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Table A — the Flight-Time Stopwatch Nobody Watches Until It Stops the Day

Your FDP limit and your flight-time limit are two separate stopwatches started at report. Table A is the second one, and on long single-leg days it is the one that ends the day first.

The table itself (§117.11(a)(1))

Scheduled report time (acclimated)	Maximum flight time
0000–0459	8 hours
0500–1959	9 hours
2000–2359	8 hours

Notice Table A only has three bands, not Table B's ten — the FAA kept flight-time limits coarse and put the circadian fine-tuning in the FDP tables. Also note: Table A applies to unaugmented (minimum-crew) operations only. Augmented crews get flat ceilings instead (§117.11(a)(2)–(3)):

Crew	Maximum flight time
3 pilots	13 hours
4 pilots	17 hours

Two stopwatches, one rule: first limit stops the day

"Flight time" (§1.1) is the time the aircraft moves under its own power with you aboard — pushback to park. FDP starts at report and includes everything before, between and after flights. On a 0700 report with 2 segments, Table B gives you 14 hours of FDP but Table A only 9 hours of flight time: a 5-hour gate delay before pushback burns FDP, not Table A — while 9.5 hours of airborne time breaks Table A even if you parked early.

§117.11(a) is written as "no... may accept an assignment or continue an assigned flight duty period if the total flight time will exceed" — so both limits bite at scheduling and in flight. Whichever runs out first ends the day.

Cumulative flight-time caps (§117.23(b))

100 hours in any 672 consecutive hours (§117.23(b)(1)) — rolling, includes all flying for any certificate holder or 91K Program Manager (§117.23(a)).
1,000 hours in any 365 consecutive calendar day period (§117.23(b)(2)).

After takeoff, and the paperwork

§117.11(b): if unforeseen operational circumstances beyond the certificate holder's control arise after takeoff, the crew may exceed the Table A limit — and even the 100/672 cap (§117.23(b)) — to the extent necessary to land safely at the destination or alternate. But §117.11(c) then requires the certificate holder to report to the FAA within 10 days any flight time that exceeded the limits, with a description of the circumstances. Extensions are not free; they are documented.

Check flight time and FDP together in the calculator

Verified against eCFR 14 CFR 117.11, 117.23 and Table A (current). Educational only. See also Table B explained, cumulative caps and augmented crew limits.