Maintenance technician reported a flight crew did not report engine cowling damage prior to departure; and instead reported the damage during the flight.

Narrative

Flt crew reported during flt to check the #1 eng inlet accustic mesh liner. This log was created after aircraft departed ZZZ and was in the air. On arrival the #1 engine was inspected and found that the inlet wire mesh/screen linner was out of limits by more than twice the limit. this issue should have been addressed before departing ZZZ. The flight crew was aware of the discrepancy and intentionally chose not to report it while on the ground at ZZZ and then made a write up while in the air!!! It is obvious that the flight crew violated all the safety protocols of the company and the FAA. The flight crew departed ZZZ with known discrepancy and without reporting it. And also just for your info. the Company had scheduled 2 departures from ZZZ-ZZZ1 Day 0. The first flt was cancelled due to maintenance issues. this makes you wonder why on the log was created after taking off from ZZZ; so to prevent second flt from canceling? If the flight crew were to report this discrepancy while on the ground at ZZZ; this acft would have been OOS (Out of Service) causing further delay; disruption or cancellation. This is not the only example of pilots reporting known discrepancies while in the air!! some other examples are tires with chord showing; brakes flush; lights inop; etc; etc.Pilots should report the discrepancies when found and not decide when and how to report based on flight routing. why wait until in the air to report a discrepancy that was discovered while on the ground at a station - regardless of it is (out station) or at (mx station). All the flight crew members; and flight attendants included; should be trained and instructed to report known discrepancies right away and not to wait regardless of where the acft is. Safety is top priority at this company and should not be taken for granted. Always follow the SOP; FAA rules and company safety protocols for reporting known discrepancies. Why kick the problem to the next station. Do what's right to address the issue at the present time. What if this mesh liner came apart on take off or in flight and was ingested into engine??.. what if?? -- for example; see the several logs at 'ZZZ2' on Day 1 for details. It is the same scenario of inlet cowl acoustic lining coming apart and was ingested into the engine causing significant damage.