel. Other airline contracts require a set time 'behind the hotel door' (like 8 hours for sleep!), so the overnights can only be so short to accomodate that.

Occasionally a rest period is simply some time that a pilot is released from duty so that they are legal for a flight later in the day. My contract requires at least 10 hours "rest" in base between assignments. Scheduling has been known to bring reserve* pilots back to base on a 6 am departure, arriving at 7am, sending them to rest, then putting them on an evening departure. How about that nice 10 hour "airport appreciation" break?! For a pilot who flies into work from another city, that means a very looooong day.

Duty days are midnight to midnight and are usually calculated based on the pilots base time zone.

Answer 2

Most Airline pilots are not paid when they walk into the airport. They are mostly paid for their flight time(how long it takes for them to complete the flight or how long the company thinks it should take to complete the flight.)

Pilots use a 24 hour clock to tell time.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

12 hours