No, the ICAO requirement doesn’t really differentiate between domestic and international flights. It’s just that for domestic flights, an NAA can file a deviation from ICAO standards, i.e. in this case: not require any journey log, whereas on international flights, that is not possible, because the jursidiction of that country ends at the limits of their airspace.
boscomantico wrote:
No, the ICAO requirement doesn’t really differentiate between domestic and international flights. It’s just that for domestic flights, an NAA can file a deviation from ICAO standards, i.e. in this case: not require any journey log, whereas on international flights, that is not possible, because the jursidiction of that country ends at the limits of their airspace.
My understanding was that it’s the other way around: that a journey log is required by ICAO only for international operations, but that some ICAO countries (in their customary way) assume that all flights are international in their implementation of the ICAO requirement. The FAA guidance linked below is explicit in saying that the ICAO requirement applies only to international flights: International Operations Procedures. A journey logbook required by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 6, Operation of Aircraft, Part II, International General Aviation – Aeroplanes, for any aircraft engaged in international navigation
Its a mindless requirement anyway, as dumb as requiring me to write down every trip I take in my car. Before somebody replies that such a practice with cars is customary for business tax purposes in Germany, I’ll head you off at the pass and say that is also an inane, invasive and arguably immoral waste of human energy 
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@boscomantico I think the original text from 1944 (?) mentioned specifically international operations. PS: In general, you should be correct.
It would be useful to see a reference to the ICAO requirement for a Journey Logs for flights within a single country….
(FAA lawyers do not often misquote ICAO recommendations)
It’s just that for domestic flights, an NAA can file a deviation from ICAO standards, i.e. in this case: not require any journey log, whereas on international flights, that is not possible, because the jursidiction of that country ends at the limits of their airspace.
Strictly speaking if you file a difference, you will still be ICAO compliant outside your borders (“ICAO compliant with a difference filed”) but other contracting states are not obliged to accept it.
So, to use a famous point as an example, if back in 1969 the UK CAA had filed a difference on the IMC Rating (no obvious reason why not) it would have been valid worldwide except where the airspace owner objected. And since 53.5% of the world’s CAAs cannot spell I-C-A-O it might have been useful
The USA differs in many ways and has published differences only on some of them. I went to an FAA lawyer seminar a while ago where it was explained that that just happened and nothing can be done about it now
EASA is looking at creating work everywhere it can and has discovered that incorporating ICAO into EASA regs is a nicely self-lubricating path – a bit like introducing a law which prohibits computer repair shops repairing laptops containing certain very topical types of pornography. So a lot of stuff which was drafted in ICAO by a load of old farts and which never bothered anybody in the real world is now being made into law. I mean… a journey log? It takes a second to write anything in there you like. And you won’t write something compromising. It’s totally worthless.
I don’t think the US needs to file a difference in this case, because FAA requires a Journey Log for international operations and not for domestic operations, which is the ICAO requirement. I’d happily be corrected, if there is data to do so.
I agree.
