Delay
Any departure or arrival behind schedule — for crew, a duty that stretches and a rest period that shrinks.
Definition
A delay is a departure or arrival later than scheduled, categorised by airlines with standard IATA delay codes covering weather, technical, air traffic control, crew and passenger causes. For cabin crew the operational meaning is that the flight duty period runs longer than planned, sometimes to the point where the rostered duty is no longer legal without the commander exercising discretion.
What it means for you
A delay eats into your duty limits and your rest: a three-hour hold on the ground can push a legal four-sector day into commander's discretion, cancel your last sector or strand you in a hotel. You are usually paid your scheduled or actual block time, whichever the contract favours, but not for the waiting itself at most carriers.
In practice
A fog delay at Heathrow holds a British Airways crew on the aircraft for two hours before the sector to Rome, so the return sector is cancelled and the crew night-stop in Rome under the airline's disruption procedure.
Go deeper
Related terms
4 terms- Commander's discretionRoster & schedulingThe captain's authority to extend a duty or shorten a rest beyond normal limits for unforeseen events after report, after consulting crew.
- Flight duty periodRoster & schedulingThe regulated window from report for a flying duty to engines off after the last sector; the core limit protecting crew from fatigue.
- On-time performanceFlight operationsThe share of an airline's flights that depart or arrive within 15 minutes of schedule — a headline metric that trickles down to crew.
- Rest periodRoster & schedulingThe uninterrupted time free of all duties that must separate two duties: 12 hours at base and 10 away under EASA, 10 hours under the FAA.