EASA vs FAA Logbook Requirements: What Actually Differs

You fly a multi-crew leg from London to New York. You hand-fly the approach, make the landing, and open your logbook. Under EASA, only the designated commander logs PIC time for that flight. Under the FAA, you log PIC for every minute you had your hands on the controls, regardless of who was in command.

Same flight. Same pilot. Different PIC hours depending on which authority’s rules you follow.

If you hold licences from both EASA and the FAA, or you’re considering an international career, understanding these differences isn’t optional. Your logbook is your career record, and getting the entries wrong under either system creates problems that are painful to fix later.

This guide puts the two systems side by side. Not the licensing differences or the training requirements, but specifically how each authority expects you to record your flights.

The Fundamental Difference in Philosophy

Before diving into specifics, it helps to understand how each authority thinks about logbooks.

EASA requires you to log every flight. FCL.050 states that “the pilot shall keep a reliable record of the details of all flights flown.” No exceptions. Every flight gets an entry.

The FAA only requires logging when you need to prove something. 14 CFR 61.51 mandates documenting “training and aeronautical experience used to meet the requirements for a certificate, rating, or flight review” and “the aeronautical experience required for meeting the recent flight experience requirements.” A VFR pleasure flight with no currency implications? Technically not required to be logged.

Should you log everything under the FAA anyway? Absolutely. But the regulatory obligation is narrower than most pilots assume.

This philosophical difference carries through to every aspect of how the two systems handle logbook entries.

Required Logbook Fields: Side by Side

EASA’s AMC1 FCL.050 defines 12 mandatory columns. The FAA’s required fields under 14 CFR 61.51(b) are considerably more minimal. Here’s how they compare:

The biggest structural differences: EASA requires the SP/MP classification, the PIC’s name, and a specific split of landings by day and night. The FAA doesn’t require any of those fields but does require the safety pilot’s name when one is used, a concept that doesn’t exist under EASA.

For a deep dive on each system individually, see our guides on EASA logbook requirements and FAA logbook requirements.

PIC Time: The Biggest Difference

This is where the two systems diverge the most, and where pilots flying under both authorities get into trouble.

Under EASA, PIC time is tied to legal designation. You log PIC when you are the designated pilot-in-command of the flight, when you are flying solo, when you are acting as an instructor or examiner, or when you are flying as PICUS or SPIC with the appropriate countersignature. The key principle: pilot function times are mutually exclusive. On any given flight, your time goes in one column only.

Under the FAA, PIC time is tied to the sole manipulator rule. You log PIC whenever you are the sole manipulator of the controls of an aircraft for which you are rated, regardless of whether you are the acting pilot-in-command. This means multiple pilots can log PIC simultaneously on the same flight.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

Scenario: A captain and first officer fly a 4-hour leg in an A320. The first officer hand-flies the departure and approach (1.5 hours total). The captain is the designated PIC for the entire flight.

Under EASA, the first officer logs 4 hours of co-pilot time and zero PIC. Under the FAA, the same first officer logs 1.5 hours of PIC (for the portions they hand-flew) and 2.5 hours of SIC. The total hours are the same, but the split between PIC and SIC/co-pilot is completely different.

This distinction matters enormously for pilots building PIC hours toward an ATPL or airline minimums. A first officer with 3,000 FAA hours might have 1,500 hours of PIC under FAA rules but only 200 hours of PIC under EASA rules (from PICUS time and any flights where they were designated commander). When applying to a European airline, it’s the EASA number that counts.

Night Time: Two Different Definitions

Both authorities track night time, but they define it differently.

EASA defines night based on civil twilight: the period when the center of the sun is more than 6 degrees below the horizon. The duration of twilight varies significantly by latitude and season. A flight departing Helsinki in December enters night conditions much faster than the same flight in June.

The FAA also uses civil twilight for logging purposes: night is the period from the end of evening civil twilight to the beginning of morning civil twilight. But it uses a completely different definition for passenger currency: 1 hour after sunset to 1 hour before sunrise. These two windows don’t overlap exactly, which confuses even experienced FAA pilots.

The practical difference between the systems for logging is subtle. Both use civil twilight for recording night time. But the FAA’s split definition for currency purposes creates a window where you’re flying “at night” for logging but not for passenger currency, or vice versa.

For a full breakdown of how night calculations work (and why the +30/-30 shortcut is wrong), see our guide on how night time is actually calculated.

Cross-Country Time: One Term, Two Meanings

EASA defines cross-country simply as “a flight between a point of departure and a point of arrival following a pre-planned route, using standard navigation procedures.” There is no minimum distance. A 20-nautical-mile flight from one airport to another qualifies.

The FAA has multiple distance thresholds depending on the certificate:

Under 14 CFR 61.1, the FAA also recognizes a broader definition of cross-country for general logging: any flight that includes a landing at a point other than the departure point. But for meeting specific certificate requirements, the distance thresholds above apply.

EASA doesn’t even use cross-country as a standalone time category in the logbook. It matters for certain training requirements (like the cross-country qualifying flight for the PPL), but it’s not a column you track.

