Confidential Human Factors
Incident Reporting Programme
The Charity
Aviation
Maritime
CC7076
Initial Report
I am concerned and wanted to know what the rule is for 900 hours with EASA. I am currently Cabin Crew with {operator}, I am on high hours which currently stand at 857. I have a {airport} coming up on DDMMYY and then have a {airport} on the DDMMYY and I have a reserve block also on DDMMYY. I have no hours to drop from last year as I know they work on rolling hours. Currently stands I have had to make adjustments to my own schedule to reduce my hours.
Crewing have said that it is ok to do over 900 hours which I think is illegal. There words were “its ok because it’s in the month.” I know for a fact that this is incorrect, over 28 days my hours are 41.00 so that’s all good.
Company Comment
The FTL scheme in our Operations Manual Part A states:
The total flight time of the sectors on which an individual crewmember is assigned as an operating crewmember shall not exceed:
- a) 100 hours of flight time in any 28 consecutive days;
- b) 900 hours of flight time in any 12 consecutive calendar months.
This rule aligns with the UK Civil Aviation Working Time Regulations, which is more restrictive than UK CAA’s retained version of Regulation 965/2012.
The 900 hours LimitÂ
This is a rolling window, not tied to a calendar year or the current calendar month. Every day, you must look back at the preceding 12 full calendar months (e.g. if today is 13 June 2025, the period is 1 June 2024 to 31 May 2025). Your total actual flight time in that period must not exceed 900 hours. If it does, you must not be rostered for any more flights until it drops below 900 in that rolling window.
If Crewing says, “It’s okay because it’s in the month,” ask:
- “Which month?”
- “Have you calculated the rolling 12-month total?”
- “Have you confirmed that the actual flight time in the previous 12 full calendar months are under 900 hours?”
A common misconception is confusing 12 consecutive calendar months with a rolling 365-day period, which is what they may be referring to as “in the month”.
The rule is 900 hours of flight time in any 12 consecutive calendar months. That means, you total up full calendar months, not individual days. If today is 13 June 2025, you count from 1 June 2024 to 31 May 2025 (not 14 June 2024 to 13 June 2025).
You could exceed 900 hours over any rolling 365-day period, but still be within the 900-hour limit for 12 consecutive calendar months.
CAA Comment
As indicated in the company comment, the limit of 900 flying hours is calculated to the end of the preceding month. Operators should ensure that rosters are managed so as to identify crew members who are close to the 900-hour flying duty limit and prevent any exceedance.
CHIRP Comment
All UK operators are required to comply with to UK flight time regulations (FTLs). Some operators also have industrial agreements that define additional rest requirements, whilst operators may choose to schedule rest periods that exceed the minimum requirements set out in the FTLs, they must never be shorter than the minimum rest period that is required.
If you have a query about your roster, please contact the relevant department as soon as possible. CHIRP is aware that some operators are more difficult to reach than others, which makes it all the more important to raise any concerns promptly.
ORO.FTL.210 Flight times and duty periods
(a)Â The total duty periods to which a crew member may be assigned shall not exceed:
(1)Â 60 duty hours in any 7 consecutive days;
(2)Â 110 duty hours in any 14 consecutive days; and
(3)Â 190 duty hours in any 28 consecutive days, spread as evenly as practicable throughout that period.
(b)Â The total flight time of the sectors on which an individual crew member is assigned as an operating crew member shall not exceed:
(1)Â 100 hours of flight time in any 28 consecutive days;
(2)Â 900 hours of flight time in any calendar year; and
(3)Â 1000 hours of flight time in any 12 consecutive calendar months.
(c)Â Post-flight duty shall count as duty period. The operator shall specify in its operations manual the minimum time period for post-flight duties.
The Civil Aviation Working Time Regulations 2004, are the UK’s application of the EU Civil Aviation Workers Directive ec 2000/79, which limits aircrew to 900 flight hours in a calendar year. It’s an upper limit, so there isn’t any jurisdiction for pro rata contracts, these can be as part of an operator’s collective labour agreements. The slight difference in how the UK regulation amended the overall directive was to additionally include a caveat to regulate the 900 hours over a rolling 12-month period. The wording does permit the exceedance of 900 hours, but not when counted from the end of the month.
Civil Aviation Working Time Regulations 2004
Maximum annual working time
- An employer shall ensure that in any month—
(a) no person employed by the employer shall act as a crew member during the course of their* working time, if during the period of 12 months expiring at the end of the month
before the month in question the aggregate block flying time of that person exceeds
900 hours; and
(b) no crew member employed by the employer shall have a total annual working time of more than 2,000 hours during the period of 12 months expiring at the end of the month before the month in question.