14 CFR PART

117

FIT FOR DUTY &

FAT I G U E
 So, you may be thinking…“What’s in this training for me?”

GOALS As you already know, the Federal Aviation Administration

(FAA), governs all aviation in the United States.

A key part of this governance is providing the Federal Aviation

Regulations, commonly referred to as FARs, that regulate
aviation activities ranging from airline flights to drone
operations. These regulations help to ensure the safety of our
pilots, flight attendants, and passengers from any
unnecessary risks.

The purpose of this curriculum is to provide you with a greater

understanding of CFR 117. It is designed to build upon and
reinforce your existing knowledge of CFR 117 and help to
ensure that all Crew Schedule is in compliance with these
regulations when conducting day to day operations.

Captain Larry
 Upon completion of this Module, you will be
able to:
OBJECTIVES  Define the three foundational principles of
CFR 117
 Define Fit for Duty
 Define Fatigue
 Identify pilot considerations for calling out
fatigue

CA Larry
 This curriculum is divided into three modules.
HOW THIS
 Module 1 – Fit for Duty and Fatigue
TRAINING WORKS
 Module 2 – Flight Time and Flight Duty Period
 Module 3 – Extensions, Hong Kong AMOC and
Consecutive Nights Operations
 Module 4 – Rest and Reserves

Each course builds upon the previous module, so

they must be completed in order.

First Officer Rita

A F E W C F R 11 7 FA C T S : THE FACTS
 Also referred to as FAR 117

 Went into effect January 4, 2014

 Based on multiple science-based

studies, conducted over several years
 Regulations are based on three
principles
 THE THREE PRINCIPLES
Window of Circadian Low
A period of maximum
sleepiness that occurs between
0200 and 0559 during a
physiological night.
Time Spent on Duty Number of Segments Flown
Any task that a flightcrew The number of flights operated
member performs as required by the crew member, not
by the certificate holder, including deadheads.
including but not limited to flight
duty period, fight duty, pre- and
post- flight duties,
administrative work, training,
deadhead transportation,
aircraft positioning on the
ground, aircraft loading and
aircraft servicing.
 WHAT DOES IT MEAN
TO BE FIT FOR DUTY

When a crew member declares fit for

duty, they are stating that they are
physiologically and mentally
prepared and capable of performing
assigned duties at the highest
degree of safety.

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 CFR 117.5 FIT FOR
DUTY
(a) Each flightcrew member must report for
any flight duty period rested and prepared
to perform his or her assigned duties.

(b) No certificate holder may assign and no

flightcrew member may accept assignment
to a flight duty period if the flightcrew
member has reported for a flight duty
period too fatigued to safely perform his or
her assigned duties.

(c) No certificate holder may permit a

flightcrew member to continue a flight duty
period if the flightcrew member has
reported him or herself too fatigued to
continue the assigned flight duty period.

(d) As part of the dispatch or flight release,

as applicable, each flightcrew member
must affirmatively state he or she is fit for
duty prior to commencing flight.

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 First, we’ll define what it means when a pilot
declares they are fatigued. Next, we’ll review
LET’S TALK some of the pilot fatigue statistics and learn
the categories of fatigue here at American
Airlines.
ABOUT FATIGUE Finally, we’ll study CFR 117.7 and 117.9.

First Officer Rita

 WHAT IS FATIGUE?
A physiological state of reduced
mental or physical performance
capability resulting from lack of sleep
or increased physical activity that can
reduce a flight crew member's
alertness and ability to safely operate
an aircraft or perform safety-related
duties.-

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T H E T R U T H A B O U T P I L O T FAT I G U E FATIGUE STATS
In 2017, American Airlines had 13,095 active pilots. Of
those pilots, only a small percentage called out
fatigue.
On the next few slides, we’ll go over Fatigue statistics
here at AA.
FAT I G U E S TAT I S T I C S PERCENTAGE OF FATIGUE (FT)
AT A M E R I C A N : REMOVALS

# FT Removals Approx. # of Pilots

1 Removal 1,587

2 Removals 273

3 Removals 75

4 Removals 22

1 Removals 9

No 11,12
Removals 9

In 2017, American Airlines had

13,095 active pilots. Of those pilots,
only a small percentage called out
fatigue.
 HOW AMERICAN AIRLINES CATEGORIZES FATIGUE:

 Non-Operational Systemic
The non-operational category is events or The systemic category includes
situations that are not directly associated events/situations directly related to an
with a current assignment/trip. It may be assignment. Examples of systemic causes
caused by personal situations and includes of fatigue include the following:
things like:  Trip assignments
 Insomnia  General delays
 Illness  Hotel rest disturbances
 Commuting  Reassignments
 Trip Trading


FAT I G U E S TAT I S T I C S
AT A M E R I C A N :
Non-Operational
Systemic
NON-OPERATIONAL VS. SYSTEMIC
As you can see, the vast majority of
pilot fatigue call outs are due to
systemic reasons.
FAT I G U E S TAT I S T I C S AT A M E R I C A N :

In 2017, American Airlines had

13,095 active pilots. Of those pilots,
only a small percentage called out
fatigue.
 CFR 117.7 FATIGUE
RISK MANAGEMENT
(a) No certificate holder may exceed any
provision of this part unless approved by
the FAA under a Fatigue Risk Management
System that provides at least an equivalent
level of safety against fatigue-related
accidents or incidents as the other
provisions of this part.

(b) The Fatigue Risk Management System

must include:
(1) A fatigue risk management policy.
(2) An education and awareness
training program.
(3) A fatigue reporting system.
(4) A system for monitoring flightcrew
fatigue.
(5) An incident reporting process.
(6) A performance evaluation.

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 CFR 117.9 FATIGUE
EDUCATION AND
AWARENESS TRAINING
PROGRAM
(a) Each certificate holder must develop
and implement an education and
awareness training program, approved by
the Administrator. This program must
provide annual education and awareness
training to all employees of the certificate
holder responsible for administering the
provisions of this rule including flightcrew
members, dispatchers, individuals directly
involved in the scheduling of flightcrew
members, individuals directly involved in
operational control, and any employee
providing direct management oversight of
those areas.

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 CFR 117.9 FATIGUE
EDUCATION AND
AWARENESS TRAINING
PROGRAM
(b) The fatigue education and awareness
training program must be designed to
increase awareness of:
(1) Fatigue;
(2) The effects of fatigue on pilots; and
(3) Fatigue countermeasures
(c) (1) Each certificate holder
must update its fatigue education and
awareness training program every two years
and submit the update to the Administrator
for review and acceptance.
(2) Not later than 12 months after the date of
submission of the fatigue education and
awareness training program required by

(c)(1) of this section, the Administrator shall

review and accept or reject the update. If the
Administrator rejects an update, the
Administrator shall provide suggested
modifications for resubmission of the update.

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S U M M A RY: QUESTIONS?

We’ve covered a lot of information in this

short module and there’s quite a bit more to
go.

Next is Module 2 – Flight Time and FDP.

Your trainers, are available to assist you

with additional questions and clarifications.
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N : RESOURCES

If you would like specific details on how

American Airlines complies with the
regulations or how to identify them in FOS
refer to the following resources:

 Pilot Contract

 Comply 365

 Flight Manual Part 1