[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
THE LEADING EDGE: INNOVATION IN U.S.
AEROSPACE
=======================================================================
(117-14)
REMOTE HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
AVIATION
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON
TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
APRIL 27, 2021
__________
Printed for the use of the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available online at: https://www.govinfo.gov/committee/house-
transportation?path=/browsecommittee/chamber/house/committee/
transportation
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
45-132 PDF WASHINGTON : 2020
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
PETER A. DeFAZIO, Oregon, Chair
SAM GRAVES, Missouri ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON,
DON YOUNG, Alaska District of Columbia
ERIC A. ``RICK'' CRAWFORD, Arkansas EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
BOB GIBBS, Ohio RICK LARSEN, Washington
DANIEL WEBSTER, Florida GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky STEVE COHEN, Tennessee
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
RODNEY DAVIS, Illinois JOHN GARAMENDI, California
JOHN KATKO, New York HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr.,
BRIAN BABIN, Texas Georgia
GARRET GRAVES, Louisiana ANDRE CARSON, Indiana
DAVID ROUZER, North Carolina DINA TITUS, Nevada
MIKE BOST, Illinois SEAN PATRICK MALONEY, New York
RANDY K. WEBER, Sr., Texas JARED HUFFMAN, California
DOUG LaMALFA, California JULIA BROWNLEY, California
BRUCE WESTERMAN, Arkansas FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida
BRIAN J. MAST, Florida DONALD M. PAYNE, Jr., New Jersey
MIKE GALLAGHER, Wisconsin ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania MARK DeSAULNIER, California
JENNIFFER GONZALEZ-COLON, STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts
Puerto Rico SALUD O. CARBAJAL, California
TROY BALDERSON, Ohio ANTHONY G. BROWN, Maryland
PETE STAUBER, Minnesota TOM MALINOWSKI, New Jersey
TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee GREG STANTON, Arizona
DUSTY JOHNSON, South Dakota COLIN Z. ALLRED, Texas
JEFFERSON VAN DREW, New Jersey SHARICE DAVIDS, Kansas, Vice Chair
MICHAEL GUEST, Mississippi JESUS G. ``CHUY'' GARCIA, Illinois
TROY E. NEHLS, Texas ANTONIO DELGADO, New York
NANCY MACE, South Carolina CHRIS PAPPAS, New Hampshire
NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS, New York CONOR LAMB, Pennsylvania
BETH VAN DUYNE, Texas SETH MOULTON, Massachusetts
CARLOS A. GIMENEZ, Florida JAKE AUCHINCLOSS, Massachusetts
MICHELLE STEEL, California CAROLYN BOURDEAUX, Georgia
KAIALI`I KAHELE, Hawaii
MARILYN STRICKLAND, Washington
NIKEMA WILLIAMS, Georgia
MARIE NEWMAN, Illinois
Vacancy
Subcommittee on Aviation
RICK LARSEN, Washington, Chair
GARRET GRAVES, Louisiana STEVE COHEN, Tennessee
DON YOUNG, Alaska ANDRE CARSON, Indiana
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky SHARICE DAVIDS, Kansas
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania KAIALI`I KAHELE, Hawaii
JOHN KATKO, New York NIKEMA WILLIAMS, Georgia
BRIAN J. MAST, Florida HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr.,
MIKE GALLAGHER, Wisconsin Georgia
BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania DINA TITUS, Nevada
TROY BALDERSON, Ohio SEAN PATRICK MALONEY, New York
PETE STAUBER, Minnesota JULIA BROWNLEY, California
TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee DONALD M. PAYNE, Jr., New Jersey
JEFFERSON VAN DREW, New Jersey MARK DeSAULNIER, California
TROY E. NEHLS, Texas STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts
NANCY MACE, South Carolina ANTHONY G. BROWN, Maryland
BETH VAN DUYNE, Texas GREG STANTON, Arizona
CARLOS A. GIMENEZ, Florida COLIN Z. ALLRED, Texas
MICHELLE STEEL, California CONOR LAMB, Pennsylvania, Vice
SAM GRAVES, Missouri (Ex Officio) Chair
ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON,
District of Columbia
EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
JOHN GARAMENDI, California
PETER A. DeFAZIO, Oregon (Ex
Officio)
CONTENTS
Page
Summary of Subject Matter........................................ vii
STATEMENTS OF MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE
Hon. Rick Larsen, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Washington, and Chair, Subcommittee on Aviation, opening
statement...................................................... 1
Prepared statement........................................... 3
Hon. Garret Graves, a Representative in Congress from the State
of Louisiana, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Aviation,
opening statement.............................................. 5
Prepared statement........................................... 6
Hon. Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Texas, prepared statement............................. 87
Hon. Sam Graves, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Missouri, and Ranking Member, Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, prepared statement............................. 93
WITNESSES
Hon. Eric Garcetti, Mayor, City of Los Angeles, California,
accompanied by Seleta Reynolds, General Manager, Department of
Transportation, City of Los Angeles, California, oral statement
of Mr. Garcetti................................................ 9
Prepared statement of Mr. Garcetti........................... 11
James L. Grimsley, Executive Director of Advanced Technology
Initiatives, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, oral statement........ 18
Prepared statement........................................... 20
Adam Bry, Chief Executive Officer, Skydio, Inc., oral statement.. 31
Prepared statement........................................... 32
Pierre F. Harter, Director of Research and Development, National
Institute for Aviation Research, and Associate Vice President
for Industry and Defense Programs, Research Operations, Wichita
State University, oral statement............................... 39
Prepared statement........................................... 41
Roei Ganzarski, Chief Executive Officer, magniX, oral statement.. 48
Prepared statement........................................... 50
Blake Scholl, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Boom
Supersonic, oral statement..................................... 57
Prepared statement........................................... 58
APPENDIX
Questions from Hon. Rick Larsen to Hon. Eric Garcetti, Mayor,
City of Los Angeles, California................................ 95
Questions from Hon. Rick Larsen to James L. Grimsley, Executive
Director of Advanced Technology Initiatives, Choctaw Nation of
Oklahoma....................................................... 96
Question from Hon. Steve Cohen to Adam Bry, Chief Executive
Officer, Skydio, Inc........................................... 100
Question from Hon. Rick Larsen to Pierre F. Harter, Director of
Research and Development, National Institute for Aviation
Research, and Associate Vice President for Industry and Defense
Programs, Research Operations, Wichita State University........ 101
Questions to Blake Scholl, Founder and Chief Executive Officer,
Boom Supersonic, from:
Hon. Rick Larsen............................................. 102
Hon. Greg Stanton............................................ 102
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
April 22, 2021
SUMMARY OF SUBJECT MATTER
TO: LMembers, Subcommittee on Aviation
FROM: LStaff, Subcommittee on Aviation
RE: LSubcommittee Hearing on ``The Leading Edge:
Innovation in U.S. Aerospace''
_______________________________________________________________________
PURPOSE
The Subcommittee on Aviation will meet on Tuesday, April
27, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. (EDT) in 2167 Rayburn House Office
Building and virtually via Zoom to hold a hearing titled, ``The
Leading Edge: Innovation in U.S. Aerospace.'' The hearing will
explore the recent advances in U.S. aerospace and the National
Airspace System (NAS), including emerging airspace entrants
(such as drones, advanced air mobility, electric aircraft, and
supersonic planes). The hearing will examine how these new
aerospace users and technologies will affect the economy,
transportation system, local communities, environment, and
public good; their visions for and possible barriers to
deployment in the United States; and the federal government's
role in ensuring the safe integration of these users and
technologies into the NAS. The Subcommittee will receive
testimony from the City of Los Angeles; the Choctaw Nation of
Oklahoma; Skydio; the National Institute for Aviation Research
at Wichita State University; magniX; and Boom Supersonic.
FUTURE OF U.S. AEROSPACE
Civil aviation plays a central role in the United States,
supporting more than $1.8 trillion of economic activity and
nearly 11 million jobs, according to the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA).\1\ While the COVID-19 pandemic devastated
the U.S. aerospace industry, with commercial air travel and
aviation manufacturing plummeting in 2020 as coronavirus cases
surged, the sector is projected to recover in the years
ahead.\2\ In fact, civil aviation's economic role will only
grow with the introduction of new airspace users (such as
unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), advanced air mobility (AAM),
electric aircraft, and supersonic planes) and the development
of other new aerospace technologies that change the way we
travel and transport goods and services. The FAA--the federal
agency responsible for ensuring the safe and efficient
operation of the NAS--along with the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA), aerospace industry, and labor
continue to explore ways to make current airspace operations
safer and more efficient, and to prepare for the integration of
new technology.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ FAA, The Economic Impact of Civil Aviation on the U.S. Economy:
State Supplement, Nov. 3, 2020, available at https://www.faa.gov/about/
plans_reports/media/2020_nov_economic_impact_report.pdf.
\2\ Leslie Josephs, New Planes, Training and Hiring: Airlines are
Planning for a Rebound After Dismal Pandemic Year, CNBC, Mar. 2, 2021,
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/02/how-airlines-are-preparing-for-a-
travel-rebound-covid-19.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS
UAS--ranging in size from handheld to those weighing more
than 50,000 pounds--are proliferating in the NAS.\3\ In fact,
in its most recent aerospace forecast, the FAA estimates that
the hobbyist (recreational) UAS fleet will grow to nearly 1.5
million units by 2024 and the commercial UAS fleet will
increase to more than 800,000 units by that same year.\4\ UAS
are continuously maturing with advanced software, automation,
and artificial intelligence skills, and can be equipped with
various technologies, such as cameras and infrared or thermal
sensors, offering a virtually unlimited number of potential
applications.\5\ UAS can perform work that manned aircraft
cannot, such as close inspections of bridges, pipelines,
railroad tracks, airport runways, and other critical
infrastructure, and can enhance the safety of conditions for
those performing such work. UAS can also be used for disaster
and emergency response, precision agriculture, and delivery of
packages such as medicine, medical supplies, and other consumer
goods, to name just a few of their possible uses.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ The Hill, The World's Biggest Drone Debuts, and It Weighs
Nearly 28 Tons, Dec. 3, 2020, https://thehill.com/changing-america/
resilience/smart-cities/528691-the-worlds-biggest-drone-debuts-and-it-
weighs-nearly.
\4\ FAA, FAA Aerospace Forecast Report Fiscal Years 2020 to 2040:
Unmanned Aircraft Systems, available at https://www.faa.gov/
data_research/aviation/aerospace_forecasts/media/
Unmanned_Aircraft_Systems.pdf.
\5\ See, e.g., Skydio, https://www.skydio.com/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
UAS INTEGRATION
The FAA is conducting a phased approach to safely integrate
UAS operations into the NAS. There are also ongoing efforts
within the FAA and coordination between the agency and its
federal partners to address the continuing safety and security
risks posed by unsafe or unlawful UAS operations, including
risk of collision with manned aircraft and unauthorized
operations over national security facilities and assets. These
are some of the challenges that must be addressed to allow full
integration of these users into the NAS.
In 2012, Congress directed the FAA to develop a
comprehensive plan to accelerate the safe integration of civil
UAS into the NAS \6\ and to issue regulations applicable to the
operation of small commercial UAS.\7\ In June 2016, the FAA
issued a final rule on commercial operations of small UAS (14
C.F.R. part 107), which significantly expanded and standardized
the ability for operators of small UAS to conduct commercial
activities.\8\ For these commercial UAS operations, part 107
imposes requirements on UAS pilots \9\ and aircraft,\10\ as
well as operational limitations. Most notably, the UAS must
remain within the visual line of sight (VLOS) of the remote
pilot in command and must not fly over people not involved in
the operation.\11\ Operations outside of the defined
limitations may require an FAA--waiver or additional
certification or approval signifying the FAA finds the proposed
operation can be performed safely.\12\ In the FAA
Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Pub. L. 115-254), Congress enacted
provisions authorizing the FAA to fully regulate hobby and
recreational UAS in order to ensure the safety and security of
U.S. airspace; advancing the safe and efficient integration of
UAS through the development and testing of new UAS
technologies; and directing the FAA to move forward with
authorization of certain advanced operations (e.g., package
delivery).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, Pub. L. 112-95, Sec.
332(a).
\7\ Id. Sec. 332(b).
\8\ FAA, Operation and Certification of Small Unmanned Aircraft
Systems, 14 C.F.R. Sec. 107 (2016).
\9\ A pilot must be at least 16 years old, obtain a remote pilot
airman certificate (or be under the direct supervision of a certificate
holder), demonstrate aeronautical knowledge in order to obtain such a
certificate, and pass vetting by the Transportation Security
Administration.
\10\ An aircraft must weigh less than 55 pounds, and any aircraft
that weighs more than 0.55 pounds must be registered with the FAA
online. The aircraft must undergo a pre-flight check to ensure it is in
a safe operating condition.
\11\ FAA, Summary of Small Unmanned Aircraft Rule (Part 107),
https://www.faa.gov/uas/media/Part_107_Summary.pdf. The UAS must also
fly under 400 feet and at or below 100 miles per hour, during the day,
yield right of way to manned aircraft, and not from a moving vehicle.
\12\ See FAA, Advanced Operations, https://www.faa.gov/uas/
advanced_operations/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
RECENT FAA ACTIVITIES AND PROGRAMS
In late 2020, the FAA finalized two rules to advance the
integration of UAS into the NAS. The first rule requires the
remote identification (remote ID) of UAS and the second rule
allows more routine operations over people and at night under
certain circumstances.\13\ The requirement that UAS operating
in the NAS have remote ID capability--the ability of a UAS to
provide certain identification and location information that
can be received by other parties, such as the FAA and law
enforcement--is described as a necessary foundational element
for more complex and routine commercial UAS operations and the
FAA's overall UAS integration efforts.\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\13\ FAA, Remote Identification of Unmanned Aircraft, Final Rule,
86 Fed. Reg. 4390 (Jan. 15, 2021), available at https://
www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2021-01-15/pdf/2020-28948.pdf; FAA,
Operation of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Over People, Final Rule,
86 Fed. Reg. 4314 (Jan. 15, 2021), available at https://
www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2021-01-15/pdf/2020-28947.pdf.
\14\ FAA, UAS Remote Identification Overview, https://www.faa.gov/
uas/getting_started/remote_id/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 2020, the FAA also issued various planning documents,
including the third edition of its UAS integration roadmap,
which sets forth a five-year strategy for integration.\15\ In
its roadmap, the FAA provides an update on its activities and
rulemakings, as well as a description of and a status update on
complex challenges to UAS integration, including remote ID
implementation, technological hurdles (e.g., maturity of UAS
detect-and-avoid technology), airspace management, UAS noise
levels, and societal acceptance.\16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\15\ FAA, Integration of Civil UAS in the NAS Roadmap, Third
Edition (2020), available at https://www.faa.gov/uas/resources/
policy_library/media/2019_UAS_Civil_Integration_
Roadmap_third_edition.pdf.
\16\ See id. at 15-16, 20-22.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 2020, the FAA completed its UAS Integration Pilot
Program (IPP). The IPP is a program designed to accelerate the
testing of UAS operations currently restricted (such as beyond-
VLOS operations and flights over people) and to provide a forum
for meaningful dialogue with state, local, and tribal
governments on the development of federal UAS guidelines and
regulations.\17\ The FAA then transitioned the IPP to the
BEYOND program, through which the FAA is ``tackling the
remaining challenges of UAS integration,'' by studying beyond-
VLOS operations, leveraging industry operations to better
analyze the benefits of UAS operations, and focusing on
community engagement efforts to collect, analyze, and address
community concerns.\18\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\17\ FAA, Research and Development, https://www.faa.gov/uas/
research_development/; FAA, UAS Integration Pilot Program, https://
www.faa.gov/uas/programs_partnerships/uas_integration_pilot_program.
