SOME QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR
COMMERCIAL OPERATORS
(CONCERNING CARs 700.14 - 720.23)
Q. I was issued Commercial
and Business Aviation Advisory Circular No. 0241 on 2005.03.18
advising that some duty time software does not properly address
required rest issues from CARs 700.19. Does FLTDUTY XLS
correctly apply the Regulations and Standards in this area?
A. Yes. In response to
the CBAAC 0241, this software was revised to take into account the
commonly enforced requirements outlined in the guidance material to
inspectors. This content can be viewed at http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/standards/commerce-manuals-guidance700-menu-1872.htm
under Guidance Materials R740.19. Within this document are
additional conditions and restrictions for enforcing the CARs and
Standards in this and other sections. The FLTDUTY software will
apply the conditions for using the two options for required rest in a
704/705 or On Call operation as outlined there. Some detail can
be seen in CBAAC No. 0170R 2004.05.12 where the options and the
method for alternating between options are described.
Additional restrictions are described in the guidance material.
FLTDUTY is programmed to allow
either Option a or Option b with either a 17 day cycle following a 3
date (or 80 hour) rest or a 7 day cycle following a 36 hour
rest. Either option can be scheduled. A 3 date or 80 hour
rest must precede any duty period longer than 5.5 days without at
least a 36 hour break and a 3 date or 80 hour rest must precede
reverting back to a 7 day/36 hour cycle whenever there was a stretch
of duty longer than 5.5 days without at least a 36 hour break.
The Next Mandatory Day Off as indicated by the program will always be
the latest that can be scheduled under the circumstances. Any
earlier rest may affect the Next Mandatory Day Off warning as well as
the cycle of rest in effect.
Q. What is the maximum
flight time a pilot can log over a 30 day period?
A. According to CARs 700.15
(1) (c) the answer is 120 hours in any 30 day period. There is
an exception quoted here for the case if the pilot that has been
designated as being on call. (Defined as available for
flight duty from an unspecified location within 1 hour or less).
In this case the 30 day limit is reduced to 100 hours.
Under the Standards, however, in
CARs 720.15 (1) (c) under certain conditions this limit is raised to
150 hours. These conditions are: The operator must have
Operations Specification 092 included in his Transport Canada
Operating Certificate. You can use the higher limits if the
flight is air taxi or aerial work (Subpart 2 or 3) or DHC-6 not
scheduled passenger service or helicopter operations except for
scheduled passenger carrying and heli-logging; for a maximum of 6
non-overlapping 30 day periods within each 365 day period. This
means that if you use these upper limits, from the first time you
used them in the previous 365 days, in 30 day blocks that do not
overlap (but are not necessarily consecutive without a gap) from that
date, you must have used them in less than 6 of the 30 day blocks in
order to be able to use these high limits now.
Heli-logging operations are limited
to 120 hours for single-pilot operations and 150 hours for two pilot
operations (720.15 (2)).
None of these flight time totals
are the actual flight time in the previous 30 days. After a 5
consecutive day break, the accumulating total for 30 days, with
respect to the CARs, can be re-set to zero (720.15 (1)(g)) under
certain circumstances in certain types of operations. In which
case a pilot could fly to his limit, take 5 days off, and be able to
fly to the limit again.
Under an exemption now in place
(since May 1/02) non-scheduled 704/705 operations can extend their 30
day flight time limits to 135 hours during the summer months.
Q. What is the minimum
overnight rest a pilot needs?
A. According to the
CARs definitions, the basic minimum rest is 8 consecutive hours in
suitable accommodation (single occupancy bedroom) plus any additional
rest required by the CARs following any flight duty period (700.16
(3)). Factors that require additional rest include - extensions
to flight duty time as a result of a split duty assignment (700.16
(6)); extension of flight duty time as a result of flight crew
positioning (700.20); long range flights (700.22 (1)); if the
operator has Operations Specification 093 included in his Transport
Canada Operating Certificate, then increased daily flight duty time
to 15 hours (after more than 8 hours of flight time) (720.16 (1)(a));
extended flights with additional flight crew (720.16 (2)(b), (3)(c));
unforeseen circumstances extending flight duty time (720.17 (1)(a));
and early recall from reserve status (720.21 (2)(b)). These
extensions can add from 1 hour up to the length of the previous
flight duty period to the required rest.
The minimum rest period of 8
consecutive hours does not apply to aerial application operations if
Operations Specification 093 is in place. The required rest for
these pilots is 9 hours within each 24 consecutive hour period to be
taken at least 5 consecutive hours between 2000h and 0600h local time
and the remainder to be taken in suitable accommodation (720.16 (5)(b)(c)).
Q. What is the maximum
flight time a pilot can log in a day?
A. There is no general limit
for flight time in a 24 consecutive hour period in the CARs.
Flight time would normally be limited by flight duty time and, except
for long range flights with additional flight crew (who all log the
entire flight, even when asleep) (720.16 (4)) and extended flight
duty times due to unforeseen circumstances, would be close to 14 or
15 hours depending on whether Ops Spec 093 was in place. The
exception to this is single pilot IFR operations limited to 8 hours
flight time (700.15 (1)(f))
Q. What is the longest
stretch a pilot can go without a day off?
A. A pilot working in an air
taxi or aerial work operation can be assigned up to 42 consecutive
days without a day off with Ops Spec 094 in place (720.19
(1)(a)). In contrast, any pilot who is designated as On
Call must have at least 36 consecutive hours free from duty within
each 7 days or failing that is required to have 3 consecutive dates
off every 17 days (700.19 (1)(c)) or 80 consecutive hours. To
put this in perspective, a float pilot could be assigned to work on
May 1st, fly 5 hours a day, not get a day off until June 12th and not
be considered fatigued. But a charter pilot sitting at home
with his pager on would be technically fatigued by Saturday at noon
if he went on duty Monday (or be entitled to a long weekend every 2 weeks).
