> ![](media/image1.png){width="0.4625in" height="0.4625in"}
>
> U.S. Department
>
> of Transportation
>
> **Federal Aviation**
>
> **Administration**

April 29, 2005

Edgar C. Fell

Vice President, Safety and Regulatory Compliance

Pinnacle Airlines, Inc.

1689 Nonconnah Blvd.

Suite 111

Memphis, TN 38132

Dear Mr. Fell:

This is in response to your February 17, 2003 letter for a request of
the domestic flight time limitations and rest requirements, as set forth
in 14 CFR § 121.471. Please note that a "legal" flight in this letter,
refers only to a flight that complies with the flight attendant duty
period limitations and rest requirements.

You ask the following questions:

1)  Can previous interpretations regarding the applicability of §
    121.471(g) be applied to\
    § 121.467(b)(14)?

2)  In the scenario below, is the certificate holder and flight
    attendant legal to operate this flight in accordance with §
    121.467(b)(14):

> A flight attendant has been properly scheduled under FAR 121.467 with
> a report time of 0700 and a scheduled release time of 2050, a duty
> period of 13 hours and 50 minutes. Immediately prior to this duty, the
> flight attendant was given a 10 hour rest period. The flight
> attendant's last flight is scheduled to depart at 1905 and scheduled
> \[sic\] to arrive at 2035 with 15 minutes provided for checkout
> procedures. The aircraft to which the flight \[sic\] attendant is
> assigned incurs an unforeseen mechanical problem that will delay the
> flight for 45 minutes, making her actual duty period 14 hours and 35
> minutes.

The applicable regulation sections are listed below:

Section 121.467 Flight attendant duty period limitations and rest
requirements: Domestic, flag, and supplemental operations.

. . . . .

(b)(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (b)(4), (b)(5), and (b)(6) of
this section, no certificate holder conducting domestic, flag, or
supplemental operations may assign a flight attendant to a scheduled
duty period of more than 14 hours.

(b)(2) Except as provided in paragraph (b)(3) of this section, a flight
attendant scheduled to a duty period of 14 hours or less as provided
under paragraph (b)(1) of this section must be given a scheduled rest
period of at least 9 consecutive hours. This rest period must occur
between the completion of the scheduled duty period and the commencement
of the subsequent duty period.

. . . . . .

(b)(14) A flight attendant is not considered to be scheduled for duty in
excess of duty period limitations if the flights to which the flight
attendant is assigned are scheduled and normally terminate within the
limitations but due to circumstances beyond the control of the
certificate holder conducting domestic, flag, or supplemental operations
(such as adverse weather conditions) are not at the time of departure
expected to reach their destination within the scheduled time.

[Questions Answered]{.underline}

1\) Previous interpretations of § 121.471(g) may be used as guidance for
interpreting\
§ 121.467(b)(14) in similar factual situations. However, as you
identified in your letter,\
§ 121.471(g) concerns flight time limitations whereas § 121.467(b)(14)
concerns duty time, which must include flight time. See § 121.467(a)
definition of flight attendant duty period. Therefore, questions
concerning a pilot's flight time may substantially differ from questions
concerning a flight attendant's duty time, which may include both flight
time and non-flight time. Moreover, questions involving "circumstances
beyond the control of the certificate holder," whether concerning pilots
or flight attendants, do not affect rest requirement analyses.

2\) In your letter you ask whether it is legal for the certificate
holder and flight attendant to operate this flight in accordance with §
121.467(b)(14). Please note, that the flight attendant duty period
limitations and rest requirements only apply to the certificate holder,
a flight attendant may not be charged with a violation of § 121.467. It
is unclear from your scenario which flight is "this" flight since you
indicate the flight attendant is scheduled for multiple flights. We will
assume for purposes of this interpretation that you meant the last
flight of the day, scheduled to depart at 1905.

