In a first for unmanned aviation; let alone general aviation, in the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has authorised commercial beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone flights for more than one aircraft within the same airspace in the city of Dallas, Texas.
The waiver from the FAA was given to Zipline and Wing; two drone logistics companies operating in the Dallas Fort-Worth metro.
The two started out as partners to retail conglomerate Walmart, delivering small grocery packages into the homes of the retailer’s customers.
And we suppose, before this development, drone companies operating in the area had to cede airspace to each other, waiting until one drone has completed its mission to get another one off the ground.
“The authorisations for Zipline International and Wing Aviation allow them to deliver packages while keeping their drones safely separated using Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) technology,” the FAA said in a statement.
“In this system, the industry manages the airspace with rigorous FAA safety oversight.
“Typically, when operating drones, the drone pilot must be able to always see the aircraft. However, new advancements in air traffic technology and procedures are providing a key step toward making these Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights routine.
“Using UTM services, companies can share data and planned flight routes with other authorised airspace users. This allows the 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 will begin in August and issuing more authorizations in the Dallas area soon.”
This is a historic development for unmanned aviation, especially for the package delivery by drone, whose proponents have been working hard to integrate themselves within the lower atmosphere in areas of heavy population.
We suppose the day will come when the delivery drone industry will look back and point to this as the moment that truly launched delivery drones into the stratosphere in urban areas.
The waiver comes at a time when the FAA is working to release the Normalizing 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 aviation authority says it 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 than traditional commercial aviation, and the FAA’s approach to this new NPRM has evolved accordingly.
“(The commercial drone) Industry has created the market and technology, and the Agency has worked with them on creative solutions to ensure operations can be done safely – 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.”
Zipline CEO Keller Rinaudo Cliffton welcomed this greenlight from the FAA as a seal of approval for the trust the regulator has in third-party unmanned traffic management technology.
“This approval of Zipline’s UTM system lifts up the entire industry,” Rinaudo Cliffton said.
“We’ve been able to leverage Zipline’s expertise and learnings from flying 80 million commercial autonomous miles, to make the entire industry safer, scalable, and more efficient.”