Eperson 2018

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U.S. Deportment
of Transportation
. ·,·~:· .: ·~ :.
Federal Aviation
Administration
Office of the Chief Counsel 800 Independence Ave .. S.W .
Washington, D.C. 20591
FEB. 2 1 2018
Ms. Michelle Eperson
Re: Request for Legal Interpretation of 14 CFR § 117.25(b)
Dear Ms. Eperson:

This letter responds to your October 11, 2017, request for :interpretation of 14 CFR § 117.25(b) concerning the rest period requirement. According to your letter, you work as a pilot for a 121 supplemental passenger air carrier, and your work schedule was as follows:

Day 1: operated a flight

Days 2-4: attended class room ground school

Days 5-7: conducted flight simulator work

You seek clarification on whether being assigned seven consecutive days of work with no rest period 1 during those seven days is a violation of§ 117.25(b), which states:

Before beginning any reserve or flight duty period a flightcrew member must be given at least 30 consecutive hours free from all duty within the past 168 consecutive hour period.

As you correctly state in your letter, training required by the certificate holder falls under the definition of duty.2 The FAA defines duty as "any task that a flightcrew member 1 Your letter includes an excerpt from the Legal Interpretation to Mr. Eric McEldowney from Mark Bury, Assistant Chief Counsel for Regulations (Mar. 13, 2015); however, that legal interpretation is inapplicable to your scenario. In the McEldowney scenario, flightcrew members were required to complete training during a scheduled rest period. In your scenario, you were not given a rest period.

2 See Legal Interpretation to Nom1an W. Robinson, Jr. from Rebecca B. MacPherson, Assistant Chief Counsel for Regulations, at 1 (July 14, 20 I J) ("The FAA has consistently

perfom1s as required by the certificate holder, including but not limited to flight duty period .. .[and] training[.]"3 However, the requirement in paragraph (b) of§ 117.25 that a certificate holder provide a flightcrew member with a consecutive 30-hour rest period in the 168-hour period immediately preceding a flight duty period (FDP) is not triggered unless the flightcrew member begins a reserve or FDP.4 Additionally, the FAA only includes training conducted in an aircraft or flight simulator in its definition of FDP if the training occurred before a ±light segment or between :flight segments without an intervening required rest period.5

A previous legal interpretation6 addressed whether § 117.25(b) requires a certificate holder to provide the 30-hour rest period prior to a pilot commencing dead.heading or training. The interpretation concluded that the requirements of § 117.25(b) must be satisfied only prior to reserve or FDP. As long as the duty is not part of a reserve or FDP, the pilot would not need to satisfy the requirements of § 117.25(b) prior to commencing duty. 7

We appreciate your patience and trust that the above responds to your concerns. If you need fmther assistance, please contact my staff at (202) 267-3073. This letter has been prepared by Sarah Yousaf, Operations Law Branch, Office of the Chief Counsel, and coordinated with the Air Transportation Division of Flight Standards Service.

Sincerely,

Lorelei D. Peter

Assistant Chief Counsel for Regulations, AGC-200

interpreted duty to mean 'actual work for a certificate holder, or the present responsibility for work should the occasion arise."'); Legal Interpretation to Scott M. Ewing from Mark W. Bury, Assistant Chief Counsel for International Law, Legislation and Regulations, at 1-2 (Jan. 13, 2014) (extending the conclusion set forth in Robinson to part 121 certificate holders).

3 14 CFR § 117.3.

4 14 CFR § 117.25(b); see Clarification of Flight, Duty, and Rest Requirements, 78 FR 14166, 14177 (Mar. 5, 2013) ("[T]he point of reference for the 168-hour period specified in§ 117.25(b) is the beginning of an FDP.").

5 See 14 CFR § 117.3; Flightcrew 114.ember Duty and Rest Requirements, 77 FR 329, 342 (Jan. 4, 2012).

6 See Legal Interpretation to Mr. Oliver Duncan, from Lorelei Peter, Acting Assistant Chief Counsel for Regulations, at 4 (Sept. 18, 2015).

7 Jd.

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U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration 800 Independence Ave., S. W. Washington, D.C. 20591

Office of the Chief Counsel

October 11, 2017

To \.vhom it may concern:

I presently v1ork as Pilot for a 121 supplemental passenger air carrier, operating its pilots under FAR 117 rest and duty nlles. My question is as follows:

I operated a flight my first day under 117, followed by three days of recurrent class room ground school, followed by three consecutive days of simulator work. I was assigned 7 days of work by the air carrier, without a rest period in that span of days. Is this a violation of 117 .25 B ? Taken into account that the below interpretation states that training assigned by the certificate holder is considered duty.

Sincerely,,/ :f

/Jif£r~

Jfch lle E e~on This part of the McEldowney interpretation stands for the proposition that a certificate holder must allow flightcrew members an opportunity outside of rest periods to complete any distance learning training that is required by the certificate holder. Completion of training required by the certificate holder (whether in a class room, via distance learning, or