Block time vs flight time: what airline pilots log

The difference between block time (gate to gate) and flight time (wheels off to wheels on), and which one counts as total time.

Last updated June 1, 2026

Block time is gate-to-gate (IN - OUT) and flight time is wheels-off to wheels-on (ON - OFF); airline logbooks generally record block time as total time.

The logbook list on a phone: a search box, a date sort, aircraft filter chips, then one row per leg showing route, flight number, date, tail, type and block time.

Quick definitions

Block time = IN - OUT. Also called block-to-block or chock-to-chock.
Flight time = ON - OFF (air time).

Both, automatically

From a single OOOI capture, OOOIPilot computes both block and flight time and handles midnight rollover so a red-eye doesn't log a negative duration.

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