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Rest Interrupted — the Company Called, the Commute, and Your §117.25 Rights

The 10-hour rest is yours by law, but a 2 a.m. phone call or a self-scheduled commute can quietly destroy the 8-hour sleep core inside it. Here is the actual regulatory text and what it lets you do.

The two sentences that matter, verbatim

§117.25(e): "No certificate holder may schedule and no flightcrew member may accept an assignment for any reserve or flight duty period unless the flightcrew member is given a rest period of at least 10 consecutive hours immediately before beginning the reserve or flight duty period measured from the time the flightcrew member is released from duty. The 10 hour rest period must provide the flightcrew member with a minimum of 8 uninterrupted hours of sleep opportunity."

§117.25(f): "If a flightcrew member determines that a rest period under paragraph (e) of this section will not provide eight uninterrupted hours of sleep opportunity, the flightcrew member must notify the certificate holder. The flightcrew member cannot report for the assigned flight duty period until he or she receives a rest period specified in paragraph (e) of this section."

Two consequences follow directly from that text: the 8-hour determination is yours to make, not scheduling's — and once you make it, the law — not company policy — forbids you to report until the rest is fixed.

Does the scheduling call break my rest?

Part 117 defines rest (§117.3) as "a continuous period determined prospectively during which the flightcrew member is free from all restraint by the certificate holder, including freedom from present responsibility for work should the occasion arise". A long-call notification — "report at 14:00 tomorrow" — is exactly how §117.3 defines long-call reserve: you are contacted before the rest period begins. That call does not create duty.

What does damage the rest is anything that puts present responsibility for work back on you during it: "call us at 06:30", "reposition to the airport", "keep your phone on", "stand by for a revised showtime". If a call forces you to act — or to stay tethered waiting for a second call — you are no longer free from restraint, and the 8-hour uninterrupted sleep opportunity is gone with it. That is a §117.25(a) violation ("No certificate holder may assign... any reserve or duty with the certificate holder during any required rest period"), and per §117.25(f) you must notify them and may not report until a compliant rest is given.

The commute question

"Duty" under §117.3 is "any task that a flightcrew member performs as required by the certificate holder". A commute you arrange yourself is not duty — so legally it can sit inside your 10-hour window. But it is also not sleep: a 90-minute drive at 04:00 plus a shower and a park can leave nothing of the 8 uninterrupted hours. If the company requires the commute (a crew car you must take, a hotel change they order), it is duty and it destroys the rest entirely.

The practical rule crews use: count the hours from release backwards to showtime, subtract everything that isn't a bed — commute, check-in, shuttle, breakfast — and if 8 uninterrupted hours don't survive, say so under §117.25(f) before showtime, not after.

For contrast: under EASA's scheme (ORO.FTL.235), rest away from base is sized "as long as the preceding duty period or 10 hours, whichever is greater" with explicit commuter-time adjustments in the guidance material — the US rule has no commute allowance, which is exactly why the 8-hour self-assessment matters so much here.

Calling fatigued — and what protects you

§117.5(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." And §117.5(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."

So a fatigue call is not a favor you ask for — it is a regulatory determination that binds the company the moment you make it. The rule text deliberately leaves the judgment with the crew member; in the preamble to Part 117 (77 FR 330, Jan. 4, 2012) the FAA declined to make the company's belief about your fatigue controlling, precisely so the crew member's own assessment governs.

Before duty: call fatigued → no assignment may be accepted (§117.5(b)).
Mid-FDP: call fatigued → the company may not let you continue (§117.5(c)); the PIC may then exercise §117.29(b)/§117.19(b) discretion to the nearest suitable airport if airborne.
On the release/dispatch: you must affirmatively state you are fit for duty (§117.5(d)) — that statement is what a fatigue call overrides.

Retaliation protection: airline and contract-carrier employees who report safety concerns — including fatigue reports — are protected against discipline by the AIR21 whistleblower statute, 49 U.S.C. §42121 (enforced through OSHA's complaint process). Separately, ASAP and similar voluntary programs are company/union agreements with their own non-punitive provisions; they are not the regulation and do not replace it. Keep a dated record of any call: time, who you spoke to, what was assigned before and after.

A 60-second self-check before any showtime

What time was I released? (The 10 h runs from there, not from the hotel door.)
Do 8 uninterrupted hours actually exist inside it after commute, shuttle and check-in?
Did anything during rest put present responsibility for work on me? If yes, the rest was never compliant — say so under §117.25(f).
If I'm fatigued anyway: §117.5(b)–(c) applies. State it plainly, and note the time.

Check your rest window in the calculator

Quotations verified against eCFR 14 CFR 117.3, 117.5 and 117.25 (current). Educational only — your CBA may give you more. See also the 10-hour rest rule explained.