\18\ FAA, BEYOND, https://www.faa.gov/uas/programs_partnerships/
beyond/. According to the FAA, BEYOND ``will focus on operating under
established rules rather than waivers, collecting data to develop
performance-based standards, collecting and addressing community
feedback and understanding the societal and community benefits, and to
streamline the approval processes for UAS integration.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The FAA, NASA, other federal agencies, and industry are
also working closely on the development of UAS Traffic
Management (UTM).\19\ Similar to how air traffic systems manage
manned aircraft operations today, UTM is envisioned to include
the systems necessary to manage UAS traffic in low-altitude
airspace, allowing the FAA to communicate real-time airspace
status and constraints to operators, and provide services to
prohibit UAS from operating in certain airspace or colliding
with other aircraft.\20\ Thus, UTM will enable complex UAS
operations, such as beyond-VLOS operations, which will be
critical to the full integration of UAS into the NAS.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\19\ FAA, UAS Traffic Management, https://www.faa.gov/uas/
research_development/traffic_management/.
\20\ Id.; See also NASA, UAS Traffic Management, https://
utm.arc.nasa.gov/index.shtml.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
STATE AND LOCAL PARTICIPATION
State and local governments may not enforce requirements
regarding civil aviation, including safety regulations, the use
of navigable airspace, and aircraft certification, because the
federal government has pervasively occupied the field of civil
aviation regulation through statutes and regulations.\21\
``While FAA states that it has authority to create a
comprehensive regulatory system addressing UAS operations at
ground level as part of ensuring aviation safety and the
efficient use of airspace, some state and local governments and
legal commentators, in addition to [a] . . . federal district
court . . . have questioned FAA's authority to regulate UAS
operations at low altitudes, at least those conducted purely
intrastate and over private property.'' \22\ In the UAS
context, states and cities have sought to enact laws and
regulations that control or restrict UAS operations,
potentially in contradiction to federal law.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\21\ See, e.g., City of Burbank v. Lockheed Air Terminal, Inc., 411
U.S. 624, 638-39 (1973) (recognizing the need for a ``uniform and
exclusive system of federal regulation if the congressional objectives
underlying the Federal Aviation Act are to be fulfilled'').
\22\ Huerta v. Haughwout, 2016 WL 3919799 (D. Conn. 2016); GAO
Report, Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Current Jurisdictional, Property,
and Privacy Legal Issues Regarding the Commercial and Recreational Use
of Drones, GAO-B-330570 (Sept. 16, 2020), https://www.gao.gov/assets/b-
330570.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In recognition of the issues related to UAS regulation,
Congress directed the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to
study and report on key legal issues. Specifically, section 373
of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 directed a GAO study on
the relative roles and authorities of the federal, state,
local, and tribal governments in the regulation and oversight
of low-altitude UAS operations. Section 358 of the FAA
Reauthorization Act of 2018 called for a study of UAS-related
personal privacy issues and the federal, state, and local laws
that currently address them. The GAO issued its report in
September 2020 and presented ``substantial information and
analysis regarding these UAS legal jurisdiction and privacy
issues.'' \23\ The GAO concluded that ``[t]he law regarding a
number of UAS jurisdiction and privacy matters is in a state of
flux, both because the federal government is still developing
key aspects of its UAS safety and security requirements and
because there have been relatively few court decisions to date
addressing whether these requirements are consistent with
statutory authorities. . . .'' \24\ Defining and delineating
federal, state, and local responsibilities with respect to
small UAS will continue to be topics of discussion and need to
be addressed as these operators are safely integrated into the
NAS.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\23\ See GAO Report, supra note 22.
\24\ See id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ADVANCED AIR MOBILITY AND ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT
In 2019, Americans lost an average of 99 hours due to
traffic congestion in the United States, costing them nearly
$88 billion, according to a recent industry report.\25\ These
gridlocks not only affect drivers, but also have harmful
effects on local businesses and the environment.\26\ With
recent advances in aerospace technology, new aircraft designs--
including flying cars, passenger air vehicles or taxis, and
electric aircraft--have the potential to reduce traffic
congestion on U.S. roads, improve mobility options for
commuters and cargo (in urban and rural environments), and
lessen the current burden on surface infrastructure.\27\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\25\ INRIX, Congestion Costs Each American 100 Hours, $1,400 A Year
(Mar. 9, 2020), https://inrix.com/press-releases/2019-traffic-
scorecard-us.
\26\ See id.
\27\ See FAA, UAM Concept of Operations (Volume 1.0), at 2-4,
https://nari.arc.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/attachments/
UAM_ConOps_v1.0.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vertical Takeoff and Landing. AAM aircraft will be small
and lightweight when compared to conventional aircraft, so many
concepts rely on batteries and electric propulsion systems.
While some concepts are designed to drive short distances
before transitioning to flight mode with airplane-like wings,
others are designed to operate as electric vertical takeoff and
landing (eVTOL) aircraft, with multiple small helicopter-like
rotors.\28\ As such, eVTOL aircraft will be able to lift off
from existing physical infrastructure (e.g., modified parking
garage rooftops or retrofitted heliports) instead of airports
or long runways.\29\ To support this effort, several AAM
operators have released various vertiport designs and are
partnering with federal agencies and local governments to
develop and deploy these concepts.\30\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\28\ See, e.g., Terrafugia, The Transition, https://terrafugia.com/
transition/; see also Joby Aviation, Joby Aviation Generates First
Revenue, Takes Key Step Towards Certifying Aircraft (Feb. 9, 2021),
https://www.jobyaviation.com/news/joby-aviation-generates-first-
revenue-takes-key-step-towards-certifying-aircraft.
\29\ See Gideon Lichfield, When Will We Have Flying Cars? Maybe
Sooner Than You Think, MIT Tech. Rev. (Feb. 13, 2019), https://
www.technologyreview.com/s/612891/when-will-we-have-flying-cars-maybe-
sooner-than-you-think/.
\30\ See e.g., Lilium, Designing a Scalable Vertiport, https://
lilium.com/newsroom-detail/designing-a-scalable-vertiport; see also,
Urban Movement Labs, The Urban Air Mobility Partnership, https://
www.urbanmovementlabs.com/programs-projects.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anticipated Operations. Unlike conventional aircraft, AAM
aircraft are intended to fly at low altitudes and across short
to medium distances, often in heavily congested areas. A recent
industry report projects AAM growth of up to hundreds or even
thousands of simultaneous operations within a region at
altitudes reaching nearly 5,000 feet.\31\ Some eVTOL concepts
include plans to fly more than 150 miles per hour and cover
nearly 150 miles on a single battery charge.\32\ Currently,
proposed aircraft can seat anywhere from one to seven
passengers.\33\ Additionally, some companies are retrofitting
small commuter aircraft with electric propulsion technology to
carry passengers up to 1,000 miles.\34\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\31\ Brock Lascara, Urban Air Mobility Airspace Integration
Concepts, The MITRE Corp. (June 2019), https://www.mitre.org/sites/
default/files/publications/pr-19-00667-9-urban-air-mobility-airspace-
integration.pdf.
\32\ See Joby Aviation, supra note 28.
\33\ See Andrew J. Hawkins, Flying Taxi Startup Lilium Goes Public
via SPAC, Unveils its New Electric Aircraft, The Verge (Mar. 30, 2021),
https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/30/22358027/lilium-flying-taxi-evtol-
spac-electric-aviation-gm-engle.
\34\ See Dominic Gates, Electric Aviation Startup MagniX Opens New
Headquarters and Production Facility in Everett, The Seattle Times
(Jan. 19, 2021), https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-
aerospace/electric-aviation-startup-magnix-opens-new-headquarters-and-
production-facility-in-everett.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ownership and Access. While some of these concepts
contemplate personal ownership and use, other companies' models
rely on ridesharing (i.e., air taxis) to reduce operational
costs and improve accessibility. Although these companies
anticipate that their AAM concepts will be an affordable option
for the traveling public, especially in urban areas, questions
have been raised about how to ensure equitable access to these
technologies for low-income and underserved communities.\35\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\35\ See MIT, supra note 29; see also Adam Cohen, Advanced Air
Mobility: Community Integration and Public Acceptance, UC Berkley (Mar.
4, 2021), https://aam-cms.marqui.tech/uploads/aam-portal-cms/originals/
542db455-f781-4109-8d43-94521d2e6553.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
AAM INTEGRATION
Safety and Security. Unlike small UAS, which generally
weigh less than 55 pounds, AAM concepts are heavier and
typically have a pilot and one or more passengers on board. Not
unlike other small manned aircraft, a mid-flight event, such as
a failed battery or structural failure, could pose significant
safety risks to the vehicle's occupants and to people and
property on the ground, particularly in congested urban areas.
AAM concepts, like small UAS, will fly in low-altitude
airspace, and will need to be safely integrated with
conventional airspace users, especially around airports.
Air Traffic Management. Like small UAS, AAM aircraft would
access and generally operate in low-altitude airspace; however,
some may fly as high as 5,000 feet above ground level.
Technologies currently in development such as UTM--a system
that can provide airspace design, dynamic geofencing, conflict
avoidance, and separation and sequencing for small UAS--may
assist the FAA in safely separating AAM aircraft from other
aircraft.\36\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\36\ See Lillian Gipson, UTM 101, NASA (June 26, 2020), https://
www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch/utm-101.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pilot Training and Certification. The FAA is charged with
ensuring aviation safety, which includes establishing the
requirements for a pilot's license and the standards for the
design, production, and maintenance of aircraft. In many cases,
the FAA's current regulatory framework does not contemplate AAM
concepts and their anticipated business models.\37\ The FAA
must provide the framework necessary to allow the safe
integration of these new technologies and operations. In
partnership with the U.S. Air Force, the FAA and other agencies
launched the Agility Prime program to support the certification
of commercial and defense AAM concepts.\38\ Recently, the FAA
reached a ``G-1'' certification agreement for an AAM concept,
detailing the specific requirements for commercial operation
under the FAA's Part 23 certification framework.\39\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\37\ See MIT, supra note 29.
\38\ U.S. Air Force, AFWERX Agility Prime Announces, ``Flying Car''
Military Airworthiness, Infrastructure Milestones (Dec. 20, 2020),
https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2452683/afwerx-agility-
prime-announces-flying-car-military-airworthiness-infrastructure.
\39\ See Joby Aviation, supra note 28.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Noise and Emissions. Many AAM concepts rely on electric
propulsion technology to operate and as a result, these
aircraft contribute no direct pollutant emissions and produce
little noise relative to conventional airplanes and large
trucks. Developments in onboard energy storage, full and
hybrid-electric engines, and resilient charging infrastructure
will be critical to AAM deployment.\40\ Low noise and pollutant
emissions will also be necessary for community acceptance and
utility of these aircraft across the nation, especially in
residential areas.\41\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\40\ See Robin Lineberger et al., Advanced Air Mobility: Can the
United States Afford to Lose the Race?. Deloitte Insights (Jan. 26,
2021), https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/aerospace-
defense/advanced-air-mobility.html.
\41\ See Mark Huber, Noise Critical Issue for eVTOL Acceptance,
Aviation Int'l News (Jan. 29, 2020), https://www.ainonline.com/
aviation-news/general-aviation/2020-01-29/noise-critical-issue-evtol-
acceptance.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
State and Local Participation. As stated previously, state
and local governments may not enforce requirements regarding
civil aviation, including safety regulations, the use of
navigable airspace, and aircraft certification, because the
federal government has pervasively occupied the field of civil
aviation regulation through statutes and regulations.\42\ The
supremacy of federal authority has led to a consistent
regulatory structure for all airspace users, ensuring safety
and efficiency across the NAS.\43\ However, as noted earlier,
in the UAS context, states and cities have sought to enact laws
and regulations that control or restrict UAS operations.\44\
Additionally, according to GAO, the law in this area is in a
state of flux.\45\ Therefore, defining and delineating federal,
state, and local responsibilities with respect to both small
UAS and AAM will continue to be topics of discussion and need
to be addressed as these operators are safely integrated into
the NAS.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\42\ See, e.g., City of Burbank, supra note 21.
\43\ See GAO Report, supra note 22.
\44\ See id.
\45\ See id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUPERSONIC AIRCRAFT
Supersonic flight is any flight faster than the speed of
sound, which, depending on altitude and ambient conditions,
exceeds 750 miles per hour.\46\ The Concorde aircraft, the
product of a state-subsidized joint venture between
Aerospatiale of France and the British Aircraft Corporation,
performed the first commercial trans-oceanic supersonic
passenger flight in 1976, flying at twice the speed of sound
and at a cruising altitude of 65,000 feet. Concorde flights
could cut the duration of a subsonic trans-Atlantic flight in
half. During its lifetime, more than 2.5 million passengers
flew at supersonic speeds between New York and London and
Paris, as well as some other routes from time to time, until
fuel prices and a fatal accident resulted in the Concorde's
retirement from passenger service in 2003. No supersonic
passenger aircraft have flown since that time.\47\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\46\ CRS, Supersonic Passenger Flights, 1 (Nov. 14, 2018),
available at https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R45404.pdf.
\47\ Id. at 1-3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
According to the FAA, several factors contributed to the
Concorde's retirement, including high operating costs, such as
high fuel consumption and the high cost of meeting
environmental restrictions on sonic booms.\48\ Unlike
traditional subsonic flight, the Concorde created a shock wave
when traveling at supersonic speeds, experienced by people on
the ground as a ``sonic boom'' as it passed overhead. This
aircraft noise led to many countries banning supersonic flights
from their airspace, limiting the ability for the Concorde to
travel at supersonic speeds and thus the number of practical
Concorde routes.\49\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\48\ See id. See also FAA, Fact Sheet--Supersonic Flight (Nov. 25,
2020), https://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/
news_story.cfm?newsId=22754.
\49\ See CRS, supra note 46 at 1-3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
There has been a revival of interest in supersonic flight
since the end of the Concorde. In addition to the time that can
be saved traveling at supersonic speeds, the advancement of
technology, materials and composites, aircraft design, and
manufacturing can make the aircraft lighter, improve fuel
efficiency, and reduce noise impacts. Several domestic and
foreign airlines have already purchased options for supersonic
aircraft in design and testing, and there is interest at state
and local levels to establish designated airspace corridors for
the testing of civilian supersonic aircraft over land in the
United States.\50\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\50\ See, e.g., Thomas Black, Buffet's NetJets to Buy 20 Supersonic
Luxury Planes from Aerion, Bloomberg, Mar. 3, 2021, https://
www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-03/buffett-s-netjets-to-buy-20-
supersonic-luxury-planes-from-aerion and Ankit Ajmera, Japan Airlines
Invests $10 Million in Supersonic Jet Company Boom, Reuters, Dec. 5,
2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boom-japan-airlines/japan-
airlines-invests-10-million-in-supersonic-jet-company-boom-
idUSKBN1DZ1N2; see also Office of the Governor of Kansas, Governor
Laura Kelly Announces Kansas, FAA Sign Deal for Supersonic Flight
Corridor (Dec. 17, 2020), https://governor.kansas.gov/governor-laura-
kelly-announces-kansas-faa-sign-deal-for-supersonic-flight-corridor/
and Supersonic Flight Alliance, https://ssfa.aero/ (declaring its
mission to ``[c]reate a 800-mile civilian supersonic and hypersonic
corridor over Eastern Washington in partnership with the FAA, State
government and the aerospace industry'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUPERSONIC AIRCRAFT INTEGRATION
There are several challenges to the integration of
supersonic aircraft into U.S. airspace, beyond aircraft design
and public acceptance. Today, there are no internationally
agreed upon certification, noise, or emission standards for
supersonic aircraft under development.\51\ As such, there is
concern that varying operational standards from country-to-
country will prohibit many routes at the start. For instance,
FAA regulations currently prohibit supersonic flight in the
continental United States that cause a sonic boom.\52\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\51\ CRS, supra note 46 at 7.
