I agree with what you say, but if they get real short on pilots they will do it. It only violates the PWA and not the FAA guidelines. After all, they violate the PWA daily on scheduling issues. Remember the guy that got over 300 hours pay credit in one month a few years ago? I think he was doing this...Blocking in and doing turn assignments.

It absolutely violates the FARs. Look up 117, definitions and duty periods. It also specifically talks about intervening rest periods. When you have had a break over 10 hours and the company calls for a GS inside 10 hours, by accepting, you are stating that you are rested. That does not in any way, alleviate you from having ten hours "rest" between FDPs.

You can roll the dice, just know that the FAA has had us under special observation for years since the KP whistle blower incident. I would not want to be that sacrificial anode when an audit comes in. Being that everything from ship numbers, times, movements, etc. is recorded as permanent record, the data is there for an audit. Intentional violations of FARs cannot be ASAP'ed. Without a suspended certificate you cannot work part 91, 135 or 121.

I think you can block in from a leg in the morning and continue if you choose under the FARs(We block in all the time between legs). The PWA says 10 hours after block in unless they notified you before block in or it was originally scheduled on your trip..

Block in with no further expectation of flight. Set the brake and shut down, you are done unless 10 hours rest. Walking to commuter flight and offering to operate is illegal as it gets.

This came up a week ago. I read FAR 117 and different situations. The additional flying needs to be legal when tacked on to the original FDP but if so is legal. It’s not however legal under our contract.

Under the PWA, illegal. Under the FARs, legal. Post up the wording where it shows that is illegal under the FARs..You could be right, but I'm not convinced.

The union and company agree that parking brake set at the gate of your operating leg terminates your FDP. Since there is that agreement, they are effectively ending your FDP at that point. You cannot voluntarily restart your FDP.

Yes, the LOIs say that the company CAN keep your clock running. But since we have agreed that the clock stops, any further flying is absolutely ILLEGAL.

I don't think the FAA cares what our PWA says, they care about their rules.

The FAA cares about when the FDP ends. Per our working agreement, the FDP ends at brake set. The FARs ALLOW them to keep the FDP running after brake set but our PWA and with their agreement ends the FDP. Effectively, the company has chosen not to allow the clock to keep running. The PWA and FARs are tied together in this case since it defines when an FDP ends.

We are talking past each other. You are correct, if the flying as tag-on, added if legal under the original FDP and added during the original FDP, you are good to go however, not PWA compliant.


If you set the brake and shut down with no further expectation to fly, you are done. Adding a leg at some point after the end of an FDP without 10 hours rest is illegal.

"Flight duty period (FDP) means a period that begins when a flightcrew member is required to report for duty with the intention of conducting a flight, a series of flights, or positioning or ferrying flights, and ends when the aircraft is parked after the last flight and there is no intention for further aircraft movement by the same flightcrew member."

I left some out because it went to go on to spell out what counts as duty prior to a fight segment.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/117.3