EASA flight time limitations for cabin crew, explained in plain words: the duty limits, the rest, the discretion and the report
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#1 Lufthansa Munich, and the FTL (flight time limitations) come up in every delay thread and every fatigue thread and nobody explains them, so here is the plain version for European crew. US and Gulf crew have their own systems and can add theirs.
What FTL is
The EASA rules (and the airline's operations manual within them) that limit how long a crew member can be on duty, how much rest they must have between duties, and how many hours they can fly in a week, a month and a year. They are law. The airline can be stricter (the collective agreement often is). The airline cannot be looser.
The duty limit
A maximum flight duty period that depends on the sign on time and the number of sectors. A duty starting at 07:00 with two sectors can be longer than a duty starting at 04:00 with six. The table is in the ops manual and the crewing department applies it. A four hour delay can push a planned duty past the limit, which is the 'duty time maths' in the delay thread.
Discretion
The captain can extend the duty by a limited amount, once, in consultation with the crew, when a delay would otherwise strand the flight. Every crew member can say they are too tired for the extension, and the captain must consider it. Discretion is reported to the authority. It is not a favour to the airline. It is a legal tool with paperwork.
Rest
A minimum rest period between duties, at least as long as the previous duty or a fixed minimum, whichever is longer, and longer at a hotel away from base. A rest period that is short because of a delay is a rest period that the next duty must be adjusted for. This is why a late arrival changes the next day's sign on.
The weekly, monthly and yearly limits
A cap on duty hours in any seven days, on flight hours in 28 days, and in a year. The monthly caps are why the summer rosters look the way they do and why a busy crew member is suddenly given days off at the end of July.
The report
If a duty goes past the limit, a report is filed. If rest is cut short, a report is filed. If discretion is used, a report is filed. The reports are the data and they go to the authority. A crew member who thinks the rules were broken can report it, and the fatigue report from Hannah's thread is the sibling of this.
Why it matters to you
Because a crew member who knows the limits can say 'that duty would be over the limit' to a crewing officer, politely, and be right. Because knowing the discretion rules means knowing you can say no. And because the limits are the reason the delay thread's hour three matters: the maths is real and it is legal and it decides whether you go home.
The ops manual has the tables. Read the FTL section once. It is the most useful chapter you will never be examined on.
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#2 Frankfurt, and the FTL chapter is the one I read in year two after a delay where I did not know I could say no to discretion. Felix has the plain version. The 'every crew member can say they are too tired' line is the one to remember.
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#3 easyJet, and the UK rules are the EASA ones carried over, and the table is in our ops manual, and the number of crew who have read it is small, and the number who have said 'that is over the limit' to crewing and been right is smaller and growing. Read the chapter.
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#4 Delta, and the US system is the FAA rules plus the company policy (or contract, elsewhere), with a similar structure: duty limits by sign on and sectors, rest minimums, the captain's extension, the report. Ours is called something else. It is the same tool.
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#6 Ryanair Bergamo, and the monthly cap is why my July roster has a mysterious four days off at the end of it every year, and I did not know why for two years. It is the 28 day flight hour limit. Felix has explained my roster.
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#7 Emirates, and the UAE GCAA rules are structured the same way with their own tables, and the discretion conversation with the captain is a real conversation that I have had and where I said no once, correctly, and it was reported and nothing happened to me. The tool works.