\52\ 14 C.F.R. Sec. 91.817.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congress sought to address some of these issues in the FAA
Reauthorization Act of 2018. The law requires the FAA to
exercise international leadership in the creation of federal
and international policies and standards regarding the
certification and operation of supersonic aircraft. The law
also requires that the FAA issue notices of proposed rulemaking
to update noise standards for supersonic aircraft and to
modernize the application process to operate supersonic
aircraft.\53\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\53\ See Pub. L. 115-294, Sec. 181.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responding to the 2018 law, the FAA issued a proposed
rulemaking in March 2020 to set takeoff and landing noise
certification standards for new supersonic aircraft, and in
January 2021, to facilitate supersonic flight testing and safe
development of such aircraft, the FAA issued a final rule
``modernizing the procedure for requesting a special flight
authorization to operate in excess of Mach 1 over land.'' \54\
However, ``[o]utside the context of special flight
authorizations under this final rule, the FAA continues
generally to prohibit civil supersonic flight over land in the
United States.'' \55\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\54\ FAA, Noise Certification of Supersonic Airplanes, Proposed
Rule, 85 Fed. Reg. 20431 (Apr. 13, 2020), available at https://
www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-04-13/pdf/2020-07039.pdf; FAA,
Special Flight Authorizations for Supersonic Aircraft, Final Rule, 86
Fed. Reg. 3782 (Jan. 15, 2021), available at https://www.govinfo.gov/
content/pkg/FR-2021-01-15/pdf/2021-00113.pdf. See also FAA, Press
Release--FAA Announces Final Rule to Facilitate the Reintroduction of
Civil Supersonic Flight (Jan. 6, 2021), https://www.faa.gov/news/
press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=25581.
\55\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
OTHER FUTURE AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGIES
As the aerospace sector continues to innovate, there are
several promising technologies, designs, and operational
concepts with the potential to transform U.S. transportation.
Advances in fully automated aircraft, commercial space
transportation launch vehicles, engine designs, hydrogen-
propulsion technology, and lightweight composite wings and
parts are under development and promise more efficient and
sustainable operations. Additionally, the industry is embracing
alternative fuels and fuel sources as part of a comprehensive
effort to reduce aviation's environmental footprint.
Technologies to improve air traffic management and space
situational awareness will need to meet the demands of new
airspace entrants, aerospace technologies, and business models.
In the upcoming decades, American innovation and ingenuity will
propel the aerospace sector in the global landscape and improve
the safety, availability, and efficiency of transportation for
future generations.
WITNESSES
LThe Honorable Eric Garcetti, Mayor, City of Los
Angeles, California, accompanied by Ms. Seleta Reynolds,
General Manager, Los Angeles Department of Transportation
LMr. James L. Grimsley, Executive Director,
Advanced Technology Initiatives, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
LMr. Adam Bry, Chief Executive Officer, Skydio
LMr. Pierre Harter, Director of Research and
Development, National Institute for Aviation Research, Wichita
State University
LMr. Roei Ganzarski, Chief Executive Officer,
magniX
LMr. Blake Scholl, Founder and Chief Executive
Officer, Boom Supersonic
THE LEADING EDGE: INNOVATION IN U.S. AEROSPACE
----------
TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Aviation,
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 11:01 a.m., in
2167 Rayburn House Office Building and via Zoom, Hon. Rick
Larsen (Chair of the subcommittee) presiding.
Members present in person: Mr. Larsen.
Members present remotely: Mr. Carson, Ms. Davids, Mr.
Kahele, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms.
Titus, Ms. Brownley, Mr. Payne, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Stanton, Ms.
Norton, Ms. Johnson of Texas, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Graves of
Louisiana, Mr. Massie, Mr. Balderson, Mr. Van Drew, and Mrs.
Steel.
Mr. Larsen. The subcommittee will come to order. And I ask
unanimous consent the chair be authorized to declare a recess
at any time during today's hearing.
Without objection, so ordered.
I also ask unanimous consent that Members not on the
subcommittee be permitted to sit with the subcommittee at
today's hearing and ask questions.
Without objection, so ordered.
And as a reminder, please keep your microphone muted unless
speaking. And should I hear any inadvertent background noise, I
will request that the Member, by name, please mute their
microphone.
And a reminder as well for Members: to insert a document
into the record, please have your staff email that document to
[email protected].
I will now follow with an opening statement.
Good morning and welcome to today's witnesses joining the
Aviation Subcommittee's hearing titled: ``The Leading Edge:
Innovation in U.S. Aerospace.''
This is a long overdue discussion to explore promising
opportunities for U.S. aerospace, including emerging aerospace
entrants and new aviation technologies with potential societal,
safety, and environmental benefits.
Today's hearing is also a great opportunity to examine
challenges in making those concepts a reality, and what
Congress and the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, can
do to ensure the safe and efficient integration of new entrants
and technologies into the National Airspace System, or what we
call the NAS.
Fostering innovation is one of my top priorities as chair,
because it will help bolster U.S. jobs and grow the Nation's
leadership in the aerospace industry.
Today's witnesses represent a range of emerging aerospace
entrants, from small, unpiloted aircraft systems to electric
aircraft and supersonic airplanes. I am also pleased to have
representatives from city and Tribal governments at the table
to highlight why new aerospace entrants and technologies are
important to their communities and how to build public
acceptance.
Once only seen in science fiction or dropping Judy and
Elroy off at school, flying cars and air taxis will soon be a
reality with over 70 advanced air mobility, or AAM, concepts in
development. Electric vertical takeoff and landing, or eVTOL,
vehicles could reduce traffic congestion and improve mobility
options, particularly in dense urban environments. However,
Congress and the FAA must consider infrastructure, how new
entrants will be integrated into an already busy U.S. airspace,
and impacts on local communities.
To that end, I do want to welcome Los Angeles Mayor Eric
Garcetti to today's panel. Mayor Garcetti, when we get to you,
I know the city of L.A. is a leader in helping get AAM options
deployed. So I am interested in hearing more about the city's
efforts to prepare for AAM operations in the region, including
accounting for community views, ensuring equitable access
across the city, and promoting sustainability.
New advancements in aerospace technologies are arriving as
U.S. aviation works to address the pressing challenges, such as
greenhouse gas emissions and aircraft noise. That is why I am
pleased today, as well, to welcome Mr. Roei Ganzarski, CEO of
magniX, an electric propulsion system manufacturer leading the
charge in the development of more sustainable and energy-
efficient aircraft. magniX is another in a long line of
innovators in aviation that are based in Washington State. In
this case, in my hometown of Everett, Washington, in my
district.
Mr. Ganzarski, I look forward to your thoughts on how the
Federal Government can help U.S. manufacturing in this
increasingly competitive space and help meet environmental
goals as well.
I want to turn now to unmanned aircraft systems, another
area of tremendous growth. The FAA projects the use of drones
will reach up over 2 million units by 2024, combining both
private and commercial use. Drones are used today to perform
critical infrastructure inspections, assist in recovery efforts
following natural disasters, and deliver critical medical
supplies during the pandemic.
Mr. Grimsley is here from the Choctaw Nation. I look
forward to learning more about the nation's ongoing project
under the FAA's BEYOND Program to test advanced drone
operations and analyze the impact of this technology on Tribal
and rural communities. Inherent in the growth of new entrants
are the potential risks posed to existing airspace users and
people and critical assets on the ground.
So in December 2020, the FAA issued two long-awaited UAS
final rules which took effect last week: one requiring the
remote identification, or ID, of UAS, and another permitting
more routine UAS operations over people under certain
conditions. So not only do I hope that Mr. Grimsley can address
those issues, but Mr. Bry from Skydio is here, and I would like
to hear more about the drone industry's reaction to these new
rules as well.
On to supersonic aircraft. Recent advancements in
propulsion technology, materials, and domestic manufacturing
have also made supersonic flight more of a reality. Traveling
faster than the speed of sound, these flights are projected to
significantly reduce transoceanic travel times and open new
gateways to support international commerce. However, challenges
persist to full deployment of supersonic flight, most notably
the lack of internationally recognized certification, noise, or
emission standards for supersonic aircraft.
So in response to the 2018 FAA reauthorization law, the FAA
recently issued a final rule to help facilitate supersonic
flight testing and the safe development of such aircraft. And
we are joined today by Mr. Blake Scholl, CEO of Boom
Supersonic, a U.S. manufacturer at the forefront of developing
supersonic passenger aircraft.
Mr. Scholl, when we get to you, I am interested in learning
more about Boom's XB-1 concept, your experience with navigating
the current regulatory process for supersonic flight, and what
is needed, both U.S. and internationally, to realize the
vision.
The subcommittee is also joined by Mr. Pierre Harter with
the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State
University, a leader in aerospace research and development.
Mr. Harter, when we get to you, I look forward to your
thoughts on the importance of Federal investment in research on
these technologies and ways to support the next generation of
aviation innovators, scientists, and engineers.
As the Nation works towards long-term economic recovery,
this subcommittee will continue its forward-looking agenda on
the future of U.S. aerospace, and how Congress and the FAA can
ensure the U.S. remains the global aviation leader.
Congress, the new administration, and the industry and its
workforce must work together as we embark on this next
generation of U.S. aerospace and ensure that as nascent
operations and technologies are integrated into the complex
airspace system, the safety of all who fly and those on the
ground remain the top priority.
So I want to thank you all again, today's witnesses, ahead
of time. I look forward to our discussion.
[Mr. Larsen's prepared statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Rick Larsen, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Washington, and Chair, Subcommittee on Aviation
Good morning and welcome to today's witnesses joining the Aviation
Subcommittee's hearing titled ``The Leading Edge: Innovation in U.S.
Aerospace.''
This is a long overdue discussion to explore promising
opportunities for U.S. aerospace, including emerging airspace entrants
and new aviation technologies with potential societal, safety, and
environmental benefits.
Today's hearing is also a great opportunity to examine challenges
in making these concepts a reality, and what Congress and the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) can do to ensure the safe and efficient
integration of new entrants and technologies into the National Airspace
System (NAS).
Fostering innovation is one of my top priorities as Chair because
it will help bolster U.S. jobs and grow the nation's leadership in the
aerospace industry.
Today's witnesses represent a range of emerging airspace entrants,
from small unmanned aircraft systems to electric aircraft and
supersonic airplanes.
I am also pleased to have representatives from city and tribal
governments at the table to highlight why new airspace entrants and
technologies are important to their communities and how to build public
acceptance.
Once only seen in science fiction or dropping Judy and Elroy off at
school, ``flying cars'' and ``air taxis'' will soon be a reality, with
over 70 advanced air mobility (AAM) concepts in development.
Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles could reduce
traffic congestion and improve mobility options, particularly in dense
urban environments.
However, Congress and the FAA must consider infrastructure, how new
entrants will be integrated into an already busy U.S. airspace, and
impacts on local communities.
To that end, I would like to welcome Los Angeles Mayor Eric
Garcetti to today's panel. Mayor Garcetti, I know that the City of Los
Angeles is a leader in helping get AAM options deployed. I am
interested in hearing more about the City's efforts to prepare for AAM
operations in the region, including accounting for community views,
ensuring equitable access across the City, and promoting
sustainability.
New advancements in aerospace technologies are arriving as U.S.
aviation works to address pressing challenges, such greenhouse gas
emissions and aircraft noise.
Which is why I am pleased to welcome Mr. Roei Ganzarski, CEO of
magniX, an electric propulsion system manufacturer leading the charge
on the development of more sustainable and energy-efficient aircraft.
magniX is another in a long line of innovators in aviation that are
based in Washington state, in this case in Everett in my district.
Mr. Ganzarski, I look forward to your thoughts on how the federal
government can help grow U.S. manufacturing in this increasingly
competitive space and help to meet environmental goals.
Another area of tremendous growth is in UAS, or drones.
The FAA projects the use of drones will reach up over 2 million
units by 2024, combining both private and commercial use.
Drones are used today to perform critical infrastructure
inspections, assist in recovery efforts following natural disasters,
and deliver critical medical supplies during the pandemic.
Mr. Grimsley, I look forward to learning more about the Choctaw
Nation's ongoing project, under the FAA's BEYOND program, to test
advanced drone operations and analyze the impact of this technology on
tribal and rural communities.
Inherent in the growth of new entrants are the potential risks
posed to existing airspace users and people and critical assets on the
ground.
In December 2020, the FAA issued two long-awaited UAS final rules,
which took effect last week: one requiring the remote identification
(ID) of UAS and another permitting more routine UAS operations over
people under certain conditions.
Mr. Bry, I would like to hear more about the drone industry's
reaction to these new rules.
Recent advancements in propulsion technology, materials, and
domestic manufacturing have also made supersonic flight more of a
reality.
Traveling faster than the speed of sound, these flights are
projected to significantly reduce trans-oceanic travel times and open
new gateways to support international commerce.
However, challenges persist to full deployment of supersonic
flight. Most notably, the lack of internationally recognized
certification, noise, or emission standards for supersonic aircraft.
In response to the 2018 FAA reauthorization law, the FAA recently
issued a final rule to help facilitate supersonic flight testing and
the safe development of such aircraft.
We are joined today by Mr. Blake Scholl, CEO of Boom Supersonic, a
U.S. manufacturer at the forefront of developing supersonic passenger
aircraft. Mr. Scholl, I am interested in learning more about Boom's XB-
1 concept, your experience with navigating the current regulatory
process for supersonic flight, and what is needed both in the U.S. and
internationally to realize your vision.
The Subcommittee is also joined by Mr. Pierre Harter with the
National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University, a
leader in aerospace research and development. Mr. Harter, I look
forward to your thoughts on the importance of federal investment in
research on these technologies and ways to support the next generation
of aviation innovators, scientists, and engineers.
As the nation works toward long-term economic recovery, this
Subcommittee will continue its forward-looking agenda on in the future
of U.S. aerospace, and how Congress and the FAA can ensure the United
States remains the global aviation leader.
Congress, the new Administration, and the aerospace industry and
workforce must work together as we embark on this next generation of
U.S. aerospace and ensure that as nascent operations and technologies
are integrated into the complex airspace system, the safety of all who
fly and those on the ground remain the top priority.
Thank you again to today's witnesses. I look forward to our
discussion.
Mr. Larsen. With that, I want to turn now to the ranking
member of the subcommittee, Mr. Garret Graves of Louisiana, for
an opening statement.
Representative Graves.
Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr.
Chairman, about 2 years ago, back in 2019, we had a hearing
that you had scheduled called, ``Looking Forward: Aviation
2050,'' where we were looking at the future of aviation over
the next 30 years to try and depict and project what that would
look like, and what we needed to do during our time to help
facilitate that aviation industry in the United States.
I do not think any of us anticipated the amazing challenges
that we had during that 2-year period. Now obviously the
pandemic, the 737 MAX, and other challenges in our community.
My home State of Louisiana: five named hurricanes just last
year.
We cannot rest on our laurels in regard to the aviation
future or being able to maintain the top position globally in
regard to aviation. We must continue to work to strive to
facilitate that innovation and that growth.
Although it is not the title of this hearing, I think
``Aviation 2030'' may be perhaps a better title for this
hearing, looking at the aerospace innovation that we can
explore and that we can expect to come online over the next
decade or so. It seems clear that in the next 10 years,
aerospace is going to evolve: an ever-increasing number of
drones, the introduction of electric vertical takeoff and
landing, reintroduction of civil supersonic aircraft, as you
noted; and expanded use of commercial space transportation
vehicles.
Other nations may choose one or two technologies to try to
excel at or facilitate in their countries. But in the United
States, it is our aim--and Mr. Chairman, I believe we share
this goal--it is our aim and our intention to lead in all of
the above technologies. That means making investments upfront,
laying the statutory and regulatory foundation for these
cutting-edge technologies as was done in the last FAA
reauthorization bill. But obviously, we need to hear from these
witnesses on what needs to be done, even beyond.
In fact, year after year, reauthorization after
reauthorization, the committee and the FAA have worked to
ensure that our foundation is solid, and it enables rather than
stifles innovation, and that it is always laid on the bedrock
of safety.
For example, last week, rules for UAS remote identification
and drone operations over people took effect, which will enable
more advanced use of drones. While these rules do represent a
major step forward, we know that a true regulatory foundation
for drones must include a way for regular, beyond visual line
of sight operations.
