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Block time vs flight time vs air time: which one do you log?

Checked against the sources below on 29 October 2026. How these guides are written

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You log block time. The FAA (14 CFR 1.1), EASA (FCL.010) and CASA (CASR Dictionary) all define an aeroplane's flight time from when it first moves for the flight until it comes to rest at the end, which on an OOOI record is Out to In. Air time, Off to On, is the maintenance figure ("time in service" in 14 CFR 1.1). Flight time limits use the block-based figure too: FAA Part 117, EASA ORO.FTL.105 and CASA CAO 48.1.

FAA logbook flight time
From when the aircraft "moves under its own power for the purpose of flight" until it "comes to rest after landing"
Each flight
14 CFR 1.1
EASA logbook flight time
From when the aircraft "first moves for the purpose of taking off" until it "finally comes to rest at the end of the flight"
Each flight, times in UTC
FCL.010; AMC1 FCL.050(g), (i)(2)
CASA logbook flight time
From when the aircraft "begins moving, whether or not under its own power, in preparation for flight" until it "comes to rest at the end of the flight"
Each flight
CASR Dictionary, "duration"; 61.090
Air time (maintenance)
From when the aircraft "leaves the surface of the earth" until it touches down
Maintenance time records
14 CFR 1.1, time in service
FAA flight time limits
Flight time as defined in 14 CFR 1.1; 13 h for a 3-pilot crew, 17 h for a 4-pilot crew
Per flight duty period
117.3, 117.11(a)
EASA flight time limits
Parking place to designated parking position with engines shut down; 100 h, 900 h, 1,000 h
28 days; calendar year; 12 calendar months
ORO.FTL.105(13), ORO.FTL.210(b)
CASA flight time limits
First moves under its own power to coming to rest after landing; 100 h and 1,000 h (Appendix 1)
28 days; 365 days
CAO 48.1 Instrument 2019

What OOOI means

OOOI is the four times an airline records for each sector: Out (the aircraft leaves the gate or parking position), Off (wheels off the runway), On (touchdown) and In (stopped at the gate). Block time is Out to In. Air time is Off to On. The two pieces in between are taxi out (Out to Off) and taxi in (On to In).

Take a sector with Out 0612, Off 0631, On 0748 and In 0757 UTC. Block time is 1:45, air time is 1:17, taxi out is 0:19 and taxi in is 0:09, and the three pieces add back to the block. EASA's operational flight plan rules ask for the same four marks: "actual off-block time, take-off time" and "actual landing and on-block time" (AMC1 CAT.OP.MPA.175(a)).

Which one counts as flight time in your logbook: FAA, EASA, CASA

FAA: 14 CFR 1.1 defines flight time as "Pilot time that commences when an aircraft moves under its own power for the purpose of flight and ends when the aircraft comes to rest after landing". 61.51(b)(1)(ii) asks for "Total flight time" on each entry. Taxi under the aircraft's own power counts. A push by a tug does not meet "under its own power", so on the exact wording the FAA clock starts when the aircraft first moves on its own engines.

EASA: FCL.010 defines flight time for aeroplanes as "the total time from the moment an aircraft first moves for the purpose of taking off until the moment it finally comes to rest at the end of the flight". There is no own-power condition, so the push counts. AMC1 FCL.050(i)(2) adds that "All times should be in UTC", and column 1 takes "the date (dd/mm/yy) on which the flight commences".

CASA: Part 61 logs the "duration" of a flight, which the CASR Dictionary defines for an aeroplane as "the time from the moment the aircraft begins moving, whether or not under its own power, in preparation for flight until the moment it comes to rest at the end of the flight". CASA's logbook page says the same in plain words: record flight time from when the aircraft begins moving "(under its own power or not)". Of the three, CASA's wording is the clearest that towing counts.

Where air time belongs

Air time is the maintenance measure. 14 CFR 1.1 defines time in service, "with respect to maintenance time records", as "the time from the moment an aircraft leaves the surface of the earth until it touches it at the next point of landing". That is the number in a tech log or airframe record, and it will always be shorter than your logbook block.

Logging air time as your total under-records your experience. In the example above, 28 minutes of taxi per sector over 600 sectors is 280 hours you were entitled to log. A logbook that runs ahead of the aircraft's hours is therefore correct: the two records measure different things.

