Skip Nav

Reserve Legalities

By Eric Reeves, MEC Reserve Chairperson
AFA UAL MEC Reserve Committee

30-in-7 (7.E.)

The 30-in-7 language states that management cannot schedule a Flight Attendant to exceed 30 hours in any consecutive seven-day 24 hour periods.  Additionally, Flight Attendants may not be rescheduled to exceed 30-in-7 without their consent.  The 30-in-7 rule does not apply to Reserves receiving only International assignments (Section 12.J.).  If a Reserve is receiving only Domestic assignments, or a mix of Domestic and International assignments, the 30-in-7 rule applies.

• Only applies to actual working flight time—not deadheading; not credited time.
• For schedule planning purposes only.  If flight time increases while flying out schedule, the Flight Attendant must fly out the schedule, even if 30-in-7 is exceeded.

1-in-7 (7.F., 10.D. and 12.K)

The 1-in-7 language states that a Flight Attendant must be scheduled to have at least one day off in every seven (i.e., be on duty for no more than six days).  If a Flight Attendant ends up on duty for seven or more days during a month-end overlap period due to line awards, this end of the month conflict (EOM) is considered automatically waived unless the Flight Attendant notifies the Company s/he does not want to waive it prior to the first day of the new schedule month.  Upon mutual agreement, the crew scheduler will then move a Reserve day to another day later in the month the Flight Attendant originally had off.  Other important points about the one-in-seven:

• Can only be satisfied by one calendar day (midnight to midnight) at home; OR by a 24 hour free-from-duty layover on an International layover only (Section 12.K.).
• When moving a Reserve day to satisfy 1-in-7, the Flight Attendant may indicate which day s/he wants moved, and those days should be honored "if possible" (Section 10.D.2.b.).

Twenty-Four in Seven (F.A.R. 121.467)

The 24-in-7 F.A.R. states that every Flight Attendant must receive at least 24 hours free from duty in any seven consecutive calendars day period.  The company must look forwards and backwards in the block of seven days to determine if a “triggering event” has occurred. Many Flight Attendants get 24-in-7 confused with 1-in-7 when, in fact, they are two distinct and separate legalities. The 24-in-7 is an F.A.R. (Federal Aviation Regulation).  The main differences between the 1-in-7 and 24-in-7 is that it may not be waived by anyone, and it can be satisfied by 24-hours free-from-duty at a layover point both Domestically and Internationally.  Other points:

• Can not be waived by either Flight Attendants or management. Management must "self-disclose" these violations to the FAA.
• Measured as any 24 consecutive hours in any 7 calendar days, starting at midnight of the day in which the duty ends.
•  “Triggering event” is described as an ID (or report to airport but does not fly) or airport standby
• Standing Reserve alone does not constitute a triggering event, but once an assignment is made; the block of seven calendar days must then include a 24 hour rest.
• CAN be satisfied by 24 hours free-from-duty on a layover both Domestically and Internationally (remember to factor in report times and debriefing to see if a legal 24 hour rest is being given).

The following ID example does not satisfy the 24-hour free from duty at a point away from home requirement:

XXXDSL  5248 EFF 04/04/04  THRU 05/01/04 DOM SEA  EQP OVR CAT S 3  
 CREW:  FS M N                                                    
 FRQ      D   EQP  FLT# DPTARV DPTR ARVL   L/O  TTL   ACM  DTM  ERR 
 SMTWTFS  I   77I  875  SEANRT 1245 1450  2605 1005 1005 1235      
          I   77I  876  NRTSEA 1655 0930    00   835  835 1120      
                  T/D  3 BID   1840 TTL 1840 TMA  4730 M/$  95.00

M-MEAL BOARDED- 875/04 SEA    M-MEAL BOARDED- 876/06 NRT 

1. On arrival, 30 minutes customs and 15 minutes debriefing are required.
2. Check-in on the return segment in NRT is 1:45 prior to departure.
3. The sum of :30 + :15 + 1:45 = 2:30
4. Block to block time of 26:05 less 2:30 equals 23:35 which is less than 24 hours free from duty and does not satisfy the provisions of Section 12.K.

• Training can be added to the end of a block of seven days, but not at the beginning.
• Advice to avoid this?  DON’T WAIVE 1-in-7.

