REQUEST BY ALASKA AIRLINES FOR CLARIFICATION OF FLIGHT, 

DUTY AND REST REQUIREMENTS OF 14 CFR 117

Submitted to:

Docket Number FAA–2012–0358

Dale E. Roberts,

Air Transportation Division,

Flight Standards Service,

Federal Aviation Administration

dale.e.roberts@faa.gov

Alex Zektser, Office of the Chief Counsel,

Regulations Division,

Federal Aviation Administration

alex.zektser@faa.gov

1 For Your Consideration:

2

3 General

4 Many carriers use FAA-approved crew tracking and record keeping systems. With the complexity 

5 of tracking Flight Duty Period, Flight Time based on time of day and segments, carriers will be 

6 making major changes to the current programs utilized to maintain compliance with FARs.

7 What will be the requirements for the POI to approve tracking and record keeping 

8 systems that provide compliance with 14 CFR 117?

9

10

11 §117.1 Applicability.

12 Subsection (b) and (c) state “.... if any segment is conducted as a domestic passenger, flag passenger, 

13 or supplemental passenger operation.”

14 Please confirm that a line pilot assigned a flight under Part 91, such as a Functional 

15 Check Flight or Maintenance Ferry, and with no additional 121 assignments, is not 

subject to compliance with Part 117.1

 1 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 2 / Wednesday, January 4, 2012 / Rules and Regulations, page 336

16

17

18

19
20 §1.1 General definitions.

21 Flight time means:

22 Pilot time that commences when an aircraft moves under its own power for the purpose of flight and 

23 ends WHEN THE AIRCRAFT COMES TO REST AFTER LANDING

24 §117.3 Definitions.

25 Duty means any task that a flightcrew member performs as required by the certificate holder, 

26 including but not limited to flight duty period, flight duty, pre- and post-flight duties, administrative 

27 work, training, deadhead transportation, AIRCRAFT POSITIONING ON THE GROUND, aircraft loading, 

28 and aircraft servicing.

29 Flight duty period (FDP) means a period that begins when a flightcrew member is required to report 

30 for duty with the intention of conducting a flight, a series of flights, or positioning or ferrying flights, 

31 and ends when the aircraft is parked after the last flight and there is NO INTENTION FOR FURTHER 

32 AIRCRAFT MOVEMENT BY THE SAME FLIGHTCREW MEMBER.

33 A. Please confirm the following application of these definitions -

34 1) Reposition aircraft from International gate for customs to a domestic gate:

35 • No passengers on board

36 • Pilot’s obligations end at the domestic gate

37 Duty - Yes: task that a flightcrew member performs as required by the certificate 

38 holder includes aircraft positioning on the ground.

39 FDP - Yes: FDP ends when the aircraft is parked after the last flight and there is no 

40 intention for further aircraft movement by the same flightcrew member.

41 Flight Time - No: flight time ends when the aircraft comes to rest after landing.

42

43 2) Block return for mechanical or medical emergency.

44 Duty - Yes: task that a flightcrew member performs as required by the certificate 

45 holder.

46 FDP - Yes but ends when plane arrives at gate.

47 Flight Time - Yes but ends when plane arrives at gate.

48

49 B. When does FDP stop when the aircraft never departs?

50

51

52 §117.5 Fitness for duty.

53 Subsection (d) states “As part of the dispatch or flight release, as applicable, each flightcrew member 

54 must affirmatively state he or she is fit for duty prior to commencing flight.”

In the preamble2

 2 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 2 / Wednesday, January 4, 2012 / Rules and Regulations, page 350

55 it states “The affirmation on the dispatch or flight release simply needs to state that 

56 the undersigned flightcrew members affirm that they are fit for duty. THE DISPATCH OR FLIGHT 

57 RELEASE CONTAINING THE AFFIRMATION MUST BE SIGNED BY EACH FLIGHTCREW MEMBER. This 

58 requirement applies to each flight segment and each air carrier should inform its flightcrew members 

59 about the significance of signing a fitness-for-duty affirmation.”

60 Confirm that flightcrew members can use various electronic means provided by the 

61 carrier to record the fitness for duty statement such as ACARS, cell phone app, or 

62 other proprietary method and keep this record for a period of 3 months IAW 

63 §121.695(b).

64

65

66
67 §117.9 Fatigue education and awareness training program.

68 Subsection (a) states: “Each certificate holder must develop and implement an education and 

69 awareness training program, APPROVED by the Administrator”. Yet subsection (c)(1) states: “Each 

70 certificate holder must update its fatigue education and awareness training program every two years 

71 and submit the update to the Administrator for review and ACCEPTANCE”.

72 A. Is the fatigue training an FAA approved course of training or an accepted training 

73 program?

