In this issue of our series “Know your CWA” we expand on “Rest at Home Base” as defined in CWA B1-36.9.
From various communications you know about the different interpretations of how “Rest at Home Base with time zone difference compensation” should be applied. Currently we are preparing a law suit, which is a formal procedure to have this rule changed the way we believe it originally was intended for.
As the OM-A is accepted by the DAC-L we will use this as a reference pending the clarification.
We will focus on
- Rest without time zone difference compensation
- Rest with accommodation provided by Cargolux (B2B)
- Rest with time zone difference compensation and
- Rest at Home Base on eastward-westward or westward-eastward transitions (EWWET)
B1-36.9.1 Minimum rest period and reduced rest
The required rest period before undertaking an FDP shall be in accordance with the Table B1-36.9.1-1 below.
Time zone differences are compensated by additional rest in the following cases:
- At home base, if a rotation involves a 4 hour time difference or more.
- Away from home base, if an FDP involves a 4-hour time difference or more.
Conditions for the use of reduced rest:
- The rest period following the reduced rest is extended by the difference between the minimum rest and the reduced rest.
- The maximum FDP following the reduced rest is reduced by the difference between the minimum rest period and the reduced rest.
- There is a maximum of 2 reduced rest periods between 2 recurrent extended recovery rest periods.
Note: At publication of this document Cargolux is not approved for FRM Reduced Rest!
Rest Period is defined in Part III of the CWA as “Means a continuous, uninterrupted and defined period of time, following duty or prior to duty, during which a Pilot is free of all duties, standby and reserve.”
Duty is defined as “Means any task that a Pilot performs for the Company, including flight duty, administrative work (as indicated on the Pilot’s roster), giving or receiving training and checking, Positioning, Reserve and Standby.”
Rest at Home Base without time zone difference compensation
The Minimum Rest Period at Home Base after and before any Duty Period is
- As long as the previous Duty Period or 12 hours, whichever is longer
Rest at Home Base with accommodation provided by Cargolux
- The Minimum Rest Period at Home Base after and before any Duty Period, if Cargolux provides a suitable accommodation is:
- As long as the previous Duty Period or 12 hours, whichever is longer
- After a FDP crossing 4 time zones or more, the Minimum Rest Period is:
- As long as the Previous Duty Period or 14 hours, whichever is longer
The following graph nicely illustrates the correlation between Duty Period and Minimum Rest Period at Home Base without time zone difference compensation or in case of accommodation provided at Home Base by Cargolux.
Rest at Home Base with time zone compensation
B1-36.9.2 Rest at home base with time zone difference compensation
At home base, if a rotation involves a 4 hour time difference or more, the minimum rest is as specified in the table below.
Table B1-36.9.2-1 Minimum local nights of rest at home base to compensate for time zone differences when suitable accommodation is not provided by Cargolux.
As soon as a rotation involves a 4 hour time difference or more and no suitable accommodation is provided by Cargolux when returning to Home Base, the Minimum Rest Period with time zone compensation according to B1-36.9.2 must be applied.
The table considers the following:
- the maximum time difference between the reference time and the local time where a crew member rests during the rotation and
- the time elapsed since reporting for the first FDP involving at least 4 hours time difference to the reference time.
Reference Time is defined in Part II of the CWA as “Means the local time at the reporting point situated in a 2-hour wide time zone band (+/- 02:00 hours) around the local time where a Pilot is acclimatised.”
The Reference Time can be determined using the table in CWA B1-36.3.
Rest at Home Base on EWWET
B1-36.9.3 Rest at home base on eastward-westward or westward-eastward transitions (EWWET)
In case of an Eastward-Westward or Westward-Eastward transition at home base, at least 3 local nights of rest at home base are provided between alternating rotations.
This article states that when a pilot is transiting through Home Base from East to West or West to East, a minimum of 3 local nights of rest must be provided.
According to EASA and DAC-L, EWWET is defined as “Eastward-Westward and Westward-Eastward transition means the transition at home base between a rotation crossing 6 or more time zones in one direction and a rotation crossing 4 or more time zones in the opposite direction”
Example A:
A pilot is scheduled to operate the flight LUX-ZAZ-LUX. Total Duty Time is 6 hours. Since there is no time zone difference between LUX and ZAZ, no time zone difference compensation is required and the Minimum Rest Period according to B1-36.9.1 is 12 hours.
Example B (B2B):
A pilot is scheduled for a B2B rotation. He returns to LUX from JFK and is supposed to stay in the hotel at Home Base. The total Duty Time is 10:30 hours and the crew crosses more than 4 time zones. Thus, the Minimum Rest Period with suitable accommodation provided by Cargolux is 14 hours.
Example C:
A pilot operates LUX (UTC+2) – GYD (UTC+4) on day 1. On the next day he operates GYD (UTC+4) – PVG (UTC+8), crossing for the first time 4 time zones. Reporting Time is 04:00 UTC. On day 3 he operates PVG – OVB (UTC+7), takes a Rest Period and continues back to LUX, where he arrives at 06:00 UTC on day 5. During the trip his Reference time changes from LUX to GYD and thereafter to OVB. According to B1-36.9.2 the biggest time difference between Reference Time and the local time where the pilot rests during the rotation is 5 hours – the difference between OVB (UTC+7) and LUX (UTC+2). Time elapsed since reporting for the first FDP involving 4 hours time difference is 74:30 hours (GYD 04:00 UTC on day 2 until LUX 06:30 UTC on day 5). Thus, according to B1-36.9.2 the Minimum Rest Period for time zone difference compensation is 3 local nights.
Example D (EWWET):
A pilot operates a rotation all the way to HKG and back to LUX. In this rotation, he crosses 6 time zones to the East [LUX (UTC+2)/HKG (UTC+8)]. Due to the nature of his trip he would only need a Minimum Rest Period for time zone compensation according to B1-36.9.2 of 2 local nights. However, his next Duty is a flight from LUX (UTC+2) to JFK (UTC-4). Because he did already cross 6 time zones on his last rotation and is scheduled to cross again 6 time zones to the West, the Minimum Rest Period is 3 local nights according to B1-36.9.3.
But what if the Rest Time at Home Base is scheduled to be shorter than stated in the CWA?
In this case it is the obligation of the company to change the roster accordingly to comply with the CWA.
Please note, the intention of the rest at Home Base is to have a pilot acclimatised at Home Base in order that he/she is rested for the next duty or series of duties.
If pilots feel that they are not acclimatised at the Home Base before the next duties then they should extend their rest and complete a proactive fatigue report.
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.