And with these pieces in place, however, it is time to show
some progress and reap the benefits of our investment. The
economic and societal benefits of UAS promise to be enormous,
and industry and communities are quickly finding ways to
utilize the foundation that we did lay in these laws.
I look forward to hearing from Skydio about the great
American-made products they are developing, and from the
Choctaw Nation about the innovative use of this technology, and
the drones that they have in place now.
Moving forward, we must take some of the lessons learned
from our efforts on drone integration as the chairman noted,
and apply them to advanced air mobility, to supersonic
aircraft, and to electric aircraft. [Inaudible] certification
and operations, allowing the industry to move forward and the
FAA to ensure safety without spending years drafting overly
specific regulations.
For example, I am pleased the FAA has adopted this approach
for electric aircraft using the performance-based part 23
regulations to efficiently measure the safety of proposed
electric aircraft. But more broadly, I am excited by the
expansive vision of companies like magniX, which sees a future
where aircraft can be both cleaner and less costly, and Boom,
which aims to shrink the world and unlock opportunities that
are unavailable at subsonic speeds. I look forward to hearing
how our cities and communities are working to integrate these
new transportation concepts into their planning.
I know that Mayor Garcetti, the last time he was before our
committee, noted that Republicans are Democrats that haven't
been through a NEPA process, so I cannot wait to hear his new
description of our political parties.
But to all witnesses, I want to know where the foundation
really needs to work and what you need from us to help you
build on it. These technologies are not just innovation for
innovation's sake, they are going to drive real benefits and
improvements in the lives of our constituents and the well-
being of our communities. They will provide employment for tens
of thousands of workers and help stitch together our cities and
towns.
With the work the subcommittee is doing, our witnesses, and
the thousands of others like them, American aerospace will
remain at the leading edge of our Nation's future and success.
So thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I yield back.
[Mr. Graves of Louisiana's prepared statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Garret Graves, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Louisiana, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on
Aviation
Mr. Chairman,
About two years ago back in 2019, we had a hearing that you had
scheduled called ``Aviation 2050'' where we were looking at the future
of aviation over the next 30 years, to try and depict and project what
that would look like and what we would need to do during our time to
help facilitate that aviation industry in the United States.
I don't think any of us anticipated any of the amazing challenges
we had during that two-year period. Obviously, the pandemic, the 737
Max, and other challenges in our community. In my home state of
Louisiana, we had five named hurricanes just last year.
We can't rest on our laurels in regard to the aviation future or
being able to maintain the top position globally in regard to aviation.
We must continue to work to strive to facilitate that innovation and
that growth.
Although it is not the title of this hearing, I think ``Aviation
2030'' maybe perhaps a better title for this hearing, looking at the
aerospace innovation we can explore and we can expect to come online
over the next decade or so. It seems clear that in the next 10 years
aerospace is going to evolve and there will be an increase in the
number of drones, the introduction of electric vertical takeoff and
landing, reintroduction of civil supersonic aircraft as you noted,
expanded use of commercial space transportation vehicles.
Other nations may choose one or two technologies to try to excel at
or facilitate in their countries. But in the United States it is our
aim, and Mr. Chairman I believe we share this goal, it is our aim and
our intention to lead in all of the above technologies. That means
making investments upfront, laying the statutory and regulatory
foundation for these cutting-edge technologies as was done in the last
FAA reauthorization bill. But obviously, we need to hear from these
witnesses on what needs even beyond.
In fact, year after year, reauthorization after reauthorization,
the committee and FAA have worked to ensure that our foundation is
solid and it enables, rather than stifles, innovation and that it is
always laid on the bedrock of safety.
For example, last week, rules for UAS remote identification and
drone operations over people took effect, which will enable more
advanced use of drones.
While these rules do represent a major step forward, we know that a
true regulatory foundation for drones must include a way for regular--
beyond visual line of sight operations. With these pieces in place,
however, it is time to show some progress and reap the benefits of our
investment.
The economic and societal benefits of UAS promise to be enormous
and industry and communities are quickly finding ways to utilize the
foundation that we did lay in these laws. I look forward to hearing
from SKYDIO about the great American-made products they are developing,
and from the Choctaw Nation about the innovative use of this technology
and the drones that they have in place now.
Moving forward, we must take some of the lessons learned from our
efforts on drone integration, as the Chairman noted, and apply them to
advanced air mobility, supersonic aircraft, and electric aircraft. We
need to allow the industry to move forward and the FAA to ensure safety
without spending years drafting overly specific regulations.
For example, I am pleased that the FAA has adopted this approach
for electric aircraft, utilizing the performance-based part 23
regulations to efficiently measure the safety of proposed electric
aircraft.
But more broadly, I am excited by the expansive vision of companies
like magniX, which sees a future where aircraft can be both cleaner and
less costly to operate, and Boom, which aims to shrink the world and
unlock opportunities that are unavailable at subsonic speeds.
To all our witnesses, I want to know where the foundation we've
laid needs work, and what you need from us to help you build on it.
These technologies are not innovation for innovation's sake, they are
going to drive real benefits and improvements in the lives of our
constituents and the well-being of our communities. The technology will
employ tens of thousands of workers and help stitch together our cities
and towns. With the work the subcommittee, our witnesses and the
thousands of others like them are doing, American aerospace will remain
at the leading edge of our nation's future and success.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Representative Graves, very much. I
want to now welcome the witnesses on our panel. Just list the
witnesses. And then we have introduction to be made by one of
our Members.
First, we will hear from the Honorable Eric Garcetti,
mayor, the city of Los Angeles, California, accompanied by Ms.
Seleta Reynolds, who is the general manager of the L.A. DOT.
Mr. James Grimsley, the executive director of advanced
technology initiatives, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Mr. Adam
Bry, the chief executive officer of Skydio; Mr. Pierre Harter,
director of research, National Institute for Aviation Research,
Wichita State University; Mr. Roei Ganzarski, chief executive
officer of magniX; and Mr. Blake Scholl, founder and chief
executive officer of Boom Supersonic.
I want to thank you all for joining us today. We all look
forward to your testimony. We have a lot of Members, although
they are not here in the hearing room, they are live with us
online, and I know they have a lot of questions for all of you.
So without objection, the witnesses' full statements will
be included in the record. And since your written testimony has
been made part of the record already, the subcommittee does
request that you limit your oral testimony to 5 minutes. You
will become familiar with this gavel at 5 minutes, and we try
to keep things moving pretty quickly at officially the 5
minutes in order to deal with some of the limitations of
technology.
But before we begin, I want to recognize Representative
Brownley of California to introduce our first witness.
Representative Brownley, you are recognized.
Ms. Brownley. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for
allowing me to be here this morning to introduce the mayor of
Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti.
Los Angeles has always been at the forefront of the ever-
evolving and ever-growing aviation and aerospace industry. In
fact, many of the cities, communities, and suburbs were built
around aviation companies, assembly factories. Coupled with
factors like Angelenos' pioneering spirit, the aviation and
aerospace industry has continued to thrive in the region.
For these reasons, you could not have chosen a better
witness for today's hearing. Since he became mayor of Los
Angeles in 2013, Mayor Garcetti has harnessed the city's sense
of optimism and innovation. His forward-thinking and
entrepreneurial spirit is especially evident in the city's
embrace of advancement air mobility systems.
The southern California metroplex, encompassing the
airspace of most of southern California and six major airports,
is among the most complex aviation systems in the world. Yet,
Mayor Garcetti has not let that deter him from tackling this
new frontier in aviation head on, including, by working to
integrate urban air mobility, and to the fabric of the city's
transportation networks, to provide new options for city
residents and visitors.
Along with other forms of zero-emission transportation,
urban air mobility has the potential to help our region address
its myriad of transportation challenges from lessening
congestion on our roads to reducing noise from older model
helicopters, and to eliminating carbon emissions from
transportation sources.
Mayor Garcetti understands that the United States must lead
the way in developing this new technology so that our Nation
benefits from the incredible job growth that this emerging
transportation sector will yield. He understands the incredible
opportunities that urban air mobility can provide, not only for
moving people, but for improving the movement of goods.
As we examine this new frontier in aviation and aerospace,
our region continues to lead the way. I thank the committee for
inviting Mayor Garcetti to share his innovative aviation vision
for Angelenos and for the Nation.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Representative Brownley.
Mayor Garcetti, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
TESTIMONY OF HON. ERIC GARCETTI, MAYOR, CITY OF LOS ANGELES,
CALIFORNIA, ACCOMPANIED BY SELETA REYNOLDS, GENERAL MANAGER,
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, CITY OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA;
JAMES L. GRIMSLEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
INITIATIVES, CHOCTAW NATION OF OKLAHOMA; ADAM BRY, CHIEF
EXECUTIVE OFFICER, SKYDIO, INC.; PIERRE F. HARTER, DIRECTOR OF
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR AVIATION
RESEARCH, AND ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR INDUSTRY AND DEFENSE
PROGRAMS, RESEARCH OPERATIONS, WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY; ROEI
GANZARSKI, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, magniX; AND BLAKE SCHOLL,
FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, BOOM SUPERSONIC
Mr. Garcetti. Thank you so much, Chair Larsen and Ranking
Member Graves, all the members of the subcommittee, and others
who are here. And thank you to my dear friend, Julia Brownley,
a Congress Member. My mother should have been there for that
introduction, it was so kind.
And I am really pleased to be joined today in my testimony
by Seleta Reynolds, who is the general manager of the Los
Angeles Department of Transportation. You know, we have the
second largest metropolitan economy in the country and now the
third largest metropolitan economy in the world in southern
California. Home to the Nation's busiest cargo complex, we
boast the third busiest passenger airport in the world, one of
those six that was mentioned.
But as you know, we are also a creative capital, an
innovation capital, and the manufacturing capital of America.
Our success is tied to America's strength and America's success
is tied to our strength. But L.A. also occupies another role,
which is why it is such a treat to testify before you.
We have become the transportation infrastructure investment
capital of America, pouring $14 billion, the most of any
airport in America, into LAX; which, if you have been through
in the last decade, you know needs it. Investing $120 billion--
you heard that right--for 15 new public transit lines in
preparation for the American Summer Olympic Games that will
come to Los Angeles in 2028, part of the largest local
transportation measure ever passed in American history times
two.
And so we are trying to drive the future of transportation
locally through investment and beyond as a testing ground for
America's new innovation in transportation. And thanks to that,
the history, geography, and ingenuity that Representative
Brownley mentioned, representatives and companies from
everywhere are coming to southern California to develop, to
test, to build new transportation solutions, and that includes
advanced aerial mobility or AAM.
For this technology, the sky is literally the limit. And it
has the potential to reduce emissions, to connect communities,
and to grow our economies. But as policymakers, I know that
this hearing today is about our responsibility to step back to
assess the challenges and to keep our focus on equity as this
market takes off.
We need to make sure that AAM does not create flyover
highways accessible only to those with the economic means, but
how we can explore AAM--estimated to travel between 50 and 200
miles at more than 150 miles an hour--could tie people to jobs
and opportunity without creating more sprawl. We know that well
in Los Angeles, where the traffic is among the worst in the
country, and our air quality traditionally has been, too, even
though we have made huge strides.
In the L.A. region, only one-quarter of jobs are accessible
within 90 minutes to people using public transit. AAM could
offer a solution, but only if we build affordability, both into
the private- and public-sector planning around this technology.
So it needs to be safe, zero emissions, and low noise. We will
meet that standard industry experts say, and be safer and
cleaner than driving a car, and quieter than a helicopter. And
while there is no shortage of room in the air for AAM, there
are far fewer spots available for takeoff and landing.
So as we build out the infrastructure, we do not need to
just think about the sky, but the buildings and the vertiports,
and connect density and better connections to walking, cycling,
and transit where those vertiports are.
L.A. is already engaging Angelenos in our plans for AAM
infrastructure because we want the public to be the coauthors
of this. I am proud that L.A. and our sister cities are leading
on AAM, but we need your help at the Federal level. Don't let
us have a thousand standards in a thousand cities.
Let's develop a national standard--clear roles for managing
low-altitude airspace that recognize the responsibility,
though, of local governments around land use, density and
development.
Two, the FAA needs to prioritize research and to safely
integrating AAM into congested airspace, as well as research
into how takeoffs and landings will weave into the flightpaths
of traditional commercial aircraft operations.
Three; industry, the FAA, and local governments have to
start sharing data on the safety, sustainability, equity,
noise, and energy infrastructure impacts of AAM with one
another, as well as members of the public, academic partners,
and others.
And four, the FAA needs to speed up the pace of its data
gathering and invest more resources in reliable communications,
detect and avoid systems, and remote identification systems.
And airports like LAX should be allowed to conduct pilot
programs to test these types of systems.
Last, we need funding to plan for and connect AAM
infrastructure into our existing and future transportation
networks. At its core, infrastructure isn't about a single mode
of transportation, it is about innovation and jobs and human
beings. It is about connecting communities. Whether it is AAM
or encouraging more Americans to walk, ride, or take public
transit, we have the tools to forge the next generation of
transportation. L.A., with cities around the world, is trying
to develop this standard when it comes to AAM, and we simply
need your partnership to arrive at that destination together.
Thank you all so much. I look forward to our discussion.
[Mr. Garcetti's prepared statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Eric Garcetti, Mayor, City of Los Angeles,
California
Chair Larsen, Ranking Member Graves, and Members of the Committee--
my name is Eric Garcetti, and I serve as Mayor of Los Angeles, the
second-largest city in the country; home to four million residents and
Los Angeles International Airport, which in 2019 was the second busiest
passenger airport in the United States, and third busiest airport in
the world. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw the throughput of
more than 88 million annual passengers. During the pandemic, we
processed a near record of 2,329,348 tons of cargo at LAX alone. This
activity at our airports generates 620,600 jobs with a labor income of
$37.3 billion, and an economic output of $126.6 billion.
I am honored to appear before you and this Committee on behalf of
my city to discuss our role as an epicenter of aviation and
aeronautics, a field that has rapidly evolved in a little over 100
years, and is poised for continued rapid advancement in the coming
years. With a rich history in aeronautics, Los Angeles and the greater
Southern California region is currently looking toward the future to
plan for a safe, efficient, and integrated advanced air mobility (AAM)
system. Our location within the FAA-designated Southern California
Metroplex and a growing urban core makes this no easy task. Yet, this
is why we are doing it. Effecting change within the transportation
system has proven to be an arduous and time-consuming task. With
multiple electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) manufacturers
(OEMs) announcing intentions to launch service within our city by 2024,
it is imperative that we plan now.
Last month, I testified before the Senate Committee on Environment
and Public Works. There I described the devastating climate change
impacts that threaten Angelenos every year. I told them about my
commitment to modernize L.A.'s electric grid to support the
decarbonization of our transportation system. It is in this same spirit
that I am here, once again.
We have an opportunity to effect significant positive change within
my jurisdiction, and within the aviation industry as a whole. New
electric aircraft of all types are announced every month. Progress in
battery technology, acoustical engineering, and operational milestones
are taking place weekly. This emerging market is pushing aviation
through a metamorphosis and cities need to be ready. It is my duty to
ensure that any new technology, particularly within transportation, is
planned for and implemented in a way that improves our constituents'
quality of life.
We do not need another mode of transportation that layers new
problems onto our existing ones. We need solutions that provide
Angelenos with choice. The choice to travel in the most efficient and
cost effective way. This means something different for everyone, which
means that we must remain flexible in our approach, and we cannot levy
new burdens on our neighborhoods that have historically been
underserved. We must provide transportation choices to those who need
it most.
Doing this requires that we leverage every mode of transportation
in an integrated system that benefits all Angelenos. When new
technology emerges, we must be ready to help new providers adapt to
what our residents need. Within the complex system of systems that is
transportation, this often creates ripple effects across to other
modes. AAM is no different and we are uniquely positioned and
experienced to handle this task.