74

75 • ASAA, Pilot Training programs (AQP) are approved by the local CMO as well as AFS-230. Now we 

76 have a third party approving one specific topic within the Qualification and Continuing 

77 Qualification curriculum, AFS-220.

78 • ASAA Dispatcher Training, under Subpart N & O of 14 CFR 121, is approved by the CMO.

79 B. If the answer to A above establishes this is an approved training curriculum, who 

80 will represent the Administrator in approving this training – the CMO, AFS-220, or 

81 in the case of our Pilot training program, AFS-230?

82

83 Subsection (a) further defines the disciplines that must take this training: “employees responsible for 

84 administering the provisions of this rule including flightcrew members, dispatchers, individuals 

85 directly involved in the scheduling of flightcrew members, individuals directly involved in operational 

86 control, and any employee providing direct management oversight of those areas”.

87 This training will be part of the Pilot’s and Dispatcher’s FAA approved training curriculum and will 

88 in part, establish their qualifications. Therefore if a Pilot or Dispatcher does not complete this 

89 training they are not qualified to perform their duties.

90 C. For all other functions listed in subsection (a), what are the consequences for not 

91 completing the required training within a year?

92 D. Is this training mandated every 12 calendar months or once in a calendar year? If I 

93 take the training in January 2014, then again in December of 2015, am I legal to 

94 perform my duties administering the provisions of this rule during 2015?

95

96 Subsection (b) list the topics that must be incorporated into the training programs:

97 (1) Fatigue;

98 (2) The effects of fatigue on pilots; and

99 (3) Fatigue countermeasures

100 ASAA Pilot Qualification and Continuing Qualification programs have included these subjects for 

101 well over three years.

102 E. Will there be credit for previous training?

103

104 Subsection (c)(1) & (2) mandates the carrier update its fatigue education and awareness training 

105 program every two years, and that the FAA will take no longer than 12 months to approve (accept) 

106 this revision. Under 14 CFR 121 Subpart Y - Advanced Qualification Program, Continuing 

107 Qualification training for ASAA Pilots changes each year.

108 F. Will a carrier be afforded the opportunity to amend their Continuing Qualification 

109 curriculum each year?

110 G. Clarify that the carrier will need to submit changes to its program a full year 

111 before we can implement them and must continue to use the existing FAA 

112 approved curriculum until such time the amendment is approved.

113 H. When does initial fatigue education and awareness training need to be completed?

114

115

116
117 §117.11 Flight time limitation.

118 Subsection (b) states: If unforeseen operational circumstances arise after takeoff that are beyond the 

119 certificate holder’s control, a flightcrew member may exceed the maximum flight time specified in 

120 paragraph (a) of this section and the cumulative flight time limits in 117.23(b) TO THE EXTENT 

121 NECESSARY TO SAFELY land the aircraft at the next destination airport or alternate, as appropriate.

122 A. The regulation does not address an unanticipated ground event, such as a gate 

123 hold, a major weather event which strikes an airport earlier or later that 

124 forecasted, or an unanticipated runway closure. Is this consistent with the 

125 Customer Service Commitment?

126 B. If the unforeseen circumstance requires a divert to an airport other that the 

127 destination or alternate, do you re-enter Table B to adjust the Flight Duty Period, 

128 even though this section states that I may exceed the limits as necessary to safely 

129 land at the destination or alternate?

130

131 Subsection (c) states in part that the certificate holder must report to the Administrator within 10 

132 days any flight time that exceeded the maximum flight time limits permitted. The report must 

133 include a description for the exceeded flight time, and if the certificate holder could have 

134 intervened, a corrective action to minimize future extensions.

135 C. Please confirm that if the circumstances were beyond the certificate holder’s

136 control, a report is required but corrective actions need not be provided.

137

138

139 §117.13 Flight duty period: Unaugmented operations.

140 TABLE B TO PART 117—FLIGHT DUTY PERIOD: UNAUGMENTED OPERATIONS

141 Table B bases the length of a Flight Duty Period (FDP) on the Scheduled time of start and number of 

142 segments.

143 A. If a diversion occurs in a non-augmented flight does this now count as a segment 

144 towards limitations, thereby possibly changing a flightcrew member’s maximum 

145 FDP?

146 B. if a delay is known prior to the report time of the pilot (day before or even earlier 

147 in the day), can the carrier reset the pilot to the new report time which alters the 

148 pilot’s duty day to begin at this new time within the chart? For example, the flight 

149 was originally scheduled to depart LAX at 12:30 pm. The flight is delayed for 5 

150 hours and the crew is notified the day prior. Can the carrier reset the duty day to 

151 begin at 17:30 pm the next day?

