FAA Makes Drone History in Dallas Area

Will help pave the way for expanded drone package delivery nationwide

In a first for U.S. aviation, the FAA has authorized commercial drone flights without visual observers in the Dallas-area airspace. Typically when operating drones, the drone pilot must be able to see the aircraft at all times. 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.

The authorizations for Zipline International and Wing Aviation allow them to deliver packages while keeping their drones safely separated using UAS traffic management (UTM) technology. In this system, the industry manages the airspace with rigorous FAA safety oversight.

“This is the first time the FAA has recognized a third-party to safely manage drone-to-drone interactions,” said Praveen Raju, a program manager in the FAA’s NextGen Office. “As always, safety comes first, and we required exhaustive research and testing before giving the green light.”

Using UTM services, companies can share data and planned flight routes with other authorized airspace users. This allows the operators to safely organize and manage drone flights around each other in shared airspace. The industry developed consensus standards, which the FAA accepted, for how to accommodate multiple layers of low-altitude drone operations through UTM services. This kind of system provides high levels of safety without the need for overly burdensome regulations.

The FAA expects initial flights using UTM services will begin in August and issuing more authorizations in the Dallas area in the near future.

The companies began testing the UTM system with BVLOS flights in the Dallas area in 2023, initially with simulations. When live testing began, drones operated in separated airspace. They safely conducted thousands of flights before the FAA issued the authorizations enabling flights in shared airspace. All flights occur below 400 feet altitude and away from any crewed aircraft.

“The industry is providing us with a lot of detailed documentation and we’re providing a lot of oversight,” said Jarrett Larrow, Regulatory and Policy Lead at the FAA’s UAS Integration Office. “These public-private partnerships are key to safely integrating drones into our National Airspace System.”

The initial operations will inform FAA efforts to authorize additional UTM services, including improved situational awareness and enhanced cybersecurity. They also will support the FAA’s work to develop UTM rules that allow wide-scale BVLOS drone operations without special authorizations.

Companies and organizations around the world, including the Global UTM Association (GUTMA), have expressed significant interest in the North Texas UTM effort. They intend to send delegations to the United States and are looking to the FAA to inform their own implementation of UTM.

“We’re continuing to lead global drone harmonization,” Raju said.

“UTM is a critical piece for safe, routine, scalable BVLOS operations and to ensure everyone has equitable access to the airspace,” Larrow said. “If service providers and operators are successful in cooperatively sharing the airspace using UTM, it will be a repeatable process nationwide.”