FAA chief hails industry collaboration as part of regulatory path to trusted integration, including progress on BVLOS

August 17, 2021 | Amy French

In a keynote titled “Leading to Trusted Integration,” FAA Administrator Steve Dickson raised hopes of progress by the end of the year toward new beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) rules. 

But first, he invoked the vocabulary of aviation to acknowledge that regulation is often seen as a “drag” on the unmanned aerial systems (UAS) industry’s momentum.

Dickson, a former commercial pilot and vice president of Delta Air Lines, admitted to having “had my own opinions” on the subject of regulatory drag earlier in his career.

However, since taking the helm of the FAA in August 2019, and in light of regulatory strides in recent years, Dickson said he has become a firm believer that smart and fair regulation is actually a big part of what will enable autonomy’s continued advancement – by helping to ensure public trust and safe integration into the National Airspace System.

“The public fully expects all aspects of aviation to be as safe as commercial airlines have become …,” Dickson said. “Businesses and operators who don’t understand that reality are not going to be in business for long.”

Dickson noted that UAS businesses have stepped up to the challenge of earning public trust in important ways during the pandemic, particularly delivery companies that have dispatched drones to distribute medications, personal protective equipment, vaccines and other items. That work attracted positive news coverage and demonstrated the value that drones can add by filling gaps in the supply chain.

“With that backdrop, we’ve now built a solid foundation for what I think are some amazing things to come. We’ll be working on rules for BVLOS, beyond visual line of sight, and that’s really the holy grail of scalable drone operations.”

Attention to safety can never be relaxed, Dickson emphasized, but he also stressed that current BVLOS rules are inadequate.

“They’re not up to the task,” he said. “For one thing, approving operations on a case-by-case basis is not a feasible or efficient way forward. It’s not feasible or efficient for the agency. It’s not efficient for manufacturers. And it doesn’t give us the kind of certainty that we really need to scale operations around the national airspace.”

Work on BVLOS rules began over the summer with the creation of an FAA Advisory and Rulemaking Committee, or ARC. AUVSI President Brian Wynne is one member of the BVLOS ARC.

“I’ve been very pleased with the tone and the diligence and the cohesion, the collaboration, of industry within that ARC,” Dickson said, adding that the ARC process is expected to conclude with recommendations later this year.

“In the end,” he said, “that’s what it’s all about – government and the UAS community coming together to provide solutions that enable this fast-moving sector to continue to deliver groundbreaking solutions, tremendous value to society, tremendous value for the public, and doing it in a safe way. Policy provides the paths to get there. And trusted integration makes everyone a part of the solution.”