7Q Off: With 2 pilots, starting within a certain morning time band, and if only 2 sectors are operated, the maximum Allowable 'Flight Duty Period' (FDP) is 13:15.
Ones FDP starts at the rostered report time (
which, in FZ's case, is 1 hour prior to the Scheduled Departure Time of the first sector), and then includes
all of the hours up until the point when the brakes are set & engines switched off, at the end of the last sector.
Entirely subject to '
Commanders Discretion', the Allowable FDP can be increased to allow for '
unforeseen circumstances'.... i.e. utilisation of Commanders Discretion cannot be part of the normal route scheduling exercise.
The
maximum allowable amount of Commanders Discretion is 3 hours, i.e. on top of the Allowable FDP. That said, this is subject to a number of provisos:
In order to exercise 'Commanders Discretion', the Commander needs to take account of the circumstances (
the physical & mental fitness) of his crew to ensure that they are fit to continue operating safely.
Up to 2 hours of Commanders Discretion can be exercised (
even prior to leaving Base) so long as it is followed up with a report to the company as to why Discretion was needed.
Utilising more than 2 hours of a Commanders Discretion requires that the Commanders report is also sent to the GCAA.
Woe betide any Commander that exceeds 3 hours of Commanders Discretion... the only exception to that being if one is in a 'life & death' situation.
In a previous life, it was ostensibly the case that if a series of flights (
typically 3 in a row) to a particular destination required the use of Commanders Discretion, the Regulator (
e.g. the CAA) would require that the crewing of that route was reviewed / changed, which might include adding supplementary crew members (
which influences the Allowable FDP), and / or maybe involving HOTAC'ing of the crew down route, and / or maybe the use of something known as a 'Level II Variation' (
which can extend the normal Allowable FDP by 1 hour, subject to certain provisos).
Against the jet stream in the winter, and with often crap weather at the destination (
and alternates), imho, these flights look very likely to go into Commanders Discretion, with all that that entails,... and always assuming that the Commanders consent to utilising it ?!