The maximum stretch of 42 days
without a break is only available to aerial work and air taxi
operations after a 5 consecutive day break and must be followed by a
5 consecutive day break. With these limitations, this option is
only available for a very restricted period. The normal maximum
stretch without a break would be 27 consecutive days in order to
comply with the 3 days off in each 30 day period (700.19
(1)(b)). This stretch would need to be followed by 3
consecutive days off.
All airline or commuter operations
must observe the same time free from duty requirements as a pilot On
Call. That is, at least 36 consecutive hours off within each 7
day period, or failing that, 3 consecutive dates off in each 17 day
period (700.19 (1)(a)) or 80 consecutive hours. (Under new
exemptions and proposed amendments to the CARs, remotely deployed
704/705 operations may use a 4 consecutive date rest to work a 19 day
cycle; or if non-scheduled 704/705 during the summer, establish a 12
day cycle with a 48 hour rest.) Generally, the longest stretch
that an airline pilot can go without a day (3 days) off is 14
consecutive days.
Q. What is the difference
between On Call and On Standby?
A. The only difference in the
definitions is that a specific location is associated with the On
Standby condition. On Call is for a pilot designated to be
available for flight duty on notice of 1 hour or less. An
example of this would be any pilot wearing a pager who is expected to
respond and be ready to fly within an hour of being paged. On
Standby is for pilots who report for duty but are not necessarily
going on a flight. An example of this would be any pilot who
reports to the operations base and is expected to perform other
duties while waiting to be dispatched on a flight.
The difference operationally is
that any pilot On Call has his time free from duty limits set at the
most restrictive - that is those for airline and commuter operations
- no matter what the actual type of operation. On Call is not
considered flight duty time but is also not considered time free from
duty for purposes of determining flight duty time limits and time
free from duty requirements. On Standby is considered flight
duty time and flight duty time limits apply as well as time free from
duty requirements even if there was no flight time associated with
the flight duty time.
A clarification proposed to be
included in future CARs allows any period where the On Call response
is greater than 1 hour will be considered time free from duty and any
24 hour period of greater than 1 hour call in will be considered a
day off.
Q. Does time off for
weather and maintenance count as time free from duty?
A. Yes. Time spent not
on actual flights can be time free from duty if it is specifically
assigned as such. Once a pilot is released from duty, including
being available for duty (as in On Call or On Standby), he is on time
free from duty. If a weather assessment or maintenance
condition during the day determines that the pilot will have no
further duties (flight duties or other duties), and he is released
(not restricted to any specified location), his time free from duty
starts with his notification of his release. If he is on more
than 1 hour recall, the time is considered free from duty.
In order that the rest required
from the previous flight duty period be satisfied, the time free from
duty must be at least 8 hours plus any additional requirements for
special circumstances, if any. If the time free from duty turns
out to be less than 8 hours, the required rest for the previous
flight duty time has not been met. In this case the total duty
time will extend from the initial report for duty time to the final
released from duty time, including the time free from duty (that was
less than 8 hours) and the rest can be attributed to a split duty
assignment, if it qualifies, and total flight duty time can be
appropriately extended although the subsequent required rest will
also be extended.
Aerial application operations using
the split duty assignment option after less than 8 hours overnight
rest must allow for the remainder of the required rest in suitable
accommodation (single occupancy bedroom) not just released from
flight duty. Other operations using the extended flight duty
time split duty assignment with a rest during the flight duty period
must allow for at least 4 hours of rest in suitable accommodation
(700.16 (5)(b)).
Q. Does layover time
between charter flights away from base count as flight duty time?
A. Yes. As long as a
pilot is expected to be at a certain place (the airport) or is
available for a flight on 1 hour call or less, it is considered
flight duty time on standby. If an extended layover is expected
that will put the flight duty time over the limit, a split duty
assignment can be made if the pilot is allowed at least 4 consecutive
hours rest in suitable accommodation (single occupancy bedroom)
(700.16 (5)).
Q. What happens if the
rest during a split duty assignment extends to 8 hours or more?
A. Following any flight duty
period the requirement is for at least 8 hours rest.
(700.16(3)) Exceptions to this are covered by extending the
flight duty period by using the split duty assignment so that a rest
period that is less than 8 hours is actually considered part of the
flight duty time and longer totals are allowed. If the required
rest following a flight duty period is given (at least 8 hours) then
there is no need for the split duty requirements to come into play.
Q. If I have a split duty
day under Subpart 2 aerial application operations, when do I need to
get the 5 days off in 30 days rather than 3 days off in 30 days?
A. You must be able to show 5
days off in the previous 30 days to use the split duty option.
From the first instance of split duty assignment and until the last
split assignment, you must show 5 days off in every 30 days.
Q. If I have more than 100
hours flight time in the previous 30 days and need to go On Call,
what are my options?
A. On Call is not available
after 100 hours of flight time in 30 consecutive days
(700.15(1)(c)). There is no such limit on standby time.
If you have more than 100 hours flight time in 30 consecutive days,
you must accept standby and accumulate flight duty time. This
may not necessarily mean sitting around the airport. Your
specified location may be a 100 mile circle around the base, but you
will be limited to the flight duty time maximums appropriate at the
time (usually 14 or 15 consecutive hours).