Originally Posted by
Sunvox
when the pilots show up for the return leg they have to look back and ask "when were we last acclimated?' The answer is when they left EWR . . . SO . . . the Flight Duty Period is considered to be BOTH legs and is limited by the table below. The result of this rule will be 36 hour layovers on all international flights that have round trip totals greater than 15 hours to 19 hours depending on the departure time and augmentation level.
The flight duty period (FDP) is not considered to be the whole round trip. I think you are confusing some new terminology here, making acclimation out to be a much bigger deal than it really is.
If you have less than a 36 hour layover, you remain acclimated to Eastern time. All this means is that for the return leg you enter the chart you posted at whatever time it is back in the US when you show for duty in Europe. Plus the :30 penalty.