The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has made aviation history by authorizing the first commercial drone flights without visual observers in the Dallas area.
Zipline International and Wing Aviation have received approval to deliver packages using drones while keeping their aircraft safely separated through Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) technology.
This marks a significant step towards making Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone flights routine in the United States.
Under the new system, companies can share data and planned flight routes with other authorized airspace users, allowing operators to safely manage drone flights in shared airspace.
All flights will occur below 400 feet altitude and away from crewed aircraft.
The FAA expects initial flights using UTM services to begin in August, with more authorizations in the Dallas area to follow.
This development comes as the FAA prepares to release the Normalizing UAS BVLOS Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) later this year, which aims to expand drone operations while maintaining high safety standards.
The agency noted that its approach to regulating drones has evolved to match the unique characteristics of this new technology.
The FAA emphasized that industry has created the market and technology for drones, while the agency has worked with companies to ensure safe operations.
The upcoming NPRM has been designed to allow operations to scale with the size of the industry.
