§ 825.802 Special rules for airline flight crew employees, calculation of leave.

(a) Amount of leave.

(1) An eligible airline flight crew employee is entitled to 72 days of FMLA leave during any 12-month period for one, or more, of the FMLA-qualifying reasons set forth in §§ 825.112(a)(1)–(5). This entitlement is based on a uniform six-day workweek for all airline flight crew employees, regardless of time actually worked or paid, multiplied by the statutory 12-workweek entitlement for FMLA leave. For example, if an employee took six weeks of leave for an FMLA-qualifying reason, the employee would use 36 days (6 days × 6 weeks) of the employee's 72-day entitlement.

(2) An eligible airline flight crew employee is entitled to 156 days of military caregiver leave during a single 12-month period to care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness under § 825.112(a)(6). This entitlement is based on a uniform six-day workweek for all airline flight crew employees, regardless of time actually worked or paid, multiplied by the statutory 26-workweek entitlement for military caregiver leave.

(b) Increments of FMLA leave for intermittent or reduced schedule leave. When an airline flight crew employee takes FMLA leave on an intermittent or reduced schedule basis, the employer must account for the leave using an increment no greater than one day. For example, if an airline flight crew employee needs to take FMLA leave for a two-hour physical therapy appointment, the employer may require the employee to use a full day of FMLA leave. The entire amount of leave actually taken (in this example, one day) is designated as FMLA leave and counts against the employee's FMLA entitlement.

(c) Application of § 825.205. The rules governing calculation of intermittent or reduced schedule FMLA leave set forth in § 825.205 do not apply to airline flight crew employees except that airline flight crew employees are subject to § 825.205(a)(2), the physical impossibility provision.