This work unlocks massive opportunities to foster a new job market,
to bring opportunities for upward economic mobility to struggling
communities; all while keeping our nation in a leadership position
within the global economy. This work will also benefit from strong
Federal support, and I will close these remarks today with specific
requests to support the planning and deployment of AAM in Los Angeles
and across the country.
I appreciate the opportunity to share our work and insights. I hope
that it inspires you with the same optimism and innovative spirit that
I have shared with all who are undertaking this work to deliver a
resilient, equitable, just, and sustainable transportation system.
First, allow me to share a little about L.A.'s rich aerospace
history to demonstrate how fitting it is for us to take this leadership
role.
A Brief History of Aerospace in L.A.
The histories of the Los Angeles region and aerospace industry in
the United States are closely intertwined. From a quarter million
people observing aviation technology at the Los Angeles International
Air Meet in 1910, to the agglomeration of aviation manufacturers that
led to 300,000 aircraft built by two million workers to support an
Allied victory in World War II, the region and industry grew together
for much of the 20th century.
As the Cold War came to a close, the region's role in the industry
was temporarily disrupted as manufacturers merged and new technology
companies drew workers from aerospace to new fields. However, that
disruption was short-lived as aerospace industry employment rose by 64
percent and manufacturing increased by 24 percent between 2004 and 2014
to meet the demands of our nation's military and space exploration
efforts. With $15.7 billion in contracts awarded by the U.S. Department
of Defense in 2014 to 120 aerospace-related companies in the region,
and longstanding educational pipelines between industry leaders and
local aerospace engineering programs, these trends are expected to
continue.
Today, the aerospace industry invests more than $24 billion in
production costs and $11.1 billion in wages and benefits in the region
annually. Of the 85,500 aerospace industry workers in the Southern
California region (about 14% of the national aerospace workforce), most
(63%) are employed in Los Angeles County. This provides access to well
paying jobs, as average wages in the industry are nearly twice the
average wage across other job sectors.
The impact of the industry in our region is even broader when
considering jobs indirectly related to aerospace. Direct and indirect
aerospace jobs amount to 300 thousand; 300 thousand jobs that support
300 thousand individuals, households and families in Southern
California.
Laying the Foundation for the Future of Mobility
Los Angeles is leading the way for safe, equitable, and zero-
emission mobility options. Our efforts to develop a transportation
network of complementary mobility options puts our City in a unique
position to guide the integration of Advanced Air Mobility in our
communities.
We have planned and documented our approach for building a
transportation network that provides our community with safe options.
The Los Angeles Mobility Plan 2035 establishes a framework for
reimagining transportation within the city, with a focus on creating
streets that are safe and accessible for all community members. Paired
with our recently adopted Los Angeles Department of Transportation
(LADOT) 2021 Strategic Plan, outlining a framework for our
transportation department to meet its goals, Los Angeles is poised to
be flexible and meet the transportation needs of Angelenos today and in
the future.
We embrace transparency and data-driven solutions in Los Angeles,
allowing for a flexible and proactive approach to integrating new
mobility services. Merging data and the lived experiences of our
communities has allowed us to serve Angelenos in new ways, including
the provision of micro-transit services and shared scooter devices to
wide and diverse audiences. This includes shifting the paradigm of how
cities deliver policy in the 21st century from an analog world of signs
and curb painting to a digital world of application programming
interfaces (APIs). The development of tools, such as the mobility data
specification (MDS), both protect constituent and company privacy and
allow for the sharing of essential operational data between mobility
operators and departments of transportation. These tools also enable
our city departments to keep pace with the innovations of the
technology sector, while delivering safe, sustainable, and accessible
mobility options to Angelenos who need them.
We collaborate with neighboring jurisdictions and agency partners
to create paths to alternative mobility options. Working closely with
the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Angelenos
voted to approve Measure M, which will bring $120 billion in transit
projects, bicycle infrastructure, and pedestrian safety improvements.
Finally, we put equity at the forefront of all planning decisions.
Recognizing that past decisions created disparate levels of mobility
access, safety, emissions exposure, and opportunities, we are working
with community members to understand their needs and provide the
infrastructure needed to thrive.
To continue our progress and make due on our promise for a more
equitable Los Angeles, we must be at the forefront of integrating new
mobility options in our City. While new mobility technology presents
challenges for cities, we see opportunity:
An opportunity to engage with community members and industry
stakeholders to guide the introduction of Advanced Air Mobility.
An opportunity to plan and design facilities that reduce dependence
on automobile ownership and realize a multimodal transportation system.
An opportunity to live in a future where our youngest Angelenos are
served by a network of accessible, safe, and sustainable, mobility
options and where they have clear pathways to jobs that align with our
equity and justice imperatives.
Advanced Air Mobility Emerges
As defined by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Advanced
Air Mobility (AAM) is a safe and efficient aviation transportation
system that will use highly automated aircraft to transport people and
goods at lower altitudes. Urban Air Mobility (UAM) recognizes use cases
within populated areas.
The FAA acknowledges that community engagement is critical for
guiding the development of the UAM ecosystem, along with access to
airspace and infrastructure development. This is where Los Angeles
thrives--at the intersection of community engagement and guiding
multimodal priorities.
So what does UAM look like? Why do we need resources to allow our
cities to guide these new services?
UAM adds a third dimension for moving people. OEM's have described
aircraft capable of carrying one to five passengers flying at speeds of
150 to 200 miles per hour, over a range of 60 to 200 miles. With these
capabilities, UAM has the potential to add a new option for
connectivity and accessibility throughout the Southern California
region, particularly for difficult commutes where non-auto options are
lacking.
UAM adds a third dimension for moving cargo. With an ever
increasing demand for goods movement, UAM can benefit logistics
operators with high-value parcel movements to support the medical,
aerospace, and defense industries across Southern California.
Before being able to see UAM in our cities, we must be able to work
with community members and industry partners to create a clear path to
implementation that benefits all residents. This includes planning and
design efforts that integrate communities, infrastructure, and policy
to guide future decisions associated with UAM. This requires public-
private partnerships to delineate clear lines of responsibility,
accountability, and information exchange. We have already begun this
work in Los Angeles.
With numerous OEMs announcing their intent for launching UAM
service in Los Angeles by 2024, the time to act is now. We must
allocate resources for our local governments, community members, and
service providers to collaborate and shape these services to work not
simply in our communities, but for our communities. We have made the
mistake of being reactionary to transportation technologies in the
past, most recently with Transportation Network Companies, such as Uber
and Lyft, or the influx of electric scooters in urban communities.
Today, Los Angeles is leading the way in proactively partnering with
service providers to guide business models in a way that brings
solutions to transportation challenges, instead of creating new
challenges. But we cannot do it alone.
The Principle of the Urban Sky
Developed in partnership with the World Economic Forum, the
Principles of the Urban Sky were adopted by Los Angeles in September
2020. Today, my office is working closely with the Los Angeles
Department of Transportation (LADOT) to develop the building blocks to
guide UAM implementation in Los Angeles.
The Principles of the Urban Sky are fundamentally important to the
short and long-range success of UAM. Shaped with feedback from leaders
across the industry, Los Angeles is applying and understanding these
lessons to introduce a new mode of transportation.
The Principles of the Urban Sky are:
Safety--UAM operations are aiming for safety performance
consistent with commercial aviation. In other words, very safe. To
achieve this, the industry will need to adopt similar regulatory
requirements and standards.
Sustainability--Sustainability will need to encompass the
effects of UAM on the community, which includes people, as well as the
animals and vegetation that inhabit the impacted environment. Mobility
and public benefits must outweigh negative externalities, particularly
when evaluated as a part of a multimodal system.
Equity of Access--Planning early for equitable access is
required for public acceptance and long term success. While UAM will
initially be operated as a premium service, providers must work with
local governments to plan for affordable consumer pricing as the scale
of operations increases. Further, take-off and landing areas offer
opportunities to serve as hubs for a wide variety of mobility options,
ensuring that people who use UAM services or work in supporting
functions will not need to rely on personal automobiles to access these
facilities.
Low Noise--Noise acceptance thresholds must be
established with stakeholders, including city planners, community
advocate groups, OEMs, service providers, and vertiport operators. All
stakeholders must understand all negative impacts of noise and plan to
mitigate them to the maximum extent.
Multimodal Connectivity--Creating a siloed option for
wealthier travelers is the path to failure. Instead, UAM should
seamlessly connect with existing modes of transportation to create a
high-quality transportation network for everyone to enjoy.
Local Workforce Development--UAM must create new
employment opportunities, especially for residents where operations are
supported. Accessible education and training should be available to
meet the demand for future employment.
Purpose-Driven Data Sharing--Data sharing enables
authorized stakeholders to respond to community, passenger, and market
needs. To facilitate success, individual privacy must be protected. The
availability of relevant data allows for optimized airspace usage,
efficient vertiport operations, and intermodal connectivity.
Working collaboratively with our partners, these principles will
help us develop policies that can help weave UAM into the fabric of our
transportation systems.
Urban Air Mobility Partnership
To properly implement the Principles of the Urban Sky, last
December, I announced the Urban Air Mobility Partnership. This unique
initiative makes Los Angeles the unmistakable leader in the nation on
Urban Air Mobility, and leverages one of the primary tools for our
mobility future: a public-private partnership, in this case formed
between LADOT and the newly formed Urban Movement Labs (UML).
Urban Movement Labs is a first-of-its-kind mobility-innovation
organization that brings together public agencies, businesses, and
community members to match technology solutions to mobility problems
and test them in Los Angeles' urban contexts. UML brings together
different stakeholders to facilitate accelerators and pilot projects to
collaboratively find ways of meeting Los Angeles' transportation needs.
UML is well-positioned to facilitate a productive dialogue between
public and private stakeholders. I am extremely proud of this small
team of experts and excited to see their work unfold.
The UAM Partnership leverages new aviation technologies as part of
a clean, safe, and equitable transportation system. UML will integrate
this through a public education and outreach program, and thoughtful
vertiport infrastructure (e.g., places where UAMs will take off and
land) planning which will unlock new levels of connectivity, while
mitigating negative externalities.
To bring these efforts to fruition, with my support, Urban Movement
Labs hired an Urban Air Mobility Fellow. The first position of its kind
in the nation. An Air Force veteran, our Fellow brings more than 20
years of diverse aviation experience (including airport, heliport, and
airspace planning) and an urban planning and design background to
L.A.'s planning toolbox. Prior to joining UML, our fellow worked in
statewide aviation planning for a western state Department of
Transportation.
Our Urban Air Mobility Fellow is leading the integration of the
``Principles of the Urban Sky'' into Los Angeles' transportation
landscape over the course of this year. Upon completion of the
fellowship, our Fellow will collaborate on a policy toolkit that can be
utilized by cities, counties, and tribal governments nationwide. A
primary goal of this policy toolkit will be to lay the foundation for a
safe, sustainable, equitable, and efficient new mobility system that
will overlay the already complex transportation infrastructure of the
City of Los Angeles and beyond.
Advanced Air Mobility Potential
A study published by Deloitte earlier this year highlighted the
potential of AAM. In the United States alone, the AAM market is
estimated to produce $17 billion annually by 2025, and $115 billion
annually by 2035. This is equivalent to 30 percent of 2019's commercial
aviation market. Additionally, NASA expects the passenger movement
market to be commercially viable by 2028, and the package delivery
market soon after in 2030.
As a new economic opportunity, AAM is expected to generate 280,000
new jobs by 2035, adding$30 billion in wages and benefits. Like current
trends in aerospace employment, I expect these jobs will provide higher
above average wages. Creating training opportunities to support this
new industry, particularly within communities struggling with upward
economic mobility, realizes AAM's potential to add value as a
transportation option and by developing the next generation aviation
workforce.
AAM can also serve as an accelerator in shifting the aviation
industry towards greener fuels, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and a
more sustainable future. A study published in Nature concluded that
carbon emissions associated with a three passenger eVTOL were 52
percent lower, per passenger kilometer, than a fossil-fueled
automobile.
UAM will come with the highest expectations for safety, with the
goal for eVTOL trips to be as safe as a commercial airline flight. The
aviation industry boasts an incredible safety record in the US, with
only 0.07 deaths per billion passenger miles--or about 3,000 times
safer than travelling by car or motorcycle, which causes 220 deaths per
billion passenger miles.
Angelenos are no stranger to noise from aircraft, particularly from
daily helicopter flights over urban neighborhoods and the broader noise
issues faced by people who live near our various airports. OEMs, like
Joby, Jaunt, and Volocopter, are targeting noise levels less than 70
decibels at cruising altitude. This is comparable to the higher range
of a normal conversation. Joby Aircraft, for example, has publicly made
it known that its aircraft's acoustical characteristics are just as
important as other performance characteristics. Communities demand
quieter vehicles, and the industry is responding.
UAM will require a new transportation network in order to provide a
viable business model and travel mode. In contrast to the traditional
hub and spoke airline networks, or the linear networks of roads and
rail, UAM's benefits are realized through a nodal network that provides
new opportunities for connectivity within a region. Often underutilized
infrastructure, like small general aviation airports, now become nodes
that are connected to jobs and other areas of economic activity. Like
adding other modes of transportation, UAM can help access career
opportunities in new parts of the region, particularly for those with
limited transportation options today.
AAM is currently enabled through the relatively small footprint of
existing infrastructure of airports and heliports, and will be
augmented by strategically planned vertiport infrastructure.
Maintaining road networks exceeds $145 billion annually, and despite
this cost, congestion continues to worsen causing billions in lost
productivity. Maintaining existing aviation infrastructure costs only
$4.1 billion to maintain, revealing aviation infrastructure's high
efficiency.
Challenges
The UAM Fellowship is a year-long program, after which, AAM
planning will have to compete for traditional urban planning staff and
capacity. While it's feasible for new partnerships to fund a dedicated
planning position, the City cannot rely on this mechanism to continue
its efforts into perpetuity.
Another challenge that I see being faced by growing urban areas is
density. Density is often recognized as a solution for creating healthy
jobs to housing balance and reducing commuting times. Safety zones
contained in current heliport design guidance serve to protect
navigable airspace for flight safety, as well as to ensure ground areas
are free of high density land uses and gathering areas such as parks or
plazas. This imposes land use and height restrictions around
vertiports, which limit a city's ability to develop high density areas
of housing and employment directly surrounding a vertiport.
Cost is a big barrier to access and equity. Current entry costs
will limit AAM access to those with higher expendable incomes. While I
understand that cost is expected to eventually be on par with higher
end surface ride-sharing options, we need to understand how populations
that are unable to afford a trip will be impacted, and what indirect
benefits may be shared, such as investing in connected infrastructure.
We have been here before in Los Angeles, with the implementation of our
ExpressLanes system over a decade ago. While the initial concerns
centered on potential disparities created when a transportation mode
that is faster and more efficient is provided for a premium fee,
ultimately our ExpressLanes system developed a model where revenue
generated from use of the ExpressLanes was used to improve public
transportation options for other commuters, resulting in an overall
improved multimodal transportation system.
While I know that AAM alone cannot resolve congestion and related
emissions issues within the city, we must leverage all tools possible
to move towards a more sustainable future. AAM can be one of many
options in a suite of mobility solutions to move our cities towards a
more sustainable future. We look forward to working with the industry
to meet sustainability goals.
Most critically, we understand the inequitable consequences of our
past planning decisions now more than ever. It is imperative that we
take proactive action to ensure we do not repeat these mistakes. The
industry is showing interest in joining us in this battle, and we look
forward to having them as our allies.
Recommendations
This brings me to my recommendations to this committee.
First and foremost, we need funding to continue to lay the
groundwork for planning and preparing our city for UAM for operations
by 2024. AAM eligibility under existing USDOT grant programs needs to
be added, or expanded. I was pleased to see that the Notice of Funding
Opportunity for the RAISE program included eligibility for intermodal
facilities at airports. I encourage that we continue to expand these
types of programs. At the same time, I also know how competitive
projects are for these grants and AAM may not compete well.
