Rest period
The uninterrupted time free of all duties that must separate two duties: 12 hours at base and 10 away under EASA, 10 hours under the FAA.
Definition
A rest period is a continuous, defined period free of all duties and standby, during which the airline may not contact you for work. EASA requires at least 12 hours at home base and 10 hours away from base — and never less than the preceding duty — with the away-from-base figure having to allow an 8-hour sleep opportunity plus travel and physiological needs. Since October 2022 the FAA requires flight attendants to receive at least 10 consecutive hours of rest after a duty of up to 14 hours, and that rest cannot be reduced.
What it means for you
Rest is what a layover legally is: the hotel time between blocks on and the next report, minus the crew bus. A 10-hour minimum away from base is roughly seven hours in bed once transport, food and a shower are subtracted, which is why crew prize longer layovers and why union contracts at Delta, United and American usually guarantee more than the federal floor. Rest that starts late because of a delay must still be complete before you report.
In practice
A Delta domestic overnight can be a 10-hour minimum layover in which the crew bus, check-in and a 04:30 wake-up leave about six hours of sleep — legal, and the reason nobody bids for it once they can hold something else.
Go deeper
Related terms
4 terms- Duty periodRoster & schedulingAny continuous period of work for the airline — flying, standby, training, positioning or ground tasks — from report to release.
- LayoverRoster & schedulingThe rest period spent away from base between two duties, in a crew hotel, from a legal minimum overnight up to several days.
- Flight duty periodRoster & schedulingThe regulated window from report for a flying duty to engines off after the last sector; the core limit protecting crew from fatigue.
- FatigueCrew lifeReduced alertness from sleep loss and circadian disruption — a regulated safety issue with a reporting system you are obliged to use.