Under EASA FCL.050 you must record every flight with the date, the aircraft type and registration, the departure and arrival points, the total flight time and the function you flew (PIC, co-pilot, dual or instructor), split into day and night and into IFR and VFR. Digital logbooks are accepted in 2026 as long as they can be printed and certified, and recruiters increasingly reject unstructured PDFs and scanned paper.
What EASA requires you to record
For each flight, your logbook must capture at least:
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Date | 2026-06-14 |
| Aircraft type & registration | A320 / F-HXYZ |
| Departure & arrival | LFPG → LMML |
| Total time of flight | 3h05 |
| Function time | PIC / co-pilot / dual / instructor |
| Conditions | Day / night, IFR / VFR |
| Landings | Day / night count |
Function times, explained
- PIC, pilot in command: you are responsible for the flight.
- PICUS, pilot in command under supervision: it counts towards command experience once signed off.
- Dual: flight instruction you received.
- Co-pilot: you are a required crew member but not in command.
These categories decide whether your hours count towards unfreezing an ATPL or a command upgrade, and mislabelled function time is one of the most frequent reasons a logbook gets questioned.
Digital or paper in 2026
EASA fully accepts digital logbooks as long as the data can be printed and, where required, certified. In practice airlines now prefer a clean structured export to a shoebox of paper, because it is quicker to verify and harder to fudge. Paper is still legal, but it slows every application down.
Five logbook mistakes that cost interviews
- An unstructured PDF the recruiter has to read line by line.
- Mislabelled function time, such as co-pilot time logged as PIC.
- Unexplained gaps between currency periods.
- Totals that do not add up from page to page.
- No quick way to show your night, instrument and cross-country splits.
How recruiters verify hours
When you apply, the recruiter asks for your logbook and checks its totals against your licence, ratings and stated experience. A structured export takes minutes to verify. A scan means days of back-and-forth, while you compete with candidates whose files clear straight away.
How Veejo helps
Your verified Veejo profile puts your licence, medical and ratings in front of recruiters in the format they expect. The Career Log, coming soon to the Veejo app, will keep your logbook in the same structure, with every function-time split and the day/night and IFR/VFR breakdowns.