Title: How long can a fighter jet be flying for? - Quora
Headings: How long can a fighter jet be flying for?
5 Answers
Ryan Young
Patrick Bindner
Nishith Berike
Sam Harper
Chris Holloway

Content: If you'd like to read more, just Google the AFI. For fighters specifically, since there is usually only 1 pilot, there is no option of an augmented crew. When you fly long distances on airliners you'll see another crew taking up a bunch of seats in First Class. This is so they have adequate rest in order to take the controls when the FDP of the crew that took off expires. Single pilot aircraft have a 12 hour FDP, which can be waivered up to 16 hours by the Wing Commander. However, when the aircraft is being flown from day to night, or night to day, the waiver authority moves higher up the change of command and the FDP changes. For example, last year we flew from Guam to Hawaii. Because I fly the A-10, we are very slow, therefore in order for us to land during he day in Hawaii (another regulation says we are not allowed to fly cross-country sorties and land at night) we needed to take off at 0100 from Guam in order to land at 1630 in Hawaii (it was an 11.6 hour flight). Because your duty day starts when you show up to fly, not necessarily when you take off, we needed a 16 hour FDP waiver from a three star General. There are also restrictions on how many hours you can fly per week and month, but that is outside the scope of this question.