What counts as a flight duty period
FDP starts at report and ends when the aircraft parks after the last sector, or when you are released, depending on how your airline writes it. Ground work, deadhead, and every sector on that duty sit inside the envelope. Once you are officially off, post-flight rest is rest, not FDP.
ORO.FTL.205: the table that matters
EASA sets max FDP by local report time and sector count. More sectors usually means a shorter allowed FDP. Early reports and late reports sit in different bands. The table is clock time at the place you report.
Your airline has to stay inside these caps unless it uses an approved extension with the extra rest that goes with it. You cannot privately “agree” to fly past the legal limit.
ORO.FTL.205 max FDP table
Basic maximums by local report time and sector count. Airlines can be stricter. Extensions need approved conditions and extra rest.
| Report time (local) | 1-2 sectors | 3 sectors | 4 sectors | 5 sectors | 6+ sectors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06:00-13:59 | 13h | 12h 30m | 12h | 11h 30m | 11h |
| 14:00-17:59 | 12h | 11h 30m | 11h | 10h 30m | 10h |
| 18:00-21:59 | 11h | 10h 30m | 10h | 9h 30m | 9h |
| 22:00-01:59 | 10h | 9h 30m | 9h | 8h 30m | 8h |
| 02:00-05:59 | 10h | 9h 30m | 9h | 8h 30m | 8h |
Always check your Operations Manual. Official source: EASA. Also useful: flight duty period rules, short FDP answer.
How you work out max FDP
Take report time in local. Count the planned sectors. Look up the max FDP for that band. Compare it to how long the duty actually runs from report to release.
Example: a 06:00 report with two sectors usually allows more FDP than the same report with four sectors. The table steps down as sectors go up.
Extensions and commander’s discretion
Extensions exist, but with conditions: extra rest before or after, fatigue risk checks, and limits on how often. Commander’s discretion is not a free pass. It is a written exception with rest consequences. Know your OM-A, not only what an app estimate shows.
FDP vs duty time vs block
Block is wheels-up to wheels-down. Duty time can include training or airport standby. FDP is the flying-duty envelope. A roster that only shows block hours will not tell you if you are near an FDP limit. You need report-to-release.
Why roster import beats a spreadsheet
Spreadsheets fall apart when ops moves your report to 05:00. Layvr reads report time and sector count from the roster you already imported and applies the EASA table, so you can see a tight duty before you leave for the airport. EASA FDP tracker
UK and EU crew
After Brexit, UK CAA kept EASA-style FTL for many operators, with some local tweaks. Follow the scheme your airline publishes. This piece explains the common framework, not your employer’s OM-A line by line.
More reading: flight duty period rules, roster import