President Donald Trump’s administration proposed a rule to allow more commercial drones to fly beyond an op
erator’s visual line of sight, a potential boon for companies such as Alphabet Inc.’s Wing unit and Walmart Inc. pushing to deliver packages by autonomous aircraft.
The proposal would end years of case-by-case federal approvals for long-range drone flights that companies say h
ave stifled industry growth. The change is expected to streamline operations for drone delivery firms and expand the use of unmanned aircraft in other se
ctors such as farming and manufacturing.
“The issue hasn’t been that America just can’t innovate,” US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told reporters on
Tuesday when unveiling the change. “It’s that we’ve had a bureaucracy in place that makes it incredibly difficult.”
The move will help the US become a bigger player in the consumer drone market, Duffy said, adding that China controls 90% of that sector.
Currently, drone operators must either have visual observers on the ground monitoring flights or receive waivers an
d exemptions from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly beyond visual line of sight.
Under the proposal, uncrewed aircraft weighing up to 1,320 pounds including their cargo would have to meet industry consensus standards to operate beyond vi
sual line of sight when flying at or below 400 feet (122 meters). Operators would be allowed to fly their drones over people, but not during large, open-air gatherings, such as concerts or sporting events.
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Companies would also have to abide by new security rules related to cybersecurity and have some personnel un
dergo a threat assessment by the Transportation Security Administration.
The current waiver process is “unnecessarily complex and time-consuming,” creating barriers that prevent growth and increase the FAA’s workload, said Lisa Ellman, chief executive officer of the Commercial Drone Alliance, a lobbying group.
The rule would allow drone operators “to focus on building, scaling and operating with clear rules instead of piecemeal exemptions,” said Okeoma Moronu, head of regulatory policy and government affairs at Zipline, a drone delivery company that works with companies such as Walmart.
New Standards
The proposal calls for new standards for drone traffic-management services to avoid collisions with other drones and crewed aircraft.
The rule would give drone operators the ability to “reliably detect the crewed airplanes and stay out of the way,” said Emmie Derbäck, spokesperson for Wing.