FC5387

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15th April 2025

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Route with impossible turnaround time

Initial Report

I work as flight crew for [Airline]. We have a seasonal route to [Location] which has a planned FDP of 13.40 as an extended duty. With the normal check in time, the max FDP with extension is 14 hours. The turnaround time is scheduled as 35 minutes (standard [Airline] turnaround) and whilst this is just about possible with some destinations, it is not doable in [Location]. The 35-minute turn is based on front and rear stairs for disembarkation and boarding, in [Location] where only a front jet bridge is used. On top of this, the flight is often full both ways, this means that the cabin takes considerably longer to clean after a 5 hour + flight. I believe that [Airline] are fully aware of the fact that the turnaround is never completed in the scheduled time however they will not change it to reflect the true time taken as this will make the flight impossible within the max FDP. Instead, the duty regularly requires discretion to work.

CHIRP Comment

CHIRP continues to get reports such as this where turnrounds are required to run like clockwork to make the route work. On the face of it, the theoretical plan works but, in reality, the time taken requires the use of commander’s discretion. The CAA do monitor AT routes closely, and take a strong interest if, over a season, the actual operation of a scheduled route exceeds the maximum FTL for 33% of the times. If this happens, then the operator is required by the CAA to make changes to the route structure (ORO.FTL.110 (j) refers).