An officer entitled to monthly Aviation Career Incentive Pay (ACIP) must perform a minimum of 4 hours of aerial flights each month to qualify for monthly ACIP. If the officer does not perform a minimum of 4 hours flying time during a month, the officer may still qualify for ACIP during the month under the following conditions:
- If an aviator flies more than 4 hours during a calendar month, those hours are considered excess flying hours, and may be banked for use within the next, or the previous, 5 months to make up flight deficiencies.
- An aviator who does not fly 4 hours during a calendar month still retroactively qualifies for monthly ACIP if he/she flies a total of 8 hours during 2 consecutive months, or a total of 12 hours during 3 consecutive months.
- An aviator who is precluded from flying due to military operations or unavailability of aircraft may meet flight requirements by flying a total of 24 hours during a period of 6 calendar months.
The 4 hour minimum flight time requirement is pro-rated for fractional parts of a month. Figure 5-2 of Coast Guard Pay Manual, COMDTINST M7220.29 (series), Chap. 5-A prescribes a pro-ration table for this purpose.
ACIP Procedures When Entitlement is Month-to-Month
If an officer has a month-to-month ACIP entitlement, the procedure the SPO should follow is:
- Start the ACIP with ACIP Type = Duty in Flying Operations (DIFOPS), Payment Type = Month to Month ACIP, Change Type = ACIP start; AND ALSO
- Build a future-dated ACIP row with ACIP Type = Duty in Flying Denied (DIFDEN), Payment Type = Ineligible for ACIP, Change Type = Not Eligible.
For example, if an aviator (not eligible for continuous ACIP) receives flight orders for the period 7/1 thru 7/31/2015 during which they'll fly 4 hours, the first ACIP row should have an Effective Date of 07/01/2015 to start eligibility, and the SPO should create a future-dated second row with an Effective Date of 08/01/2015 showing the date ineligibility begins.
The effect is to start ACIP for July and stop it at the end of the month. This is necessary because there is no place to enter a stop date.