FAA authorises historic commercial drone flights in Dallas

In a groundbreaking development for U.S. aviation, the FAA has authorised commercial drone flights without visual observers in the Dallas area airspace.

The authorisations for Zipline International and Wing Aviation permit them to deliver packages while maintaining safe separation using Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) technology. In this system, the industry manages the airspace under rigorous FAA safety oversight.

Typically, drone pilots must always keep the aircraft in sight. However, new advancements in air traffic technology and procedures are paving the way for routine Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights.

Using UTM services, companies can share data and planned flight routes with other authorised airspace users. This allows operators to safely organise and manage drone flights around each other in shared airspace. All flights occur below 400 feet altitude and away from any crewed aircraft. The FAA expects initial flights using UTM services to begin in August, with more authorisations in the Dallas area soon to follow.

This milestone comes as the FAA works to release the Normalising UAS BVLOS Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which would enable drone operators to expand operations while maintaining the same high level of safety as traditional aviation. The FAA is on track to release the NPRM this year, following strong Congressional support in the recent FAA reauthorisation.

Drones represent a very different type of aircraft compared to traditional commercial aviation, and the FAA's approach to this new NPRM has evolved accordingly. The industry has created the market and technology, and the Agency has collaborated with them on innovative solutions to ensure safe operations – UTM services are a clear example of this innovative approach. The NPRM has been designed to allow operations to scale with the size of the industry.