I support the creation of other funding options to plan for AAM,
especially for programs that are specific to AAM planning and
construction. These grants should be available to all providers of
local and regional transportation, across all modes who wish to
incorporate AAM into their mobility programs, and should take into
consideration that not all jurisdictions will have existing resources
to use as a local match. Doing so will afford us the dedicated staff
time and resources to engage community members, service providers, and
other stakeholders in the collaborative process that integrates UAM
with other modes of transportation.
These funding options should also make clear that AAM needs to be
planned with and connected to other modes of transportation, as well as
powered by zero emissions fuels. With transit, personal, and shared
mobility moving towards electricity as the primary fuel source, we must
think critically about the electricity infrastructure at mobility hubs,
as UAM introduces another electric vehicle that requires charging.
Fostering collaboration between OEM's across services can facilitate
interoperability of chargers and ensure enough electricity is available
where needed. My approach is one of collaboration, which requires
future grant programs and clearly written planning and engineering
guidance.
We need transportation leadership, and not just from the aviation
community; from the transit, street design, and regional rail
communities as well. To plan for intermodal connectivity, they need a
voice in our discussions at all levels. We need a strategic effort
alongside transit, active transportation and accessibility programs to
reduce single occupancy vehicle trips, establish safe and complete
streets, and foster a complete and integrated transportation network
for all users, including communities of color. The Advanced Air
Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act introduced by U.S. Senators
Sinema and Moran is a great start, but is missing these key details.
Constituents need to see these efforts codified.
To build the necessary infrastructure, we need to develop vertiport
design guidance that reflects the unique needs associated with bringing
UAM into urban spaces. This guidance must be scalable to provide
flexibility for integration into different urban contexts, and clearly
identify risks associated with specific criteria. Guidance should
provide practitioners clear direction for a multitude of use cases
including private (part 91) facilities, on-demand charter facilities
(part 135), and scheduled operations facilities (part 121).
Additionally, steps should be outlined for establishing intermodal
facilities, converting buildings to support UAM (e.g., parking garage),
bringing services to surface brownfield sites with existing surrounding
development, and facilities housed within small, medium, and large
airports.
This guidance must acknowledge the crucial rule that local
governments play in managing the land use, development, and density of
urban areas. Between October 2021 and 2029, the City of Los Angeles
will be responsible for adding 456,643 housing units, about a third of
the metropolitan planning organization's five-county goal and almost a
third of which will be for very low income households. L.A. cannot
afford to jeopardize density, including through the construction of
vertiports with safety zones that might imperil surrounding future
development. Any guidance that the FAA releases must take into
consideration this key point.
Existing infrastructure at airports and heliports also needs to
evolve. This presents an unique opportunity for these critical pieces
of infrastructure to take on a new role in communities as mobility and
communications hubs. Accessibility at these points can be enabled by
intermodal connectivity or through land use changes that bring more
opportunities to the airport/heliport itself. The more seamless we can
make the journey to the final destination, the better our chances for
success. Strategically bringing new surface connectivity, land uses,
and activity to airports and heliports should be encouraged across all
modes, highway, transit, and aviation. Grant programs must allow us to
jump on this opportunity.
Back to our airport--LAX in 2019 was the world's number one origin
and destination airport. More passengers started or ended a trip at LAX
than any other airport, many of them driving on our freeways to get
there. Someday that 45-minute (or more) trip on freeways from LAX to
downtown LA might be a five-minute trip in a zero emissions Electric
Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft. AAM companies have told
us that major airports fit prominently in their business plans.
We have to start planning now. The Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) needs to prioritize the study of how AAM will integrate safely
into the very congested airspace around the nation's busiest airports,
such as LAX, and how takeoff and landings will weave into the flight
paths of traditional commercial aircraft operations.
Critical to the safety of our airspace is purpose-driven data
sharing across levels of government and across dimensions of
transportation. The UAM Concept of Operations (``ConOps'') Version 1.0
published by NASA and the FAA in June 2020 starts to address the
increasing number of aircraft in our urban airspaces, and how operators
and government entities might share data dynamically to allow for both
safety and scaling of services. However, this initial version of the
UAM Concept of Operations only notionally includes local governments
and the people they represent. A second version of the ConOps should
more clearly outline the jurisdiction local governments hold with
regards to managing low-altitude airspace, such as permitting
operations that ensure sustainability, accessibility, and low-noise are
achieved. It should also define how local governments might participate
in both receiving and providing data, particularly in the case of
emergency situations.
That planning also needs to include unmanned aircraft systems--or
drones--both being used for societal benefits, safety and security, as
well as those that could cause major disruptions to our airports.
Drones are in our airspace now--and have the ability to cause great
impact. According to FAA statistics, since April of 2016, there have
been more than 260 reported cases of unauthorized drone activity near
LAX alone, and I know that all airports are concerned about drone
incursions in their airspace.
That is why I have been advocating for LAX to be able to test
sophisticated systems that can help detect and mitigate drones around
the airport to keep our airline passengers and communities under
flights paths safe from unauthorized incursions--and to protect our
local economy from the devastating impacts that would occur if the
airport needed to shut down because of a drone incursion.
The FAA needs to increase the pace of gathering data and to invest
more resources in reliable communications, detect-and-avoid systems,
and remote identification systems. The FAA should allow large airports
like LAX to conduct pilot programs to test these types of systems to
gather crucial information on how these technologies will work in a
high air traffic airport environment. Without these pilots, airports
are limited in being able to effectively respond to and plan for the
safety and future implementation of AAM for cargo and mass transit
solutions. I also support looking at common sense uses for drones that
can help bring additional safety, security and efficiency to our
airports and the movement of goods.
AAM will not be successful if it happens without our people. My
duty first and foremost as Mayor of Los Angeles is to the people who
live and work in our City of Angels.
To build public trust, I need to show my constituents how AAM will
serve them while meeting the same level of safety that is associated
with commercial flight. Commercial airline operators achieve this level
of safety through a comprehensive system of checks, balances, and
redundancies. UAM operators will have to operate similarly, and OEM's
must work with the FAA to adapt existing regulations to new technology.
We also need to know how these technologies can operate without
placing a burden on communities neighboring airports in terms of noise
and other potential annoyances. The FAA plans to continue to apply its
current noise certification standards to eVTOL aircraft. NASA
recognizes that community acceptance around noise is more dynamic than
these standards can measure. Communities need a framework to better
assess community annoyance and health impacts to fully understand and
mitigate new aircraft noise.
To protect disadvantaged communities, I need a framework that
allows me to work with the FAA to prevent new burdens from being levied
upon these residents. I need to be able to protect schools, outdoor
gathering spaces, and recreation facilities from new noise and/or
increased greenhouse gas emissions. To effectively accomplish this, I
need to have a certain level of authority in how low altitude airspace
is managed.
AAM also needs to meaningfully contribute to our regional economy,
and to create jobs with good wages. Academic departments and programs
need support to create the education and training necessary to meet the
demand of the future workforce. These programs need to target
institutions that are more accessible to a diverse student body.
Community colleges and vocational schools--like Los Angeles Trade
Tech--should receive top priority. Ongoing job training and skills
development are also crucial, as it typically requires approximately 10
years of experience to develop capable aeronautical maintenance and
operations staff.
Conclusion
We are at a critical juncture in the history of transportation. The
decisions that we make today can change the trajectory away from our
past mistakes when we planned for a single mode of transportation. This
is not just an opportunity for aviation, but for all of transportation,
to unite and collectively create the transportation system of tomorrow.
The work that we have in front of us will not be easy, and it will be
necessary to drive change throughout the system. We owe it to the
historically neglected communities. We owe it to our health. And we owe
it to our children, to do everything in our power to keep them from
having to correct these types of mistakes.
Thank you once again, Chair Larsen and Ranking Member Graves, for
allowing me to be here today. I look forward to partnering with you to
bring forth a new frontier in aviation and transportation. We are ready
to lead alongside you.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Mayor Garcetti, I appreciate your
testimony.
And now I will turn to Mr. Grimsley. Mr. Grimsley, you are
recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Grimsley. Chairman Larsen and Ranking Member Graves,
thank you for inviting me to testify today. It is an honor to
speak with you about the historic and exciting work underway
within the Choctaw Nation to help safely advance strong
technology into our National Airspace System.
In addition to serving as the executive director of
Advanced Technology Initiatives with the Choctaw Nation, I also
serve on the board of directors of the Commercial Drone
Alliance. The efforts of our team have clearly demonstrated
some of the quantifiable benefits to our own communities in
using drone technology. Public safety and agriculture are
particularly impactful applications for us. We are also finding
that drones can reduce the risk of injury to workers, improve
productivity, and assist first responders.
In 2018, the Choctaw Nation made history by becoming the
first and only Tribal government to be selected by the U.S.
Department of Transportation to participate in the Drone
Integration Pilot Program, or IPP, as well as the first Tribal
government to be recognized by the FAA as a public aircraft
operator.
Last year, the Choctaw Nation was invited to continue our
collaboration with the FAA as part of the BEYOND Program, which
is focused on advancing beyond visual line of sight drone
operations, as well as cargo delivery by drone. As part of
these programs, we have been focused on community engagement
with public stakeholders, which has been both productive and
insightful.
Our Tribe has an interest in emerging technologies as a
potential equalizer for rural and underserved communities.
These advancements help communities such as ours make dramatic
strides in improving overall quality of life. The technology
that supports drones will continue to advance rapidly and in
ways that enable the safe, efficient, secure, and
environmentally responsible use of the airspace.
The U.S. safety regulatory system for civil aviation has an
enviable record of stewardship over the busiest and most
complex aviation system in the world. But in order to sustain
this vibrancy, our regulatory system needs to evolve to enable
and support emerging technologies and new entrants into the
airspace. Although we have made progress in the IPP and BEYOND
in understanding how our regulatory system needs to evolve to
integrate drones, our policies lag behind the pace of
technological advances. This hinders the industry
unnecessarily.
Notwithstanding the best efforts of regulators today, drone
operations remain highly limited and reliant on a patchwork of
unwieldy, one-off regulatory waivers, rather than a stable and
standardized regulatory foundation. Without regulatory
modernization, the drone industry faces uncertainty that
discourages investment and threatens the survival of innovative
companies here in the United States.
Unfortunately, our Nation is at risk of losing our aviation
leadership role in the world unless we take bold action to move
into the better future that awaits. Drone technology continues
to develop, but it is ready now to safely do more than it has
been able at this time.
For communities like ours that have already made
investments in safety infrastructure, drones can offer a more
economical, cleaner, and safer alternative to surface
transportation for mobility needs with occupations such as
cargo delivery by drone. Moreover, we have a relatively less
busy and complex airspace for drone traffic to traverse. Since
our geography and others like it is of relatively more benefits
and relatively less air traffic complexity, regulators should
be amenable to broadly enabling drone operations in locations
such as ours.
Our Nation has long led the world in developing and safely
deploying aviation technology. We are at risk of losing that
leadership role with drones. A more conducive regulatory
environment that enables the U.S. drone industry to scale would
help build a stronger U.S. manufacturing base and research
ecosystem serving our country's economic, safety, and security
interests.
We simply cannot afford to have U.S.-based companies move
offshore to develop their technologies in more accommodating
regulatory environments. We need continuing action and
oversight by Congress to move forward so that communities such
as ours can fully benefit from emerging transportation
technologies. Our safety regulatory system needs specific
mandates that clearly reflect the intent of Congress, and we
need accountability of our safety regulatory system to achieve
those mandates.
Congress can begin by codifying and funding the FAA's
BEYOND Program. We must ensure that the lessons we collectively
learn from these pilot programs translate efficiently into
permanent reform to our regulatory system. We believe the
future is bright and that our quality of life can be enhanced
by responsibly harnessing drone technology, but we need the
Federal Government's support to ensure that these technologies
flourish and provide the benefits to society that we know are
possible.
Thank you again for having me with you today, and I will be
happy to answer any questions that you may have.
[Mr. Grimsley's prepared statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of James L. Grimsley, Executive Director of Advanced
Technology Initiatives, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Chairman Larsen and Ranking Member Graves:
Thank you for inviting me to testify before the House Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure, and Subcommittee on Aviation. It is
an honor to speak with you today about the historic and exciting work
underway within The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma to help safely advance
commercial drone operations into our national airspace system. Our
efforts have thus far clearly demonstrated some of the quantifiable
benefits to society from drones, with agriculture and public safety
being examples of impactful applications for us. Among other benefits,
we are finding that drones can reduce the risk of injury to workers,
improve productivity, and assist first responders.
I currently serve as the Executive Director of Advanced Technology
Initiatives with the Choctaw Nation. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is
the third largest federally-recognized Native American Tribe, and the
Choctaw Nation reservation is comprised of approximately 11,000 square
miles in southeastern Oklahoma. I was fortunate to grow up in the heart
of the Choctaw Nation, and both sides of my family have lived in that
area for multiple generations. I have great respect and appreciation
for the Choctaw people and Choctaw culture.
My professional career has revolved around transportation
technology, and I have a fascination and passion for both the
technology and policy aspects of transportation. I serve as a
Transportation Commissioner with the Oklahoma Department of
Transportation, and in that role I'm involved in the oversight and
governance of our state transportation network of highways and bridges.
I also serve on the Board of Directors of the Commercial Drone
Alliance. My degrees are in aerospace and mechanical engineering, and
for the first twenty years of my career I was a technologist, but I
became actively involved in policy about fourteen years ago. During my
career I have also been a university research administrator, an
executive in the defense industry, an entrepreneur, and an engineer
with the federal government.
Background on The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Drone Integration Efforts
In 2018, the Choctaw Nation made history by becoming the first and
only tribal government to be selected by the U.S. Department of
Transportation to participate in the Drone Integration Pilot Program--
or ``IPP''. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma was selected as part of a
group of lead participants consisting of tribal, state and local
governments to focus on safely accelerating the integration of drones
into our national airspace system. This was historic for the Choctaw
Nation since, prior to the IPP, tribal governments had not been
eligible to participate in many technology-related federal government-
sponsored pilot programs. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is also the
first tribal government to be recognized by the FAA as a public
aircraft operator or ``PAO''. We are proud to have an active role in
the safe integration of drones into the national airspace system to
support important applications for rural and tribal communities, where
we believe that drone technology can improve our quality of life,
health, and safety.
In 2020, the Choctaw Nation was invited to continue our
collaborative relationship with the FAA as part of the FAA BEYOND
program, which is focused on advancing beyond visual line of sight--or
``BVLOS''--drone operations, as well as cargo delivery by drone. As
part of both the IPP and BEYOND, we are also focused on community
engagement with public stakeholders. It has been exciting to be part of
the Choctaw Nation team as we have accomplished many historic firsts
for tribal governments in this exciting area of emerging aviation
technology.
Although we have made progress in the IPP and BEYOND in
understanding how the aviation safety regulatory system needs to evolve
to integrate drones into our national airspace, overall our regulatory
system is lagging behind the pace of technological advances, hindering
the industry unnecessarily. Notwithstanding the best efforts of
regulators to date, many advanced drone operations remain highly
limited and highly reliant on a patchwork of unwieldy, one-off
regulatory waivers rather than a stable and standardized regulatory
foundation. Obtaining these limited waivers can be very time-consuming,
and getting a waiver once will not necessarily make it easier to get
the next waiver. Absent regulatory modernization, industry faces
regulatory uncertainty that discourages investment and threatens the
survival of companies attempting to innovate here in the United States.
Sadly, we have witnessed very well-organized companies that were
staffed with very qualified technologists abruptly close and cease
operations, defeated by the lack of a clear regulatory path that
enables regular operations.
Importance of Emerging Aviation Technologies
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma has an interest in emerging
technologies because we see technology as a potential equalizer for
opportunities in rural and underserved communities. As we have seen in
the past, technology advancements can often help rural and remote areas
make dramatic strides in improving the quality of life for communities.
