Rotation
A complete trip that starts and ends at your base — one or more sectors, with any layovers in between.
Definition
A rotation is the full sequence of sectors from leaving your base until you return to it, including any layovers along the way. A same-day out-and-back is a two-sector rotation; a long-haul trip with a 48-hour layover is a rotation spanning several days. US crew usually say pairing or trip; British and Gulf crew say rotation or pattern.
What it means for you
Your roster is a list of rotations, and their shape sets the rhythm of your month: how many nights at home, how many in hotels, and how much per diem you collect. A rotation's length also decides the rest you are owed at the end of it, so a long one is followed by protected days off.
In practice
A Qatar Airways Doha-Sydney-Doha rotation runs four days with a two-night layover, whereas an Air Arabia crew member flies a Sharjah-Kochi-Sharjah rotation and sleeps at home the same night.
Related terms
4 terms- SectorFlight operationsOne flight from take-off to landing. A day's duty is counted in sectors, and low-cost pay is often earned per sector.
- PairingRoster & schedulingA US term for a complete trip built from consecutive duties and layovers that begins and ends at your base, bid and paid as a unit.
- LayoverRoster & schedulingThe rest period spent away from base between two duties, in a crew hotel, from a legal minimum overnight up to several days.
- RosterRoster & schedulingYour published block of duties for the month: flights, standbys, training, days off and leave, built against legal duty limits.