
Safety
New EU Flight Time Limitations

By 18 February 2016, all European Commercial Air Transport Operators must comply with the new EASA Flight Time Limitations (FTL) rules, which will replace EU-OPS Subpart Q. This legislation will bring a big change for all European pilots. It is a very complex issue, as a lot of aspects come into play. We are therefore developing some material & tools (based on the British Air Line Pilots’ Association’s documents, among others), to guide our members through the main changes. Our European structure, ECA, has also developed a practical tool, the EU FTL Calculator, to help pilots calculate their maximum allowed duty and minimum rest. You can see below the links to all these tools. Stay tuned, as we will feed this webpage little by little.
- EASA Flight Time Limitations: What’s new? This article was published in the 2nd issue of our magazine, the Cockpit Flash. It summarises the main changes that the new text brings to the daily life of pilots.
- ECA’s EU FTL Calculator: download it now on your iOS or Android device, or bookmark this page on your computer. The application can be used offline as well and will ensure you are always flying within legal limits.
- BeCA “Quick reference guide”, a short leaflet explaining the main impacts that the new regulations will have on your pilot’s daily life.
- [restricted to BeCA members] BeCA’s Full guide through the new EASA FTL rules.
- BALPA’s video “Focus on Fatigue”