In my own lifetime, I have witnessed this with telecommunication
technology, where today even the most remote areas of the globe can be
connected through technology, and access to knowledge has expanded
immeasurably.
Drones are the result of technological advancements in many areas.
Distributed electric propulsion allows us to design drones that can
weigh less than a pound as well as drones that weigh thousands of
pounds, and virtually any size in between. Advances in electronics and
onboard avionics allow an ever-improving level of safety,
controllability, and reliability of these systems. Advances in machine
learning and image processing can allow the development of systems that
can analyze and respond to a physical environment in ways that a human
physically cannot. The technology that supports drones continues to
advance quickly, and in ways that can be harnessed to advance the safe,
efficient, secure, and environmentally responsible use of the airspace.
The U.S. safety regulatory system for civil aviation has an
enviable record of stewardship over the busiest and most complex
aviation and airspace system in the world. To sustain this vibrancy,
however, that regulatory system needs to evolve to enable and support
emerging technologies and new entrants into the national airspace
system. Our aviation safety regulatory framework is premised in large
part on human eyesight as well as humans communicating with each other
one at a time to safely coordinate flight activities. When humans are
no longer in the aircraft, and the aircraft flies beyond the line of
sight of a remote operator or pilot, then our safety regulatory system
is simply not yet accommodating. Modernizing the regulatory framework
is crucial in order to fully avail ourselves of the many potential
benefits of emerging drone technology.
We are also at a time in our history when there is an increasing
level of overlap between advanced ground transportation technology and
emerging aviation technology. The growing prevalence of electric
propulsion in both ground and aerial vehicles means that we will have
common infrastructure challenges related to power availability, battery
technologies, and charging stations. This will directly impact areas
such as airport construction and modernization. Low-altitude aviation
operations with drones will also benefit from broadband buildouts
similar to the ways that advanced ground vehicles will leverage inter-
connectiveness to achieve constantly improving levels of safety and
operational efficiencies.
Overview of the Economic and Social Benefits of Drone Technology for
Tribal Communities
Remote and rural areas within the United States--including Native
American tribal lands and surrounding regions--have unique challenges
that may be addressed by the use of small drones. The three primary
areas where drones show promise are improving efficiencies with
agricultural production, improving public safety, and enabling
efficient infrastructure inspections.
It is important to note that there are also overlaps among these
three areas. For example, not only can small drones be used to improve
efficiency for agricultural operations, but they can also be used to
address emergency response challenges for rural agricultural
applications such as responding to medical emergencies that may occur
involving large agricultural operations.
Some aspects of using small drones for public safety applications
will also directly benefit scientific research, particularly in our
understanding the atmosphere at lower altitudes and studying the lower
atmospheric boundary layer to improve understanding of severe storms
and ultimately improving severe storm prediction and forecasting
capabilities. This improved understanding can in turn benefit the
development of UAS Traffic Management (UTM) systems by creating drone
management and safety systems that can accommodate dynamic weather
conditions and flight conditions at low altitudes and at finer
resolutions than is currently possible.
Addressing Rural and Remote Infrastructure Inspection
Traditionally, piloted helicopters have been used to inspect power
lines as part of maintenance programs. These types of inspections can
sometimes cost $1,000 or more \1\ per hour, and can put the lives of
the pilot and crew at risk of serious injury or death (an inspection
typically requires both a pilot and also an observer/inspector within
the helicopter). Drones can cut costs of inspections and also reduce
risks to human life since the operations are ``low, slow and near the
live wire''.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ https://ac.els-cdn.com/S2212827113006823/1-s2.0-
S2212827113006823-main.pdf?_tid=ca
7d5d82-8ba4-4144-9f45-c2533115c2c4&acdnat=1527878253_f77e8b4ca794b4b5e
553a30add32eb53
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tribal governments are also growing increasingly reliant on small
drones for a variety of GIS-related tasks to support tribal government
operations and needs. Within The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma GIS
operations currently, a small drone flight operation can cost $500 each
(including costs for transportation, labor, supplies, etc.). When
operated under a visual line of sight, or VLOS scenario, a typical GIS
mapping or inspection mission can require multiple flights. For
example, a single beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flight with a
range of 2.5 miles could replace as many as five (5) or more VLOS
flights, resulting in as much as a 5-to-1 cost saving. When BVLOS
operations are enabled for GIS operations, higher productivity and
lower operational costs can be achieved.
Addressing Delays in Medical Response in Rural Areas
In 2017, Reuters Health reported on the results from a study \2\
published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)
Surgery that analyzed the differences in wait times for emergency
medical services between urban and rural areas. Whereas wait times
averaged 7 minutes in urban settings, rural settings had wait times of
14.5 minutes or more (and some wait times could be up to 30 minutes or
more for rural areas). For very large agricultural operations in very
remote areas, wait times could be significantly more than 30 minutes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-emergency-response-
times/be-prepared-for-ambulance-wait-times-idUSKBN1A42KQ
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the case of heart attacks, extended wait times can prove fatal.
For example, it has been reported that access to automatic external
defibrillators (AEDs) when used swiftly in the first 3-5 minutes of a
person collapsing have been shown to dramatically increase the survival
rate of people suffering from cardiac arrest \3\, since brain cells
begin to die after 4-6 minutes of oxygen deprivation. Unfortunately,
wait times in rural areas more often prove problematic and fatal in
these situations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ http://www.cprandfirstaid.net/cpr/aed-guidelines.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another important health challenge in rural and remote areas is
emergency delivery of insulin, epinephrine, or related drugs and
medications that can be critical for treating emergency medical
conditions. Even if medical professionals and first responders are on
the scene of a medical emergency, their response can be hindered by
lack of available equipment or supplies.
Small drones can fly in direct paths and arrive on scene much
faster than ground vehicles such as ambulances. Assuming a 30 second
preparation time before launch, a small drone can easily reach any
location within a 4.5 mile radius of launch within 5 minutes (or less),
providing more than a 63 square mile area that can have a response of 5
minutes or less. However, these scenarios would typically require
beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) and also possibly night operation
capabilities.
Addressing Farming and Ranching Occupational Hazards
According to the 2016 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries \4\,
farming and agricultural operations ranked 8th in the list of ``most
dangerous jobs'' in 2016, with an average of 23.1 fatal injuries per
100,000 workers. Additionally, the CDC reports that every day about 100
agricultural workers suffer a ``lost-work-time'' injury \5\.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cfoi.pdf
\5\ https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/aginjury/default.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 2017, the National Children's Center for Rural and Agricultural
Health and Safety released a report card and estimated that every three
days a child dies in agricultural-related incidents \6\. Around 17% of
those deaths involved motor vehicles, including all-terrain vehicles
(ATVs). For ``working youth'', tractors were the leading source of
fatalities followed by ATVs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ https://agfax.com/2017/04/24/farm-and-kids-every-3-days-a-
child-dies-in-ag-related-accident/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Livestock and herd-based agricultural operations have unique
occupational hazards. These types of operations typically require a
significant amount of surveillance activities and travel/movement on
the ground, including:
Visual inspection/observation/surveillance using ground
transportation (ATVs, farm trucks, etc.) to assess complete inventory
status and overall health
Locating animals that are separated from the herd that
make them vulnerable to attacks by predators or other potential risks
Periodic inspection of very long fence lines to ensure
the integrity of the fencing system
Identification and tracking of dangerous predators and/or
invasive species such as wild feral hogs
Surveillance and inspection of water sources and
feedstocks to ensure integrity
Assessment and management of grazing patterns and plans
to ensure healthy use of land and resources
Searches for lost animals that have separated from the herd can be
time-consuming, disruptive to ongoing operations, and expensive. For
example, a cow may separate from the herd when she is about to give
birth, which can put the cow and calf at risk of attack and death by
predators. Complications with the birth can also put both animals at
risk. The loss of a cow/calf combination can result in a financial loss
of $4,000 or more for the agricultural producer based on beef prices.
Cattle producers can spend a significant amount of time searching for a
lost herd animal, many times at night, which increases the risk of
injury or death to the agricultural workers that are involved. There
are additional costs due to the depreciation of ground vehicles used in
these searches, since often times farm trucks or ATVs are used to cover
remote rough terrain.
Many agriculture-related injuries and deaths occur in remote rural
locations. As noted earlier, rural and remote locations have much
longer emergency management response times, since it physically takes
longer for an ambulance or first responder to arrive at the scene of an
accident or injury. Injuries that occur with livestock and herd
operations can have even worse response times since in addition to
limited roads and highways in the rural locations, the actual scene of
the injury or accident may be at a significant distance from any
roadways and not easily accessible by vehicle. For example, depending
on the location within the Choctaw Nation's own 44,000+ acre ranch
operation, it could take up to an hour or more to reach a remote site
within the ranch boundaries using ground vehicles. As noted earlier,
these types of delayed response times can prove fatal in some
situations.
Impacts on STEM and Workforce Preparation
A very positive impact of the IPP and BEYOND on The Choctaw Nation
of Oklahoma has been with science, technology, engineering and
mathematics (STEM) and future workforce development. The visibility of
our drone research and testing activities has stimulated interest for
our K-12 students and our STEM educators. The Choctaw Nation of
Oklahoma has leveraged this interest to create drone camps for our
Choctaw youth as well as other opportunities to support STEM activities
within our region and to work to ensure a future workforce pipeline to
support emerging aviation technologies.
Many of the public schools within our region are in historically
impoverished areas that have been underserved. The visibility of our
IPP and BEYOND activities coupled with the heightened interest in STEM
as a result of those activities, is enabling us to reach students at an
early age where positive STEM experiences and exposure to STEM
opportunities can help instill confidence and strengthen interest in
future STEM careers. STEM outreach and future workforce development
will remain a priority of our emerging aviation efforts within The
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
Enhancing Weather Research and Forecasting
A major challenge for improving the predictions and forecasts for
severe storms is achieving a better understanding of the lower
altitudes of the atmosphere, particularly the lower atmospheric
boundary layer. In 2009, the National Research Council \7\ stated the
following:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ https://www.nap.edu/download/12540
``The vertical component of U.S. mesoscale observations is
inadequate. Assets required to profile the lower troposphere
above the near-surface layer (first 10) are too limited in what
they measure, too sparsely or unevenly distributed, sometimes
too coarse in vertical resolution, sometimes limited to
regional areal coverage, and clearly do not qualify as a
mesoscale network of national dimensions. Likewise, vertical
profiles below the Earth's surface are inadequately measured in
both space and time. The solutions to these particular
deficiencies require leadership and infrastructure investments
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
from each of the pivotal federal agencies.''
For the past several years, researchers at Oklahoma State
University (OSU) and the University of Oklahoma, in collaboration with
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the
National Science Foundation (NSF) have conducted research to determine
the feasibility of using small drones to ``profile'' and observe
atmospheric conditions at low altitudes in a repeated manner. The
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is proud to be a collaborative partner with
these institutions as part of this research. The results have been very
promising thus far, and it is believed that this improved data
collection could have a profound impact on the accuracy of weather
models and our overall understanding of the atmosphere at the lowest
altitudes (which are most critical for understanding severe weather
phenomena). The potential benefits of monitoring and measurement of the
lower altitude atmospheric conditions could result in extended warning
times for severe weather, including tornadoes, and also improved
accuracy when issuing severe storm warnings. On average, dozens of
deaths occur in the United States each year from tornado outbreaks \8\.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ https://blog.nssl.noaa.gov/nsslnews/2009/03/us-annual-tornado-
death-tolls-1875-present/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In addition to public safety benefits arising from improved
understanding of lower altitude weather conditions, it is also likely
that this information and understanding will improve path planning and
routing for low altitude drone operations, particularly when operating
within a future UTM framework. Smaller drones are more susceptible to
lower-intensity weather events like gustiness. Current weather models
utilize grids that are too coarse for practical benefit to UTM systems.
Improved observations and monitoring can assist in developing more
refined and accurate weather models for low altitude observations,
which ultimately can enhance safety and reliability of small drone
operations.
In order to utilize small drones for observation and monitoring of
the lower boundary layer in a meaningful way, it will be necessary to
move away from visual line of sight (VLOS) operations with ground crews
and toward ``one-to-many'' and ``unattended'' operational scenarios.
Therefore, ``one-to-many'' and BVLOS challenges are the significant
regulatory hurdles to enabling widespread use of small drones for
regular atmospheric vertical profiling on a scheduled and recurring
basis. These ``vertical atmospheric profiling'' operations will
represent a unique type of BVLOS mission and operation, since the small
drones will often be tightly-constrained within a cylindrical volume of
the lower altitudes, and the operations will occur on known intervals
and schedules (such as regularly every half-hour or hour).
Improved weather observations will have two potentially
quantifiable impacts: 1) potential reduction in lives lost due to
severe weather (when wide-scale monitoring and observations are in
practice and use and data can be successfully ingested into predictive
weather models); and 2) improvement in planning and routing for
operations like drone deliveries (reduction in the loss of platforms
and payloads due to gustiness and low-intensity weather phenomena).
Specific Recommendations for Congress
In conclusion, we need support and mandates from Congress to more
efficiently transition the lessons that we learn from initiatives like
the IPP and BEYOND into permanent reform to our regulatory system. We
simply cannot remain in a regulatory state where operations are only
enabled by limited case-by-case exemptions and waivers, since this is
not a long-term practical approach to managing regular expanded
aviation operations.
To accomplish this, I offer two specific recommendations for
consideration to enable a safe acceleration of drones into the national
airspace system. For additional recommendations, please see the
Commercial Drone Alliance's 2021 UAS and AAM policy priorities
documents, included as an appendix to this statement.
First Recommendation: Codify the BEYOND Program and Provide
Funding. The first recommendation that I offer is for Congress to
codify the BEYOND program, and to provide a statutory foundation for
the program with clear congressional direction and oversight. The
BEYOND lead participants have made--and are making--substantial
investments of resources, money and time to support research and
testing to safely integrate drones into the national airspace. Any
legislation addressing BEYOND should include provisions for reporting
and accountability of the FAA directly to Congress. Although the legacy
FAA drones test sites are eligible for grant funding from NASA and the
FAA, the BEYOND lead participants are often excluded from consideration
for funding from programs such as the UTM Pilot Program (UPP). The
BEYOND lead participants should also be eligible to receive funding
from the FAA and NASA to support more generalized integration efforts
and be allowed to fully participate in these initiatives. The BEYOND
lead participants are making important contributions to a critical
national policy challenge, and it is important that these entities be
eligible for federal funding and support.
Second Recommendation: Enable Site-Specific Regular Operations. The
second recommendation that I offer is to mandate that the FAA
accelerate opportunities for communities and sites that can demonstrate
the ability to safely scale regular operations, such as drone delivery.
Some sites, such as The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, have already made
significant investments in ground-based radar and other safety
infrastructure and mitigations to support safe drone operations today.
This can serve as an opportunity for industry to innovate and
demonstrate economic viability by allowing these sites to move forward
and scale their low-risk low altitude drone operations.
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma has made significant investments
based on our own bold and ambitious vision and plans. We believe the
future is bright, and that our quality of life can be enhanced by
responsibly harnessing emerging aviation technologies. But we need the
federal government's full support to ensure that these technologies
flourish and provide the benefits to society that we strongly believe
are possible.
appendix
Commercial Drone Alliance's 2021 UAS and AAM Policy Priorities
Documents
Policy Priorities for 2021
Proposed Executive Actions for the First 100 Days of the Biden-
Harris Administration
In January 2021, the Biden-Harris Administration will have a
significant opportunity to leverage and enable the fast-growing
commercial drone industry for the benefit of all Americans. The
Commercial Drone Alliance \1\ has identified several concrete actions
the White House and Executive Branch can take on Day 1 or within the
first 100 days of 2021 that will support the continued revitalization
of the U.S. economy, keep Americans healthy, and enable a safe return
to work--all while ensuring America's continued leadership in aviation
innovation and enhancing the growth and development of the U.S.
commercial drone industry.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The CDA is an independent non-profit organization led by key
leaders in the commercial drone industry. The CDA brings together
commercial drone end-users, manufacturers, service providers, advanced
air mobility companies, drone security companies, and vertical markets
including oil and gas, precision agriculture, construction, security,
communications technology, infrastructure, newsgathering, filmmaking,
and more. The CDA works with all levels of government to collaborate on
policies for industry growth and seeks to educate the public on the
safe and responsible use of commercial drones to achieve economic
benefits and humanitarian gains. Learn more at
www.commercialdronealliance.org.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Drones can provide extensive benefits and essential services to
American citizens, consumers, and businesses, such as:
Delivering critical supplies, life-saving medical
equipment, and medicines;
Assisting with fire, accident, public safety and natural
disaster response, crop assessments, search and rescue missions, and
newsgathering;
Inspecting and monitoring railroad tracks, bridges, power
lines, energy facilities, industrial equipment, wind turbines,
communications towers, parked aircraft, and other critical
infrastructure.
