80 Flight Hours per Month?

80-100 hours per month works out to 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week. Pre-flight and flight planning is not counted for on-duty time. Since you are only on the clock for the time when your wheels are off the ground, 4-5 flying hours a day is a pretty full schedule. If your clock runs out at a station away from home, you will deadhead back to your home station on your own time.

I'm going to use Southwest Airlnies as an example. Pilots will fly about 78 hours per month. They don't fly everyday, but have sequences. They will be away from home flying for about a week, and then they have the entire next week off and can just relax, then there's another sequence. There are usually two sequences in a month. While away, pilots will stay in hotels etc. Did I answer your question? As far as how pilots get home when they are done flying (if they are somewhere else), I'm not sure. I've heard people say they've been away from home for up to three months because of this. I guess unless you are going to book a flight and have someone else fly you home your pretty much stranded. (If you book a flight for the airlnie you fly for, you can save a lot of money). I would not want to be gone for that long, so I would probably book a flight before my sequence.

http://www.airliners.nu

§ 121.471 Flight time limitations and rest requirements: All flight crewmembers. (a) No certificate holder conducting domestic operations may schedule any flight crewmember and no flight crewmember may accept an assignment for flight time in scheduled air transportation or in other commercial flying if that crewmember's total flight time in all commercial flying will exceed— (1) 1,000 hours in any calendar year; (2) 100 hours in any calendar month; (3) 30 hours in any 7 consecutive days; (4) 8 hours between required rest periods. (b) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, no certificate holder conducting domestic operations may schedule a flight crewmember and no flight crewmember may accept an assignment for flight time during the 24 consecutive hours preceding the scheduled completion of any flight segment without a scheduled rest period during that 24 hours of at least the following: (1) 9 consecutive hours of rest for less than 8 hours of scheduled flight time. (2) 10 consecutive hours of rest for 8 or more but less than 9 hours of scheduled flight time. (3) 11 consecutive hours of rest for 9 or more hours of scheduled flight time. (c) A certificate holder may schedule a flight crewmember for less than the rest required in paragraph (b) of this section or may reduce a scheduled rest under the following conditions: (1) A rest required under paragraph (b)(1) of this section may be scheduled for or reduced to a minimum of 8 hours if the flight crewmember is given a rest period of at least 10 hours that must begin no later than 24 hours after the commencement of the reduced rest period. (2) A rest required under paragraph (b)(2) of this section may be scheduled for or reduced to a minimum of 8 hours if the flight crewmember is given a rest period of at least 11 hours that must begin no later than 24 hours after the commencement of the reduced rest period. (3) A rest required under paragraph (b)(3) of this section may be scheduled for or reduced to a minimum of 9 hours if the flight crewmember is given a rest period of at least 12 hours that must begin no later than 24 hours after the commencement of the reduced rest period. (4) No certificate holder may assign, nor may any flight crewmember perform any flight time with the certificate holder unless the flight crewmember has had at least the minimum rest required under this paragraph. (d) Each certificate holder conducting domestic operations shall relieve each flight crewmember engaged in scheduled air transportation from all further duty for at least 24 consecutive hours during any 7 consecutive days. (e) No certificate holder conducting domestic operations may assign any flight crewmember and no flight crewmember may accept assignment to any duty with the air carrier during any required rest period. (f) Time spent in transportation, not local in character, that a certificate holder requires of a flight crewmember and provides to transport the crewmember to an airport at which he is to serve on a flight as a crewmember, or from an airport at which he was relieved from duty to return to his home station, is not considered part of a rest period. (g) A flight crewmember is not considered to be scheduled for flight time in excess of flight time limitations if the flights to which he is assigned are scheduled and normally terminate within the limitations, but due to circumstances beyond the control of the certificate holder (such as adverse weather conditions), are not at the time of departure expected to reach their destination within the scheduled time. § 121.481 Flight time limitations: One or two pilot crews. (a) A certificate holder conducting flag operations may schedule a pilot to fly in an airplane that has a crew of one or two pilots for eight hours or less during any 24 consecutive hours without a rest period during these eight hours. (b) If a certificate holder conducting flag operations schedules a pilot to fly more than eight hours during any 24 consecutive hours, it shall give him an intervening rest period, at or before the end of eight scheduled hours of flight duty. This rest period must be at least twice the number of hours flown since the preceding rest period, but not less than eight hours. The certificate holder shall relieve that pilot of all duty with it during that rest period. (c) Each pilot who has flown more than eight hours during 24 consecutive hours must be given at least 18 hours of rest before being assigned to any duty with the certificate holder. (d) No pilot may fly more than 32 hours during any seven consecutive days, and each pilot must be relieved from all duty for at least 24 consecutive hours at least once during any seven consecutive days. (e) No pilot may fly as a member of a crew more than 100 hours during any one calendar month. (f) No pilot may fly as a member of a crew more than 1,000 hours during any 12-calendar-month period. § 121.483 Flight time limitations: Two pilots and one additional flight crewmember. (a) No certificate holder conducting flag operations may schedule a pilot to fly, in an airplane that has a crew of two pilots and at least one additional flight crewmember, for a total of more than 12 hours during any 24 consecutive hours. (b) If a pilot has flown 20 or more hours during any 48 consecutive hours or 24 or more hours during any 72 consecutive hours, he must be given at least 18 hours of rest before being assigned to any duty with the air carrier. In any case, he must be given at least 24 consecutive hours of rest during any seven consecutive days. (c) No pilot may fly as a flight crewmember more than— (1) 120 hours during any 30 consecutive days; (2) 300 hours during any 90 consecutive days; or (3) 1,000 hours during any 12-calendar-month period. § 121.485 Flight time limitations: Three or more pilots and an additional flight crewmember. (a) Each certificate holder conducting flag operations shall schedule its flight hours to provide adequate rest periods on the ground for each pilot who is away from his base and who is a pilot on an airplane that has a crew of three or more pilots and an additional flight crewmember. It shall also provide adequate sleeping quarters on the airplane whenever a pilot is scheduled to fly more than 12 hours during any 24 consecutive hours. (b) The certificate holder conducting flag operations shall give each pilot, upon return to his base from any flight or series of flights, a rest period that is at least twice the total number of hours he flew since the last rest period at his base. During the rest period required by this paragraph, the air carrier may not require him to perform any duty for it. If the required rest period is more than seven days, that part of the rest period in excess of seven days may be given at any time before the pilot is again scheduled for flight duty on any route. (c) No pilot may fly as a flight crewmember more than— (1) 350 hours during any 90 consecutive days; or (2) 1,000 hours during any 12-calendar-month period. § 121.491 Flight time limitations: Deadhead transportation. Time spent in deadhead transportation to or from duty assignment is not considered to be a part of a rest period. Source(s) CFR Title 14: Aeronautics and Space PART 121—OPERATING REQUIREMENTS: DOMESTIC, FLAG, AND SUPPLEMENTAL OPERATIONS