The Federal Aviation Administration has been slow to enact regulations allowing drones to operate commercially in the United States. In 2016, the FAA published rules allowing very limited use of drones for commercial purposes. While the FAA did need to get rules in place to ensure public safety, it also needed to develop a system and framework to allow for the growing use of drones for a variety of commercial purposes. Unfortunately, that has not happened.
Current regulations severely curtail the use of commercial drones and stifle their potential. Companies like Amazon, Google and UPS are allowed to operate commercial drones in the United States — but only under very limited circumstances. For example, if flying a drone for a commercial purpose you must: 1) keep the aircraft in line of sight; 2) fly under 400 feet; 3) fly during the day; 4) fly at or below 100 mph; and 5) cannot fly over people (and this is not an inclusive list). These rules effectively tie the hands of many companies from using drones for any significant purpose.
The development, use and potential uses for drones has sky rocketed in the United States. However, the regulatory framework needed to pave the way for this new industry is simply not there. In short, the FAA has been unable to develop a system for getting drones from point A to point B similar to what exists with air traffic control for commercial aviation in the United States.
The FAA’s website states:
“The FAA’s vision for fully integrating UAS into the National Airspace System (NAS) entails UAS operating harmoniously, side-by-side with manned aircraft, occupying the same airspace and using many of the same air traffic management systems and procedures.”
The problem is, the FAA is struggling with how to accomplish this. And, to be fair, it is no easy task.
Trump’s executive order is a message to the FAA to turn this “vision” into a reality. Now. It encourages the FAA to seek the input from state and local governments to craft a strategy for the national management of UAS operations. Trump’s order also makes it clear that these entities need to coordinate with the private sector in creating this framework.
Regardless of your politics, creating a regulatory framework that balances the benefits of UAS technology but also keeps the risks to public safety and security to a minimum will benefit our economy and consumers.
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