Narrative:

The company intentionally circumvented a federal aviation regulation (FAR117). Because we were an international flight and there was no relief pilot scheduled (no augmentation) our maximum actual flight time was limited to 9 hours. There were thunderstorms in the departure corridor and many aircraft were waiting at the runway for takeoff. Also; there was in-trail spacing. If we were to pushback from the gate when we were ready; our 9 hour clock would start and we could potentially time-out while waiting at the runway. For this reason; ZZZ operations held us at the gate with an updated pushback time of xa:30. When xa:30 approached we requested a push crew on operations frequency. The response was that we were going to be held at the gate until xb:00. We then questioned the reason for the delayed push and were advised that ZZZ1 operations had called and requested it because they feared that we would time out. I advised the operations center that we would accept no further delay for pushback. We pushed back at xa:35; we were originally scheduled for departure at xx:20. The artificial delay pushed the first officer and myself deeper into our window of circadian low (wocl). I advised the [chief pilot] that I would file a [report]. The [chief pilot] replied that he checked in the ZZZ1 operations center and that no one admitted to making a phone call to ZZZ. My suspicion is that it was ZZZ operations (not ZZZ1) who held us at the gate to prevent a potential cancellation. The initial delay from xx:20 to xa:00 was because of thunderstorms; lightning had forced a ramp closure and the delay could not be prevented. It was not until xa:30 that we became aware of being artificially held from xa:00 to xa:30 (with an additional potential delay until xb:00). The flight was successfully completed. We landed 2 hours and 16 minutes late in ZZZ2. We were both exhausted. Note: response from ZZZ operations was that this was in fact a decision made by them.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier Captain reported company personnel delayed pushback to avoid an out of duty time situation.

Narrative: The company intentionally circumvented a Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR117). Because we were an international flight and there was no relief pilot scheduled (no augmentation) our maximum actual flight time was limited to 9 hours. There were thunderstorms in the departure corridor and many aircraft were waiting at the runway for takeoff. Also; there was in-trail spacing. If we were to pushback from the gate when we were ready; our 9 hour clock would start and we could potentially time-out while waiting at the runway. For this reason; ZZZ Operations held us at the gate with an updated pushback time of XA:30. When XA:30 approached we requested a push crew on Operations frequency. The response was that we were going to be held at the gate until XB:00. We then questioned the reason for the delayed push and were advised that ZZZ1 Operations had called and requested it because they feared that we would time out. I advised the Operations Center that we would accept no further delay for pushback. We pushed back at XA:35; we were originally scheduled for departure at XX:20. The artificial delay pushed the First Officer and myself deeper into our Window of Circadian Low (WOCL). I advised the [Chief Pilot] that I would file a [report]. The [Chief Pilot] replied that he checked in the ZZZ1 Operations Center and that no one admitted to making a phone call to ZZZ. My suspicion is that it was ZZZ Operations (not ZZZ1) who held us at the gate to prevent a potential cancellation. The initial delay from XX:20 to XA:00 was because of thunderstorms; lightning had forced a ramp closure and the delay could not be prevented. It was not until XA:30 that we became aware of being artificially held from XA:00 to XA:30 (with an additional potential delay until XB:00). The flight was successfully completed. We landed 2 hours and 16 minutes late in ZZZ2. We were both exhausted. NOTE: response from ZZZ Operations was that this was in fact a decision made by them.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.