Block hours
Time from the aircraft first moving under its own power to the parking brake being set: the unit airlines pay by and regulators cap.
Definition
Block hours are measured from the moment the aircraft first moves for departure (blocks off, or chocks off) to the moment it comes to rest at the destination gate (blocks on). They are the standard unit for pilot and cabin crew flying pay and for cumulative regulatory limits: EASA caps crew at 100 block hours in any 28 consecutive days and 900 in a calendar year. Block hours are always shorter than the duty they sit inside, since briefing, boarding and turnarounds are not counted.
What it means for you
At most airlines your variable pay is a rate per block hour, so a month of long-haul with 90 hours pays much more than a month of short-haul with 65, even if the short-haul days felt longer. US contracts historically paid only block time, which is why boarding pay in the Delta, American and United contracts was a genuine change. Track your own hours against the 28-day and annual caps; crewing does, but mistakes happen.
In practice
Emirates pays roughly AED 65–70 per flying hour on a typical 80–100 block hours a month, and Qatar Airways around QAR 55–60 per block hour on top of basic salary.
Go deeper
Related terms
4 terms- Flying payPay & benefitsThe variable part of crew pay, calculated per block or flight hour actually flown; the reason long-haul months pay more than short-haul.
- Duty periodRoster & schedulingAny continuous period of work for the airline — flying, standby, training, positioning or ground tasks — from report to release.
- Flight duty periodRoster & schedulingThe regulated window from report for a flying duty to engines off after the last sector; the core limit protecting crew from fatigue.
- FTLRegulationFlight time limitations — a regulator's legal caps on duty, flight hours and minimum rest: the only hard limit on what a roster can ask.