One area I’ve always been curious about from a logbook audit perspective is how airlines view instructor landing counts. I’ve seen CFIs handle this differently. Some log every landing made during dual instruction, regardless of the student’s certificate level. Others only count landings when instructing student pilots, but stop counting them once the student becomes a private pilot and can legally log PIC themselves—unless the instructor actually performs the landing. Is there any industry consensus on the most appropriate and defensible way for a CFI to log landings, particularly when preparing for airline applications and logbook reviews? Additionally, is there an expectation that a flight logbook entry should generally include at least one takeoff and one landing? For example, would it raise questions during an audit if an entry showed flight time but no corresponding takeoff or landing, or are there common scenarios where that would be perfectly normal?

Pilot logbook entry mistakes that end airline applications: The 5 critical errors, the 5 patterns, and the 5 minor ones. Pilots spend years building flight time, but very few spend the same energy making sure their logbook accurately reflects it. When you apply to a major airline, your logbook doesn’t just get glanced at. It gets audited. Line by line. Category by category. And what examiners find, or don’t find, will directly impact whether you move forward. Here’s the breakdown every pilot needs to read before they submit a single application. THE CRITICAL ERRORS: these can end your candidacy These aren’t technicalities. These are application-ending discoveries that raise immediate integrity concerns. 1. Falsified or inflated flight time. This is the cardinal sin of aviation recordkeeping. Rounding 0.8 hours to 1.0 consistently across hundreds of entries adds up fast, and examiners are trained to spot it. Logbook totals that don’t align with known aircraft performance, block times, or employer records will trigger an immediate red flag. If your cross-country time seems implausibly high for the hours you flew at a given operator, someone will notice. The word for this isn’t “rounding.” It’s falsification, and it will not only cost you the job. It can cost you your certificate. 2. Misrepresented PIC time. This is one of the most common serious errors, and it often isn’t intentional. But intent doesn’t matter in a hiring review. Logging PIC time when you were the sole manipulator of the controls but not the acting PIC, or logging PIC time as a safety pilot without clearly documenting the arrangement, creates ambiguity that reads as inflation. Know the FARs governing PIC logging. Apply them correctly. Every time. 3. SIC time logged incorrectly. Logging SIC time in aircraft that don’t require two pilots, without proper documentation of a required second-in-command, is a regulatory issue, not just a bookkeeping one. Airlines will identify this, particularly when cross-referencing your time against the aircraft types flown and the operations conducted.

Hey everyone! I am a current CFI/CFII/MEI and am ready to branch off and make new connections and hopefully advance my careers. Willing to chat and have convos with anyone that I might be able to help or someone to help me. Currently at 1500+ and building multi time to 100+ Can’t wait to talk and meet with others!