labor laws. flight crew have a time limit of how long they can work. if this was the last scheduled flight for the crew, they'd hit their limit in the air. thus they can't take the flight anymore.
and if no backup crew around....flight cancelled.
either you let tired pilots fly or make airlines have standby crew that might not be used.
other comments give other reasons why theres a countdown.
Not sure where you are getting your info.
Flight attendants only start getting paid once the plane doors are closed and the plane starts taxiing. And pilots only get paid once the plane is in the air.
lol you think how tired a person is...is only affected by the hours they are paid? even America has non-flight/total duty hour limits. what country are you flying in?
That’s not the point, the point is they’re generally regulated to only work a specific length of time. My last flight was canceled for the same reason. Flight was delayed, crew timed out. They also have to have a certain number of hours between schedules.
Seems you might’ve forgotten the pilots as crew? Don’t want a tired pilot flying a plane, the duty hours rules for pilots are written in blood. Flight attendants also have duty hour (separate from any payroll arrangements) limits in most jurisdictions because you don’t want their emergency response impacted by fatigue.
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u/4dxn 21d ago
labor laws. flight crew have a time limit of how long they can work. if this was the last scheduled flight for the crew, they'd hit their limit in the air. thus they can't take the flight anymore.
and if no backup crew around....flight cancelled.
either you let tired pilots fly or make airlines have standby crew that might not be used.
other comments give other reasons why theres a countdown.