US to Ease Long-Range Drone Rules in Boon for Walmart, Alphabet

President Donald Trump’s administration proposed a rule to allow more commercial drones to fly beyond an operator’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 have stifled industry growth. The change is expected to streamline operations for drone delivery firms and expand the use of unmanned aircraft in other sectors 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 and 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 visual 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.

Companies would also have to abide by new security rules related to cybersecurity and have some personnel undergo 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 Derb盲ck, spokesperson for Wing.

“We don’t want people just flying any homegrown drone that they’ve built over people and beyond line of sight,” said Beth Flippo, CEO of DEXA, a drone technology company authorized to conduct deliveries beyond visual line of sight. “Manned air travel is the safest form of travel in the world, and we don’t want to jeopardize that safety record with unmanned aircraft at all.”

Under the proposal, drones would have to be equipped with technology to detect and avoid other aircraft when operating in certain airspaces, and must yield to manned aircraft broadcasting their position using a technology known as ADS-B, according to an FAA fact sheet.

Operators would also still need approvals from the agency to operate in the area where they intend to fly and have procedures in place in the event they lose communication with the drone.

Drone operations could still run into safety and regulatory challenges, said Scott Shtofman, an associate vice president at the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International.

“There are a number of essentially non-cooperative aircraft,” he said, adding that not all traditional aircraft are required to broadcast their location using ADS-B.

Photo: An Alphabet Inc. Wing delivery drone flies during a demonstration at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. Photographer: Charles Mostoller/Bloomberg