Legal Interpretations
Harper-SWA 2008
Summary
The Question
Is the short period when an off-duty flight attendant volunteers to substitute for a working crewmember during boarding and deplaning considered duty time?
Background
Southwest Airlines asked about off-duty, qualified flight attendants traveling on a Southwest flight who volunteer to substitute for a working crewmember during the boarding and deplaning phases.
The FAA’s Interpretation
Yes. A person used by an air carrier for the purpose of continuing a flight is on duty, and boarding and deplaning are included in a duty period. Whether the work was scheduled, or tied to flight time, is not dispositive; courts have rejected attempts to narrowly define "scheduled," and the FAA includes pre- and post-flight duties in a duty period.
- Requester
- Harper
- Organization
- SWA
- Issued
- August 12, 2008
- Subjects
- Air Carrier & Commercial Operations · Flight & Duty Time
Page 1
U.S. Department
of Transportation
Federal Aviation
Administration
AUG 12 2008
Mr. Brent Harper
Office of the Chief Counsel
Inflight Standards - Manager, Regulatory Compliance
Southwest Airlines
P .O. Box 36611- HDQ 9TR
Dallas, Texas 75235-1611
Dear Mr. Harper:
800 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington. O.C. 20591
This responds to your letter dated July 1, 2008 requesting an FAA legal interpretation concerning the use of off-duty, qualified Flight Attendants, traveling on a Southwest flight, to volunteer as a substitute for a working Crewmember during boarding and deplaning phases. Specifically, you ask:
"The question arose re·garding whether this short, voluntary period would be considered duty time."
The FAA has detennined that a person used by an air carrier for the purpose of continuing a flight is on duty. In this case, the volunteer flight attendant is being asked to substitute for a working crewmember during boarding and deplaning phases, which are included in a duty period.
Whether or not such work by the volunteer flight attendant was "scheduled" is not dispositive, nor whether such work needs to be associated with flight time. The courts have rejected attempts to narrowly define the term "scheduled" . See Air Transport Ass'n of America, Inc. v. F.A.A., 292 F.3d 49 (C.A.D.C. 2002). The FAA has also included pre- and post-flight duties in its definition of a duty period. See Legal Interpretafion 2005-6, Letter to Scott Morris dated April 29, 2005.
This response was prepared by Bruce Glendening, Attorney in the Regulations Division of the Office of the Chief Counsel and has been coordinated with the Air Transportation Divi ~ io_n of f.lig4t. ~tc:tn~<1:r<!s_ Service. If you have additional questions regarding this matter, please contact us at your convenience at (io2) ;2"67 ~3-013~ - - . . . - . . .
Sincerely,
e::i-:~Assistant Chief Counsel, Regulations Division (AGC-200)
Snapshot retrieved August 6, 2026.