Originally Posted by RonRicco

I wonder why that hasn't been the case at Delta then already? We have had much tighter duty days etc than the FAR's and many other carriers.. Yet we haven't been forced to change. (just making the point that it is not an absolute)

The other thing to look at when it comes to flight time, it is a HARD time. That means if you have yet to take off and you are now projected to go over due to a long taxi time, you must go back to the gate. As it stands now the company can schedule for 7:59 and have no fear if it goes over. If they push it that close now say on a SXM turn and you go over 2 minutes, you can not take off for the return flight. Same with a 2 man crew that "may" be legal to go to Europe blocked at 8:45.. 15 minute delay in JFK and they are toast. Is it worth the risk to try this with a two man crew?

Not saying that a company wont try anything, but my guess is there will have to be a heavy buffer between scheduled and what is legal or they will run a huge risk of getting planes stuck in places they do not want them, or a lot of gate returns. Doesn't take to many xled flights to make up for the cost of a third pilot.