A July 9, 2019 deadline has been set by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for compliance with new electronic flight bag (EFB) regulations by European operators. Aviation regulatory compliance consultancy AeroEx is holding three free webinars to help explain the effect of the new EFB regulations, on March 8 and 21 and April 11. More information is available on the AeroEx home page (click on the red "Heads Up, New EU EFB Regulatory Compliance/Learn More" button).
The new EFB regulations will affect commercial and non-commercial operators and, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), they “are expected to maintain the current level of safety while ensuring compliance with the ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) and limiting the regulatory burden linked with the introduction of the operational approval for the use of some EFB applications by commercial air transport (CAT) operators.” Non-compliance with the regulations means that affected operators won't be able to use their EFBs after July 9, according to AeroEx.
Some of the issues addressed by the new regulations include: ensuring compliance with ICAO SARPs; adding specific EFB use requirements for commercial air transport operators; and providing requirements for EFBs for non-commercial and specialized operations but proportionate to the complexity of the operation. The new regulations can be viewed on the EASA website.
AeroEx has developed two versions of a toolkit to help operators comply with the new EFB regulations. The EFB Toolkits “include manual and risk assessment templates, checklists, and regulatory guidance material that flight departments and compliance managers can tailor to their own operations without the hassle of collecting necessary rules and information,” according to AeroEx.