Service Will Be Discontinued October 1

At the turn of the fiscal year, the FAA will no longer offer direct sale of paper aeronautical charts to the public.

The move comes as tablet devices become more popular with pilots. The sale of digital products will not be affected.

A notice posted on the agency's website indicates that "Effective October 1, 2013, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is discontinuing direct-to-the-public individual sales of paper aeronautical charts and related paper products. All future individual purchases of these products will be sold through the FAA's worldwide network of authorized chart sales agents.

"Digital products will still be available for purchase through the FAA by contacting AeroNav Products' Distribution Team directly via email or by phone.

The phase-in of the discontinuation of paper charts began July 1  as individual subscriptions expired, according to the online notice.

There has still been no resolution of the issue of charging companies that have created apps and software to interface with the digital products that had previously been provided free of charge.

FMI: http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/