A “triggering event” only happens once an ID is assigned in a block of seven (7) days.  The new interpretation states that: “the 24-in-7 rest period can not be satisfied while on a reserve day of availability, a training day, or while on special assignment.” With the new interpretation of the 24/7 FAR, “standing reserve is not a triggering event in and of itself.”

The assignment on the 30th is now the triggering event. Since sitting ready reserve can not satisfy the 27-in-7 rule, the Flight Attendant must receive a 24 hour rest prior to 0001 on the 4th.

Examples:
Flight Attendant bids a line with an overlap from one reserve month to the next.

              28   29   30   1    2    3    4    5     6
 Bid  Line    RSV  RSV  RSV  RSV  RSV  RSV  RSV  OFF  OFF

              28   29   30    1    2    3    4    5     6
 Bid  Line    RSV  RSV  1108  RSV  RSV  RSV  RSV  OFF  OFF

Maximum Duty Time (7.I.4. and 12.L.)

No Flight Attendant may remain on duty in excess of the applicable duty time maximums.

Maximum duty time points:

• Section 12.L.2.a. applies to both International multi-stop flights and International non-stop flights scheduled up to 11:29.
• Note Section 7.I.4.a. is based on the Flight Attendant's home domicile time.
• Side Letter p. 280: only applies at International, non-domicile points.  Caution should be exercised when waiving duty time in accordance with this side letter.  It may be possible to get more money by not waiving it and forcing an extra duty period.  The duty time must actually be exceeded to be paid; the decision is up to each individual Flight Attendant. Flights under Sections 12.L.3. and 4. shall have an additional two hour extension.
• Note strong language in Section 7.I.4.b.; under no circumstances shall a Flight Attendant be required to remain on duty, without her/his concurrence in excess of the applicable actual maximum hours in accordance with Section 7.I.4.a.
• Special duty times apply on turns between the West Coast and Hawaii-- Section 12.A.2.
• When calculating maximum duty times, the published DSL flight time should be used; not that day's projected flight time based on that day's conditions.
• When an ID is built, the scheduled maximum duty times must be used.  After check-in, the actual maximum duty times apply when any necessary changes are made to the ID.

8-in-24 (7.D.)

The 8-in-24 is perhaps the most complicated legality of all.  Part of the reason is that there is a misconception that it is a flight time limitation, when it is a legal rest provision.  The misconception is that a Flight Attendant cannot fly more than eight hours in a 24-hour period.  In fact, this is not true.  The 8-in-24 actually states that a Flight Attendant can fly more than eight hours in a 24-hour period provided two conditions are met.  First, the Flight Attendant must receive a 2-for-1 rest (two hours free from duty for every one hour of actual flight time in the preceding duty period) BEFORE going over eight hours (Section 7.D.1.b.).  Second, the Flight Attendant must receive at least 16 hours free from duty at the next scheduled point of rest AFTER actually going over eight hours (Section 7.D.2.b.).
Other 8-in-24 points:

•  A two segment, one duty period ID may be scheduled up to 8:30 in a 24-hour period (Section 7.D.1.a.).
• Only applies to the Domestic operation.
• If working from Domestic to International, the 8-in-24 does not apply. However, if working from International to Domestic, the 8-in-24 does apply.
• “Rolling” 24-hr. clock; any consecutive 24-hr. period.
• Only applies to actual working flight time—not deadheading; not credited time.
• Converting arrivals/departures to the same time zone makes calculating an 8-in-24 easier.
• When flying a published ID, an “*” after the arrival time of the last segment indicates 8-in-24 may have been exceeded and a 16-hour rest may be necessary at the domicile.  The "*" appears only in the published key pages, not in a computer-printed ID.
• A Flight Attendant cannot be required to deadhead on a segment originally scheduled to fly just to avoid 8-in-24.  (Section 7.D.1.c., d.)
• If delayed unexpectedly during the course of a duty period, the Flight Attendant must fly out the duty period as scheduled, even if going over eight flight hours with no 2-for-1 rest—BUT then a 16-hour rest is necessary at the next layover point.  (Section 7.D.2.)

Note Section 3.P.—mutual waiver for scheduling purposes between UA and AFA.   Otherwise this legality cannot be waived by either a crew scheduler or a Flight Attendant.

END