Pilot Function Categories

EASA and the FAA categorize pilot roles differently, and the categories don’t map one-to-one.

EASA pilot function time (column 10) is split into four mutually exclusive categories:

• PIC (including solo, SPIC, and PICUS time)
• Co-pilot
• Dual instruction received
• Instructor time

You pick one per flight. You cannot log PIC and dual simultaneously. A student receiving instruction logs dual time, not PIC time (unless flying as SPIC with a countersignature).

FAA pilot experience types under 61.51(b)(2):

• Solo
• PIC
• SIC (Second in Command)
• Flight training received

These categories can overlap. A pilot receiving dual instruction can simultaneously log PIC time if they are the sole manipulator and rated in the aircraft. A safety pilot can log both SIC and PIC for the same flight segment depending on the designation.

EASA also requires pilots to distinguish between single-pilot (SP) and multi-pilot (MP) operations for every flight, further splitting SP into single-engine and multi-engine. The FAA has no equivalent logbook field.

Electronic Logbooks: Both Accept Digital

Both authorities accept electronic logbooks, but the guidance differs.

EASA has accepted digital logbooks since March 2020. Your electronic record must contain all items from AMC1 FCL.050, be readily available for inspection, and be certified by the pilot (electronic signatures are acceptable under EU eIDAS Regulation 910/2014). Some national authorities within EASA may have additional preferences, so check with your local CAA.

The FAA requires no formal approval for electronic logbooks used by Part 61 pilots. AC 120-78B (updated December 2024) confirms that electronic signatures and recordkeeping don’t need FAA authorization. Your records just need to be presentable in a format acceptable to the Administrator.

Both systems agree on one thing: whatever format you use, you need to be able to produce your records when asked.

Flying Under Both Authorities

If you hold both EASA and FAA licences, you have two options for your logbook.

Option 1: Maintain two separate logbooks. One follows EASA formatting, the other follows FAA formatting. This is the cleanest approach from a compliance standpoint but doubles your workload.

Option 2: Maintain one logbook that satisfies both systems. This is where most dual-authority pilots land. It works, but only if your logbook captures every field that either system requires. You need the EASA 12-column structure plus the FAA-specific fields (safety pilot name, approach details for currency). And you need to track PIC time under both definitions, because a single number can’t represent both systems accurately.

Practical tips for dual-authority pilots:

• Track PIC time separately for each authority. Your FAA PIC total will be higher than your EASA PIC total. Both numbers need to be accurate and defensible.
• Use the stricter format. EASA’s 12 columns capture everything the FAA requires and more. Start with EASA formatting and add FAA-specific details (approach types, safety pilot names) in remarks.
• Be consistent with times. Both systems expect UTC for departure and arrival. Don’t mix local times in.
• Document PICUS/SPIC properly. If you’re building EASA PIC time through PICUS, every entry needs the commander’s countersignature in the remarks. Missing signatures mean that time counts only as co-pilot time.

How Skyden Handles Multi-Authority Logbooks

The entire challenge of dual-authority flying is that the same flights need to produce different outputs depending on which authority is reviewing your logbook. You shouldn’t have to enter your flights twice or maintain parallel records, and you shouldn’t worry about losing entries somewhere along the way.

Skyden is built around protecting your hours first. Every flight is automatically backed up so nothing gets lost across devices, smart autofill makes daily logging fast, and a single tier unlocks every feature from day one (no Basic vs Pro split). Night time is computed from actual solar positions along your route (here’s how that calculation works), so it’s accurate under both EASA and FAA definitions.

When you need to export, Skyden generates compliant PDFs in 7 authority formats (EASA, FAA, TCCA, UK CAA, JCAB, GCAA, CASA) from the same underlying data. Each export applies the correct column structure, time categories, and formatting for that authority. Your PIC time follows each system’s rules.

One logbook, protected automatically, accurate everywhere. Try Skyden free for your first 20 hours with all features unlocked.

Key Takeaways

• EASA requires logging all flights. The FAA only mandates logging when proving compliance with certificate, rating, or currency requirements.
• PIC time is the biggest difference. EASA ties it to the designated commander. The FAA ties it to the sole manipulator of the controls. The same flight can produce vastly different PIC hours.
• Night time definitions are similar but not identical. Both use civil twilight for logging, but the FAA has a separate (1-hour-after-sunset) definition for passenger currency.
• Cross-country means different things. EASA has no distance requirement. The FAA requires 50+ nm for most certificates.
• EASA pilot function times are mutually exclusive. FAA categories can overlap, allowing simultaneous PIC and training time in some scenarios.
• Both accept electronic logbooks. EASA since March 2020 with format requirements. The FAA with no formal approval needed.
• Dual-authority pilots should track PIC separately for each system and use the stricter format as their baseline.

Related reading

• EASA Pilot Logbook Requirements: The Complete Guide
• FAA Pilot Logbook Requirements: What You Actually Need to Log
• FAA Professional Pilot Track: What the Proposal Means for You