152 The times listed in Table B are based on the acclimation of the flight crewmember in theater. There 

153 can be multiple time zones within 60° lines of longitude. A pilot can be rested in a different time 

154 zone of their base but still in the same theater.

155 C. Please verify that we enter the table using the time zone the flight crewmember is 

156 acclimated to. For example, if the Pilot was based in SEA, and had less than 36 

157 hours of rest in BOS, the scheduled time of start in Table B would be SEA time.

158

159

160
161 §117.19 Flight duty period extensions.

162 Subsection (b) states: “for unforeseen operational circumstances after takeoff limit the number of 

163 extensions of more than 30 minutes to once prior to receiving a rest period described in §117.25(b)”.

164 A. Please clarify that because this rule discusses operations after takeoff, and limits 

165 them to one a week period, what is the Administrator’s expectation if a crew has 

166 had one extension then encounters a weather delay just a few days later which 

167 will put them over 30 minutes?

168 B. Why are the reporting requirement different for §117.19(a)(4) and (b)(4)?

169

170

171 §117.21 Reserve status.

172 Subsection (b) states: “For airport/standby reserve, all time spent in a reserve status is part of the 

173 flightcrew member’s flight duty period.” Yet, the definition of Flight duty period (FDP) includes the 

174 assumption that a flight occurs: .... “with the intention of conducting a flight, a series of flights, or 

175 positioning or ferrying flights, and ends when the aircraft is parked after the last flight....”

176 A. If an Airport Standby Reserve does not fly, does the time they spent on Airport 

177 Standby count toward FDP?

178 B. If a short call pilot is assigned a trip do they have the same FDP extension 

179 capabilities as a lineholder?

180

181 §117.25 Rest period.

182 The language in subsection (a), “No certificate holder MAY ASSIGN and no flightcrew member may 

183 ACCEPT ASSIGNMENT to any reserve or duty”, and subsection (e), “No certificate holder MAY 

184 SCHEDULE and no flightcrew member may ACCEPT AN ASSIGNMENT for any reserve or flight duty 

185 period”.

186 A. Confirm that if the carrier is not assigning duty during a rest period, they are 

187 allowed to contact the crew or the crew can check a calendar, during the period

188 break for an assignment, to extend/reduce their rest period or amend their 

189 schedule?

190 Subsection (e) also states: “the flightcrew member is given a rest period of at least 10 consecutive 

191 hours immediately before beginning the reserve or flight duty period measured from the time the 

192 flightcrew member is released from duty. The 10 hour rest period must provide the flightcrew member 

193 with a minimum of 8 uninterrupted hours of sleep opportunity”

194 B. Confirm that a carrier can require a pilot to check text, email, or calendar during 

195 the 10 consecutive hours or 8 hours of sleep opportunity.

196 C. Confirm that the earliest point that rest will begin is at the time of release from 

197 duty.

198

199 The language in subsections (b) and (e) are inconsistant: “...assignment for ANY RESERVE OR FLIGHT

200 DUTY PERIOD...”. The language in subsection (f) states: “The flightcrew member cannot report for 

201 the ASSIGNED FLIGHT DUTY PERIOD...”

202 D. Is this inconsistent language intentional? Could a flightcrew member begin a 

203 reserve period even if the flightcrew member determined he/she did not receive 

204 the rest required by paragraph (e)?

205

206

207
208 §117.27 Consecutive nighttime operations.

209 This section in part states: “A certificate holder may schedule and a flightcrew member may accept up 

210 to five consecutive flight duty periods that infringe on the window of circadian low if .... The rest

211 opportunity must be at least 2 hours, measured from the time that the flightcrew member reaches the 

212 suitable accommodation”, and is provided between the hours of 22:00 and 05:00 local time.

213 Please confirm that this section only applies to operations that begin before and 

214 operate into the WOCL or for FDPs that begin before the WOCL and end after the 

215 WOCL. A flight crew that is reporting at 0500 may report for five (5) days in a row.

216

217

218 §121.467 Flight attendant duty period limitations and rest requirements: Domestic, flag, and 

219 supplemental operations.

220 Subsection (c) states “Notwithstanding paragraph (b) of this section, a certificate holder conducting 

221 domestic, flag, or supplemental operations may apply the flightcrew member flight time and duty 

222 limitations and REQUIREMENTS of part 117 of this chapter to flight attendants for all operations 

223 conducted under this part provided that....”

224 Do all “requirements of Part 117” include Flight Attendants:

225 • Complying with fatigue education and awareness training program?

226 • Declaring their fitness for duty on the flight release?

227

228

229 Jim Winkelman

230 Alaska Airlines

231 Director, Flight Operations Compliance, Quality Management, Technical Publications and Safety 

232 Management System Implementation

233 (206)392-6347

234 Jim.Winkelman@AlaskaAir.com