Which time airline flight time limits use

FAA: Part 117 adds its definitions "In addition to the definitions in §§ 1.1" and does not redefine flight time, so 117.11 limits the same 1.1 flight time your logbook uses: the Table A limits with the minimum crew, 13 hours with 3 pilots, 17 hours with 4. The flight duty period is a separate clock, from report until "the aircraft is parked after the last flight" (117.3).

EASA: ORO.FTL.105(13) defines flight time for aeroplanes as "the time between an aircraft first moving from its parking place for the purpose of taking off until it comes to rest on the designated parking position and all engines or propellers are shut down". ORO.FTL.210(b) limits it to 100 hours in any 28 consecutive days, 900 hours in any calendar year and 1,000 hours in any 12 consecutive calendar months.

CASA: CAO 48.1 Instrument 2019 defines flight time for a flight crew member as the time "from the moment at which the aircraft first moves under its own power for the purpose of taking‑off, until the moment at which it comes to rest after landing", counted while the crew member is acting as crew on board, and excluding positioning. Appendix 1 (multi-pilot operations) limits it to 100 hours in any 28 consecutive days and 1,000 hours in any 365 consecutive days. The own-power wording means a tug push sits outside CASA's duty-limit flight time and inside CASA's logbook time.

Dates, time zones and flights past midnight

Date each entry by the day the flight began. CASR 61.345(3)(a) asks for "the date the flight began" and AMC1 FCL.050 asks for the date "on which the flight commences". A sector that pushes at 2350 UTC and lands at 0140 UTC goes on the first date with a block of 1:50.

Write all four times in one reference, UTC or local, before you subtract. Mixing a local Out with a UTC In is the commonest cause of a negative block or one that is 10 hours too long, and the error can survive into your totals for years.

Mistakes pilots make

  • Copying the tech log or airframe hours into your total time column. That is air time (time in service) and it leaves your taxi time out of your experience.
  • Dating an overnight flight by its arrival day. CASA and EASA both ask for the date the flight began.
  • Subtracting a local Out from a UTC In, which gives a block that is negative or hours too long on any flight that crosses time zones or midnight.
  • Assuming duty-limit flight time and logbook flight time are always the same number. Under CASA rules the logbook counts the push and CAO 48.1 does not; under EASA FTL the clock also waits for engine shutdown.
  • Logging your own estimate of block time when the operator's recorded Out and In times exist. Use the recorded times so your logbook matches the operator's records.

What Off Chocks tracks

  • The flight form takes Out, Off, On and In and logs the block (Out to In) as the flight's total time. The Block row under the four times shows the block with the air time beside it, for example Block 1:45 and Air 1:17.
  • Enter only Off and On and Off Chocks uses that span as the total. It never guesses air time from Out and In.
  • Night is worked out over the same Out to In span, by civil twilight at each airport, and you can type times in UTC or local in the form.
  • Off Chocks logs the operator's block as you enter it. It does not apply the FAA's own-power wording to trim the push, so if you want that, enter Out as the time the aircraft first moved under its own power.

Common questions

Do pilots log block time or flight time?
Block time. The FAA, EASA and CASA definitions of flight time all run from when the aircraft first moves for the flight until it comes to rest at the end, which is Out to In. Air time (Off to On) is shorter and is the maintenance measure.
Does taxi time count as flight time?
Yes. 14 CFR 1.1 starts flight time when the aircraft "moves under its own power for the purpose of flight", EASA FCL.010 when it "first moves for the purpose of taking off", and the CASR Dictionary when it "begins moving ... in preparation for flight".
Does pushback count as flight time?
Under EASA ("first moves") and CASA ("whether or not under its own power") the push counts. The FAA definition starts when the aircraft moves under its own power, so a tug push sits outside the literal FAA wording.
What does OOOI stand for?
Out, Off, On, In: leaving the gate, wheels off, touchdown and arriving at the gate. Out to In is block time and Off to On is air time.
Why is my logbook total higher than the aircraft's hours?
The aircraft's maintenance records count time in service, from lift-off to touchdown (14 CFR 1.1). Your logbook counts block time, which adds taxi out and taxi in.
Do airline flight time limits use block or air time?
Block-based flight time: the 14 CFR 1.1 definition under FAA Part 117, parking place to parking position with engines shut down under EASA ORO.FTL.105(13), and first movement under own power to rest after landing under CASA CAO 48.1.

Sources

This is a plain-words summary to help you keep your own records, not legal advice. The regulation and your operator's procedures always take precedence.

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