Split duty
An FDP with a long ground break in the middle, which under EASA can extend the maximum duty in exchange for rest in suitable accommodation.
Definition
A split duty is a flight duty period interrupted by a break on the ground, during which the crew rest in suitable accommodation and the FDP is allowed to be longer than the table would otherwise permit. Under EASA the break must be at least three hours, excluding the post-flight and pre-flight tasks either side, and the FDP may be extended by up to 50% of the break. It is common on regional networks where an aircraft sits at an outstation for several hours in the middle of the day.
What it means for you
A split duty stretches the day: a 12-hour duty becomes 14 with a three-hour break in an airport hotel room you may not actually sleep in. The rules are precise about the accommodation and the length of the break, and the extended FDP still needs full rest afterwards, so check that the break on your roster meets the definition before accepting the longer day.
In practice
A regional operator rosters a morning rotation to an island, four hours in a hotel by the terminal, and the return sector in the evening: legal as a split duty under EASA, and the roster shows it as a single FDP with a break.
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.
- Duty periodRoster & schedulingAny continuous period of work for the airline — flying, standby, training, positioning or ground tasks — from report to release.
- 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.
- 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.