Originally Posted by
sinoflyer
Airlines cannot "fudge" flight data even if they wanted to. The actual "out" and "in" times are recorded and transmitted automatically when the wheel brakes are set off an on. These are the official numbers ("block time") reported to the DOT. UA also has another set of data, "off" and "on" times, for the actual takeoffs and landings. But I think those are just for internal use and don't appear in flight status.
Actually, not completely true. Not all airlines get their times off the ACARS data automatically. Many regional carriers, and I know SWA did it before, not sure if they have changed, had to call into their operations center to report their out/off/on/in times manually. There is easy room for fudging.
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