The decision to swap paper for the electronic logbook is usually quick — the arguments are known and the math works. What stalls the change is the next question, much more practical: "so what does the migration look like?"
The honest answer: it is a process, not a switch you flip. But it is a process with known steps, reasonable timelines and mapped pitfalls. This is the roadmap.
Step 1 — Check the regulatory basis
Before any screen, the regulatory question: does the platform meet ANAC Resolutions No. 773/2025 and 458/2017 and the reference model of Portaria No. 3.220/SPO/SAR? How does the authorization for your specific operation work — and who helps with that process?
That last point separates vendors: a serious platform does not just deliver software, it accompanies the authorization. At Alis, support for the LOA request is part of the implementation — the operation is not left alone in front of the form.
Step 2 — Decide the destination of the history
The paper record does not disappear — it closes. The practices that avoid headaches:
- Formal closing of the physical logbook: the last volume is closed in the standard way it always was, with a clear cutover date. From there on, the record is electronic.
- Keeping the archive: previous volumes continue to be kept for the period the rule requires — the migration changes the future, it does not rewrite the past. Digitizing the archive (scanning) is optional and recommended for consultation, but does not replace retention under the applicable regulation.
The pitfall here is the temptation to "transcribe everything": retyping years of logbook into the new system. Don't. What the system needs from the past is not the transcription of the flights — it is their current status, and that is step 3.
Step 3 — The initial load: the status, not the history
What has to go into the system for the operation to be born right:
- Total hours and cycles of airframe, engines and propellers at the cutover date;
- Tracked components with their due limits — by hour, cycle and calendar;
- Maintenance program inspections with last accomplishment and next due;
- Applicable airworthiness directives and their status.
It is the step that demands the most care, because every future due date will be calculated on these numbers. The practical rule: the initial load is verified by whoever is responsible for maintenance tracking, against the documents — not "from memory." A day of verification here saves months of correction later.
Step 4 — The clean cutover
Two approaches exist in practice:
Hard cutover (recommended): a date is set; from the next day on, every entry is electronic. Simple, auditable, with no ambiguity about where the record of each flight is.
Short parallel run: some operations run paper and electronic together for a brief period, as a safety net. It works, but with a firm end date — a parallel run with no end date becomes two incomplete systems, which is worse than either one alone.
Step 5 — Train those who log, not only those who manage
The classic implementation mistake is training the manager and forgetting who actually records: captain, first officer, mechanic. Training that works is short and in real context — logging a real flight, on the real device, including the no-internet scenario (because the first flight without signal will happen in the first week).
This is also where adoption is decided: if logging electronically is faster than on paper — and with the offline app, it is — the crew adopts it on its own. If it is slower, no memo will fix it.
How long does it take?
Less than you imagine: the typical schedule is days to a few weeks, and the critical path is not technical — it is the verification of the initial load (step 3) and the authorization (step 1), which run in parallel. A simple-operation aircraft migrates in a week; a fleet with a complex CTM (Maintenance Tracking, or Controle Técnico de Manutenção) takes a little longer, because of the volume of components to verify.
The best time to migrate, incidentally, is away from any urgency — after a major inspection, for example, when the aircraft's technical status has just been consolidated and verified.
Before migrating, choose well
The migration described above is the same on any serious platform. What changes is what you find on the other side — and that is decided beforehand: the guide to choosing a digital logbook lists the criteria and the demo questions. To understand the regulatory basis in detail, the page on the electronic logbook covers acceptance by ANAC and the authorization path.
This article is informational and does not replace current ANAC regulations. Retention periods, closing requirements and the authorization process must be confirmed in the rules applicable to your operation.