In order to answer your question, we need to make a number of
assumptions because your scenario lacked certain facts that may impact
the answer to your question. If any of these assumptions are incorrect,
the answer to this question may change. First, we assume the flights in
the scenario you describe do not use augmented flight attendant crews
pursuant to sections 121.467(b)(4), (5), and (6), because you do not
refer to augmented flight attendant crews or their corresponding
sections. Second, we assume the scenario you describe complies with
section 121.467(b)(13) requiring 24 consecutive hours free from all duty
during any seven consecutive calendar days. We assume the certificate
holder in the scenario you described did not choose the option permitted
by section 121.467(c), to apply the flight crewmember flight time
limitations and rest requirements. We assume the scenario you described
did not involve the application of any of the following sections
121.467(b)(7), (8), or (9), including application of these sections to
time periods prior to or during the ten hour rest you describe in the
scenario you described. In order for your scenario to be "legal" under
the flight attendant duty period limitations and rest requirements, we
assume any required rest period, such as the section 121.467(b)(2)
requirement, is given before the next duty period. This assumption
reinforces the long held FAA position that circumstances beyond the
control of the certificate holder permit exceeding duty period
limitations but does not permit reducing required rest periods.
Therefore, your scenario would not be "legal" if the certificate holder
gave the flight attendant less than the required amount of rest before
the next duty period, regardless of the delay.

In the scenario you provided, the certificate holder complies with the
applicable flight attendant duty period limitations. Pursuant to section
121.467(b)(1), a flight attendant may not be scheduled for more than 14
hours of duty time, which includes flight time, unless there is more
than the minimum number of flight attendants on a flight. Section
121.467(b)(14) is one exception to section 121.467(b)(1), in that it
permits extending a flight attendant's duty period beyond the scheduled
duty where there are circumstances beyond the control of the certificate
holder. Unforeseen mechanical problems and weather may be two
circumstances which qualify as beyond the control of the certificate
holder. However, there are other circumstances that the FAA does not
consider to be circumstances beyond the control of the certificate
holder.[^1] As section 121.467(b)(14) states, flights to which a flight
attendant is assigned must normally terminate within duty period
limitations. Therefore, a flight attendant's schedule may not be
extended on a regular basis. If a flight attendant's schedule is
regularly extended purportedly due to circumstances beyond the control
of the operator, it is the operator's obligation to adjust a flight
attendant's schedule so that the schedule normally terminates within
duty time limitations. Therefore section 121.467(b)(14) permits the
extension of duty time from 2050 to 2135 in this scenario for a duty
period greater than 14 hours because the delay was caused by
circumstances beyond the control of the certificate holder.

In the scenario you provided the certificate holder complies with the
applicable flight attendant rest requirements. Section 121.467(b)(2)
requires a certificate holder to give a flight attendant at least 9
consecutive hours of rest if the flight attendant is scheduled for a
duty period of 14 hours or less. The required rest period must occur
between the scheduled duty period and the beginning of a subsequent duty
period. Assuming the flight attendant receives the required 9 hours of
rest before the next duty period the schedule you describe would be
"legal" under the flight attendant duty period limitations and rest
requirements.[^2]

Please note that the duty period limitations and rest requirements for
flight attendants do not necessarily guard against all forms of fatigue
that may occur due to actions or inactions by the flight attendant, the
certificate holder, or others. A combination of a change in schedule by
a certificate holder and a flight attendant's schedule during non-duty
time may combine to create a fatigued flight attendant. Though such
fatigue causing circumstances may comply with the literal language of
the duty and rest requirements for flight attendants, such fatigue must
be considered in determining whether a certificate holder's operation is
careless and reckless contrary to 14 C.F.R. § 91.13(a).

We trust this interpretation answered your questions. This was prepared
by Douglas Mullen, Attorney, reviewed by Joseph Conte, Manager,
Operations Law Branch of the Office of the Chief Counsel and coordinated
with Flight Standards Service.

Sincerely,

Rebecca B. MacPherson

Assistant Chief Counsel, Regulations Division

[^1]: One example, as stated in the final rule adopting the provisions
    of 14 CFR 121.467(b)(14), is "this provision \[14 CFR 467(b)(14)\]
    does not apply to operational delays relating to flight attendant
    staffing problems." 59 FR 42974, 42979.

[^2]: Hence, the flight attendant must receive 9 hours of rest between
    2135 and the beginning of the next duty period. If the flight
    attendant was scheduled for a duty period 9 hours after the
    scheduled release time of 2050, which would have been 0550, the
    flight attendant would not be able to begin duty at 0550 because
    this would only give the flight attendant 8:15 rest. The certificate
    holder could require the flight attendant to start duty at 0550 even
    if his or her duty ended at 2135, if the certificate holder reduced
    the flight attendant's rest period to 8 hours per section
    121.467(b)(3) and later gave the flight attendant 10 hours rest.