Flight Attendant Block Time vs Duty Time: Read Your Roster
Flight hours are not the whole workday. Follow a two-sector example from report to release, and learn which times to compare when checking a monthly crew roster.
Your roster shows two flights today, yet the monthly flight-hours total is shorter than the time you spent at work. That does not automatically mean a sector is missing. Report, flying and release serve different purposes. Identify the clock you are reading before comparing totals.
Three clocks in one duty day
- Flight or block time: time recorded for each aircraft sector. Check whether the source uses gate-to-gate or another operational definition.
- Duty time: generally begins at the required report point and includes preparation, work between sectors and post-flight tasks until release.
- Time away from home: may include commuting, accommodation and rest. It is not interchangeable with the first two figures.
Work through a two-sector example
Imagine a roster with a 06:00 report, one morning sector, another in the afternoon and an 18:00 release. The interval between flights can still be part of the duty day without being added to the flight-hours total. Mark the start and end of each sector, then compare those with report and release. This is an illustration, not a payroll or regulatory calculation for every airline.
- Check the duty date, base and all sectors against the original roster.
- Compare each sector's time separately; do not add the entire ground interval to flight hours.
- Then compare report, release and the monthly total. Keep the original record if any number remains unclear.
Video transcript
The diagram begins at report time, highlights two separate flight sectors and finishes at release. Ground time between them can extend the duty period without increasing flight hours. Company definitions govern the final calculation.
Common questions
Does time between flights count as flight time?
It is not automatically part of either aircraft sector. It may still fall within the duty period. Check the definitions used by your airline and the source of the total.
Is an overnight layover one long duty period?
Do not combine a stay away from base with work hours. Rest, allowances and pay can follow different rules, so use the roster and your employer's records.
Check a roster across month endReview duty dates and local times when a sector crosses into the next month.Civil Aeronautics Administration: crew flight, duty and rest time — Background for the time categories; current local rules and company records take priority.