Duty period
Any continuous period of work for the airline — flying, standby, training, positioning or ground tasks — from report to release.
Definition
A duty period is a continuous stretch during which you are working for the operator, starting at report and ending when you are released from all tasks. It is broader than a flight duty period: it also includes standby that converts to a duty, training, positioning after operating, ground duties and post-flight administration. Cumulative duty limits under EASA are 60 hours in any 7 days, 110 in 14 and 190 in 28, and every duty period must be followed by a legal rest period.
What it means for you
Duty is the number that fills your week, and it is the one the roster software can quietly push to the limit. A day of training counts, a positioning flight home after operating counts, and an airport standby counts in full — so a week that looks light in flying can still be near the 60-hour ceiling. Learn the difference between duty and FDP; most roster arguments turn on it.
In practice
A Lufthansa crew member who operates Frankfurt–Madrid and back, then positions as a passenger to Munich for the next day's trip, has a duty period covering the whole day, though only the first two sectors form the FDP.
Go deeper
Related terms
4 terms- 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.
- 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.
- Block hoursRoster & schedulingTime from the aircraft first moving under its own power to the parking brake being set: the unit airlines pay by and regulators cap.
- FTLRegulationFlight time limitations — a regulator's legal caps on duty, flight hours and minimum rest: the only hard limit on what a roster can ask.