In this issue of our series “Know your CWA” we would like to expand on “Maximum Flight Duty Periods (FDP) for a Standard Flight Crew” of 2 Pilots as defined in CWA Art. B1-36.3. focussing on the maximum basic daily FDP of an acclimatized pilot and for a pilot in an unknown state of acclimatization without FRM. We will expand on FDP with an augmented flight crew in a later edition of this series.
To calculate the maximum basic FDP for a Standard Flight Crew, a crew member first needs to determine his state of acclimatization.
B1-36.3 Maximum Flight Duty Periods
As defined in CWA B1-36.3, “‘Acclimatised’ means a state in which a crew member’s circadian biological clock is synchronized to the time zone where the crew member is. A crew member is considered to be acclimatized to a 2-hour wide time zone (+/- 02:00) surrounding the local time at the point of departure. When the local time at the place where a duty commences differs by more than 2 hours from the local time at the place where the next duty starts, the crew member, for the calculation of the maximum daily flight duty period, is considered to be acclimatized in accordance with the values in the table below.”
Based on the state of acclimatization the maximum basic daily FDP can be calculated according to the tables below.
CWA B1-36.3.1 and 36.3.1.2 are applicable to all Flight Duty Periods conducted by a Standard Flight Crew, which in Part III of the CWA is defined as “1 Captain and 1 suitably qualified pilot.”
Table B1-36.3.1: Maximum Basic Daily FDP (hours:minutes) for an acclimatized Pilot
The left column depicts the Reporting Time, which is defined in CWA Part III as “the moment in time at which a Pilot is required by the Company to report for any Duty.” This time is expressed as Reference Time in accordance with the table in CWA B1-36.3 above.
As defined in CWA B1-36.2 “Specification of Beginning and End of Duty times” the Reporting Time is 1 hour before Scheduled Time of Departure. Only in LUX the Reporting Time is 1:10 hours before STD.
Should the scheduled departure time change, it is the responsibility of the company to apply the Delayed Reporting procedure according to OM-A Chapter 7, Section 6!
If no delayed reporting message is received, the last scheduled departure time on the roster that has been confirmed by the crew member is applicable when determining the maximum basic daily FDP in accordance with CWA B1-36.3.1!
The times in the right columns depict the maximum Flight Duty Periods for the respective Reporting Times in the left column also considering the number of scheduled sectors.
!Important!: Whilst the “FDP limit” is a legal limit also according to OM-A Chapter 7, Section 5, the “Roster Publication Limit” is the limit for Crew Planning and Crew Control when producing and/or changing the rosters. It is their obligation to respect these limits and to schedule the flights accordingly!
In case the state of acclimatization according to table B1-36.3 is unknown, the maximum FDP for a pilot is shown in table B1-36.3.2 below is applicable.
B1-36.3.2 Maximum FDP for a Pilot in an unknown state of acclimatization without FRM
When calculating the maximum allowable FDP it is important to know that the definition of FDP according to the CWA and the OM-A is the same:
Example A (Acclimatized to new time zone [D]):
A pilot operates from LUX (UTC+2) to GYD (UTC+4). Reporting time (Reference Time) is 20:00h LT in LUX and the maximum daily FDP according to table B1-36.3.1. for an acclimatized Standard Crew is 11 hours. 10:30 hours is the “Roster publication limit”. Since the time difference between LUX and GYD is not more than 2 hours, he is acclimatized right away to the local time in GYD, which becomes the new Reference Time for calculating the maximum FDP for the next sector.
Example B (Acclimatized to departure time zone [B]):
A pilot operates from LUX (UTC+2) to JFK (UTC-4). Reporting time (Reference Time) is 15:00h LT in LUX and the maximum daily FDP for an acclimatized Standard Crew is 12 hours. The time difference between LUX and JFK is 6 hours and he would only be acclimatized to the local time in JFK after 72 hours since reporting at Reference Time in LUX. Only then the local time in JFK would become the new Reference Time (D). However, after 30 hours since reporting at Reference Time in LUX he is scheduled to operate JFK-MEX-IAH. According to table B1-36.3 he still is acclimatised to the local time of the departure time zone (LUX) which is the Reference Time for determining the maximum FDP in this case. Reporting time is at 19:00 UTC. Local times in JFK and LUX are 15:00 LT and 21:00 LT respectively. For calculating the maximum FDP the local time in LUX is the Reference Time. The maximum FDP in this case is 11 hours with a “Roster publication limit” of 10:30h.
Example C (Unknown state of acclimatization [X]):
The pilot in example B continues his journey. On day 3 of his trip he arrives in IAH (UTC-5). He is scheduled to operate IAH-PIK-LUX already on day 4. Reporting time is 11:30 UTC. Time elapsed since reporting at Reference Time where the crew member was acclimatized (LUX+2) is 94:30 hours (13:00 UTC/day 1 until 11:30 UTC/day4). Hence, he is in an unknown state of acclimatization, which limits the maximum daily FDP according to table B1-36.3.2 to 11 hours.
But what if the “Maximum Flight Duty Period” or “Roster Publication Limit” would be exceeded for a specific reporting/reference time?
In this case it is the obligation of the company to schedule the flight with an augmented crew or to plan a rest period accordingly.
Please follow this link to download your copy of the CWA for your perusal on the company provided iPad or any other computer for future reference.
If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact us at cvboard@alpl.lu for clarification.
All parts of this series can be found here in the Publications section under Cargolux Board.
