What is the Flight Time?

What is the Flight Time?

• A. The time from brakes On to brakes Off time, so when the plane is moving
• B. The time from engines start to engines stop
• C. The time from passenger boarding to deplaning
• D. The time from takeoff to landing

Answer: (A)

Flight time is the period when the aircraft is actually in motion on the flight sequence. It starts when the parking brakes are released and the plane begins to move, and ends when the brakes are reapplied to stop the aircraft. This covers all movement on the ground (taxiing), the takeoff roll, the flight itself, and the final taxi to the gate. The other measures refer to different things: starting and stopping engines is maintenance or engine-use time, boarding to deplaning is turnaround or ground time, and takeoff to landing only counts the airborne portion, excluding taxiing. So the best definition is the movement interval from brakes off to brakes on.

Flight time is the period when the aircraft is actually in motion on the flight sequence. It starts when the parking brakes are released and the plane begins to move, and ends when the brakes are reapplied to stop the aircraft. This covers all movement on the ground (taxiing), the takeoff roll, the flight itself, and the final taxi to the gate. The other measures refer to different things: starting and stopping engines is maintenance or engine-use time, boarding to deplaning is turnaround or ground time, and takeoff to landing only counts the airborne portion, excluding taxiing. So the best definition is the movement interval from brakes off to brakes on.