The commercial unmanned aircraft systems (UAS or drone) industry
has been operating safely for years and has a strong history of working
closely in collaboration with the federal government to safely and
securely integrate drones into our National Airspace System (NAS). The
executive actions proposed below will provide vast benefits to the
American public while promoting safety and security, fostering the
continued growth of the U.S. economy, enabling the U.S. to continue to
lead the world in aviation innovation, and supporting the advancement
of critical UAS, Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and other Advanced Air
Mobility (AAM) technologies here in the United States. The actions we
propose here are actions that can be taken by the Executive Branch in
the short term focused on UAS industry growth; a separate CDA document
proposes short-term executive actions to promote the UAM and broader
AAM industry. CDA will follow up with longer term legislative
priorities separately.
Support America's COVID-19 Response
Enable Drone Delivery Operations at Scale. Beyond
vaccines and medical supplies, Americans are increasingly seeking
contact-free delivery service. Industry is evolving quickly to meet
these needs--but the regulatory frameworks struggle to keep pace. The
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) should accelerate efforts to
integrate routine Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations into
the National Airspace System. To safely and broadly enable UAS delivery
operations to communities in need, the White House should direct the
FAA to provide a scoring matrix system that identifies criteria and
assigns point values in order to create a transparent, predictable
process for UAS operators to attain air carrier status. If necessary,
the White House should direct the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs to fast-track regulatory changes. Streamlining of UAS-critical
processes will promote innovation while ensuring that technological and
safety advances are implemented efficiently.
Broadly Enable Expanded Commercial Drone Operations.
Broadly enabling flights over people, BVLOS, and at night in a safe and
secure manner is critical to unlocking the benefits of using drones for
many commercial and public safety tasks, including buttressing the
nation's COVID-19 response. This will also foster new job opportunities
within the industry. The White House should require the FAA to enable a
safe and workable framework for operations over people, including over
moving vehicles. The White House should also direct the FAA to
expeditiously prioritize expansion of true BVLOS operations by
providing guidance and a detailed framework for building an acceptable
safety case for such operations that do not require visual observers.
Unlock High-value, Low-Altitude Operations. The
Administration should unlock the airspace by starting from the ground
up--literally. On Day 1, the President should issue an Executive Order
directing the FAA to enable low-altitude BVLOS operations to inspect
critical infrastructure across the country, such as bridges, energy
facilities, and railroads. Low-altitude BVLOS operations would offer
incredible value, enabling state DOTs and commercial operators to
inspect infrastructure more effectively, at a lower cost, while
maintaining social distancing requirements that have impacted
inspection crews. BVLOS flights would be limited to a low altitude
within close proximity of the operator. Authorizing commercial
operators to conduct these operations within a framework designed to
ensure safety would buttress our nation's COVID-19 response, propel
innovation and efficiency and advance U.S. leadership in aviation.
Launch Vaccine Delivery UAS Rapid Response Task Force.
Once the nation has access to a vaccine to combat COVID-19, it will be
critical to immediately distribute the vaccine to the vast majority of
all Americans, including those in hard-to-reach areas. The
Administration should launch a UAS Vaccine Delivery Rapid Response Task
Force with a focus on the areas hardest hit by the coronavirus to
enable UAS delivery of vaccines and other critical supplies to
vulnerable and difficult-to-reach populations, including to remote,
rural, and tribal areas. To ensure success of the program, the FAA must
provide clear benchmarks for UAS vaccine delivery approvals to enable
rapid response efforts.
Put Americans Back to Work
Promote State/Local Planning for UAS Activities. To put
Americans back to work and enable innovation to prosper safely here at
home, we must support state and local governments as they undertake
strategic planning for ``next-generation'' infrastructure systems. As
air transportation needs evolve, vertiports, dronepads, and digital
systems will become increasingly necessary. Direct NASA and the FAA to
work with industry to provide guidance to enable states and cities to
plan for UAS/UAM activities. In addition, match funding and provide
logistical support for state and local governments to pilot UAS/UAM
infrastructure and other programs that promote innovation.
Grow U.S. UAS Manufacturing Capabilities and the Supply
Chain System. In an effort to put Americans back to work and promote
American competitiveness, the White House should work with NASA, DOD,
DOT, FAA, DOC and other agencies to immediately grow and fast-track UAS
manufacturing capabilities in the United States. Relatedly, in order to
stimulate the UAS marketplace, the White House should support NASA's
ongoing efforts to build a reliable U.S. UAS supply chain system and to
identify gaps and vulnerabilities in the current supply chain system
for unmanned vehicles, as well as downstream components. Collaboration
between the federal government and industry on these important issues
is critical to open the industry safely and securely.
Launch Workforce Initiative to Transition Veterans into
the Commercial Drone Sector. Direct the FAA, Veterans Administration
(VA), and White House to coordinate with private industry on the
development of a program aimed at recruiting experienced veterans into
jobs within the civil drone industry. This initiative would help put
experienced veterans back to work and leverage their skills and
knowledge to benefit the American public and the UAS industry.
Promote Diversity in the UAS Industry. Work with and
incentivize private industry to attract diverse talent to the fast-
growing and emerging UAS industry. Ensuring a wide range of
experiences, perspectives, and skills in the industry will grow the
economy while providing better solutions and driving innovation and
creativity for the benefit of the American public.
Enhance Safety
Empower the FAA's UAS Integration Office. Empower the UAS
Integration office to become the office of primary responsibility for
most UAS-related waivers and approvals. The UAS Integration Office is a
champion for safe and secure UAS integration, but currently lacks the
internal authority necessary to maximize its effectiveness. The White
House should immediately empower the UAS Integration Office to ``own''
certain regulatory approvals.
Implement a Comprehensive Remote Identification
Framework. Remote Identification (remote ID) is a crucial step towards
expanded and scalable drone operations, which is the key to unlocking
the enormous potential of commercial UAS operations here in the U.S.
Implementation of a comprehensive remote ID framework that supports all
airspace users will enable future development and commercialization of
UAS operations.
Enhance UAS Industry Access to Spectrum. The successful
realization of the public benefits of UAS operations requires access to
spectrum to ensure the full integration of UAS into the NAS, and the
corresponding public benefits. The White House should direct the FCC to
work quickly to enable all available communications technology for the
industry, for the benefit of American society.
Prioritize UAS Experience in the Executive Branch. In
considering new political appointments, hire into senior positions
within the White House and relevant executive branch agencies personnel
that understand and appreciate the value and safety benefits of UAS
operations to government, industry, and the American public.
Promote Global Standardization and Harmonization on UAS
Regulations. Global standardization and harmonization of requirements
and approvals for the commercial drone industry will enhance safety and
promote the ability of U.S. companies to operate and sell UAS-related
products and/or technology abroad. Global standardization will also
support U.S. companies in the global UAS industry supply chain.
Streamline FAA Processes Governing UAS Operations.
Streamline FAA processes to promote transparency, enhance regulatory
accountability and consistency, and improve communication around
regulatory approvals, which will promote safety and enable expanded
operations that benefit the American public. The FAA's review process
must recognize that small UAS (those below 55 pounds) present far lower
levels of risk that manned aircraft. Indeed, many drones used to
conduct highly valuable inspections of critical infrastructure weigh
less than five pounds. Even so, the FAA continues to apply incongruous
standards and approaches designed for manned aircraft to very small
drones performing safe and highly effective operations. That must
change. U.S. leadership in aviation and Artificial Intelligence hangs
in the balance.
Appoint a Domestic Drone Interagency Coordinator. Appoint
a Domestic Drone Interagency Coordinator to coordinate, streamline, and
improve efficiencies around interagency processes related to UAS
integration. UAS is a fast-growing, high-value sector of the economy.
At present, interagency disagreements sometimes linger longer than
necessary. Although these disagreements are part of the governing
process, a Domestic Drone Interagency Coordinator could help to forge
consensus, respond to concerns, and drive the regulatory system and the
industry forward. Creating such a position would advance innovation and
maintain U.S. leadership in the rapidly expanding drone economy.
Implement UAS Traffic Management. Direct the FAA to
expeditiously implement UAS traffic management (UTM), which will safely
enable new types of UAS operations in low altitude airspace. UTM is a
critical safety and security tool comprised of services and protocols
offered by qualified providers to drone operators, and it will enable
advanced drone operations by digitalizing current air traffic control
procedures. These services will help the drone industry to conduct
operations Beyond Visual Line of Sight, deliver packages, inspect
infrastructure, and conduct life-saving humanitarian missions. Early
successes by the FAA and NASA have yielded globally-recognized UTM
services and form the basis for international adoption. The United
States should continue to support efforts to validate and
operationalize the development of UTM capabilities and standards.
Foster Innovation and Competition
Enable Data Sharing to Lift Barriers to Commercial Drone
Industry Growth. Open the resources of the federal government to spur
innovation, including by sharing radar and other relevant data
collected by the federal government while maintaining appropriate
privacy and security measures. Data-sharing will lift critical barriers
to industry growth and enable the UAS industry to help respond to the
COVID-19 crisis. Lack of access to federal government data has
inhibited the ability to identify trends and leverage the collective
experience of the UAS industry to drive innovation and
commercialization. The White House should direct FAA to launch a joint
working group with industry to identify key information needs, data
priorities, and recommended access processes.
Enable Large UAS. Large UAS have tremendous potential to
conduct operations safely and economically with significant public
benefits--from agricultural operations to natural disaster assessments,
public safety activities to commercial delivery, to passenger
transportation and much more. However, to enable these significant
benefits, clarity is needed. The White House should therefore direct
the FAA to expeditiously establish a clear regulatory roadmap and
provide regulatory certainty for certification and operation of large
UAS.
Promote Security
Protect Critical Sites. UAS security is an issue of
national importance. Section 2209 of the FAA Extension, Safety and
Security Act of 2016 requires the FAA to establish a procedure by which
operators or proprietors of fixed site facilities can prohibit or
restrict the operation of UAS in close proximity to such facilities.
Once implemented, this important requirement will enhance UAS security
efforts, yet the deadline for rulemaking has come and gone. The White
House should require the FAA to implement Section 2209 immediately.
Implement a ``Known Operator'' Program for UAS. While
innovation has moved quickly forward, policymaking has lagged behind.
The White House should direct the FAA or DHS to implement a ``Known
Operator'' program to enhance safety and security protocols, promote
regulatory compliance and incentivize authorized commercial operators
(or public safety operators) to proactively gain the trust of public
officials and the public. This program will enable positive use cases
for commercial UAS while prioritizing safety and security. Such a
program could be similar in concept to the TSA Precheck system and the
TSA Known Shipper Program.
Enhance Drone Security. It is a national security problem
that, notwithstanding security issues around rogue drone use at
sensitive sites, private industry and state and local public safety
agencies do not have the legal ability to broadly test various counter-
UAS technologies here in the United States. The White House should seek
authority to enable the safe expanded testing of counter-UAS
technology. In doing so, the White House should direct the FCC to issue
experimental licenses to counter-UAS providers to allow them to test
radio frequency (RF) based counter-UAS systems in areas that will not
interfere with the public.
Streamline Drone Security Efforts. The national security
agencies should publicly share a UAS Security National Plan to develop
and review the federal government's counter-drone capabilities with an
implementation timeline, as well as relevant goals over the next five
years. The National Plan would document counter-UAS and air domain
awareness requirements, and provide an implementation plan inclusive of
funding, programs, and support for appropriate expanded counter-UAS
authorities.
Promote U.S. Leadership in Aviation
Demonstrate Leadership in Global Aviation. The United
States must swiftly implement enabling UAS regulations, which are
necessary to allow innovation to safely scale and to regain U.S.
leadership in aviation innovation. It has been five years since there
has been any significant regulatory action to enable drone use in the
U.S., while other countries have raced ahead, including the European
Union, Canada, Australia, and many others. The White House can also
demonstrate continued U.S. leadership in global aviation and UAS
integration specifically by immediately appointing a U.S.
representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization, a
specialized agency of the United Nations which supports a safe,
efficient, secure, economically sustainable and environmentally
responsible civil aviation sector.
Integrate Drones into the NASA STEM Engagement Program.
Direct NASA to incorporate drones into its STEM Engagement Program,
which is designed to build a diverse future STEM workforce by engaging
students in authentic learning experiences with NASA people, content,
and facilities. Work with industry to identify unique educational
opportunities (such as university apprenticeships) and public outreach
initiatives that will enhance public understanding of UAS operations
and support the federal government's ongoing efforts to enable safe and
secure UAS integration.
Urban Air Mobility Policy Priorities for 2021
Proposed Executive Actions for the First 100 Days of the Biden-
Harris Administration
In January 2021, the Biden-Harris Administration will have a
significant opportunity to advance the adoption of new aviation
technologies that add to our transportation solutions, reduce
congestion along heavily burdened corridors, and demonstrate U.S.
leadership in sustainable aviation technologies and innovation.
Together these innovations unlock a new industry that can spur regional
growth and U.S. jobs creation.
The Commercial Drone Alliance (CDA) \1\ has identified several
concrete actions the White House and Executive Branch can take on Day 1
or within the first 100 days of 2021 that will ensure America's
continued leadership in aviation innovation and facilitate the
development of Urban Air Mobility (``UAM'') technology in the U.S. and
shape the global policy and regulatory approach.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The CDA is an independent non-profit organization led by key
leaders in the commercial drone industry. The CDA brings together
commercial drone end-users, manufacturers, service providers, advanced
air mobility companies, drone security companies, and vertical markets
including oil and gas, precision agriculture, construction, security,
communications technology, infrastructure, newsgathering, filmmaking,
and more. The CDA works with all levels of government to collaborate on
policies for industry growth and seeks to educate the public on the
safe and responsible use of commercial drones to achieve economic
benefits and humanitarian gains. Learn more at
www.commercialdronealliance.org.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) and other
emerging clean-fuel aircraft technologies promise many benefits,
including but not limited to:
Reducing passenger travel times, surface congestion and
overall transportation emissions through air taxi passenger flights in
urban centers
Connecting smaller communities to urban centers through
new regional air mobility and complementing existing surface
transportation systems by providing linkages to transit and intercity
rail facilities
Promoting economic development and local jobs through
greater use of existing heliports and airports
Improving mobility by integrating existing transit and
regional commuter systems into multi-modal and multi-dimensional
transportation platforms
Additional applications including supporting emergency
response during natural disaster emergencies and supplementing package
delivery applications
Executive Branch actions that promote U.S. investment and
leadership in UAM will advance a growing U.S. industry and sustain U.S.
leadership in aviation. CDA recommends the following focused executive
branch initiatives to continue to drive this innovation.
Establish UAM Leadership & Governance
To enhance accountability and promote innovation, the
Administration should immediately:
Create FAA Leadership Position and Office Dedicated to
Urban Air Mobility. Immediately establish an executive-level leadership
position and office with responsibility for promoting UAM policy
development and addressing UAM-specific considerations including
aircraft and operator certification pathways, battery standards,
infrastructure standards, airspace integration and management, and
community engagement.
Prioritize UAM activities within the Office of Science
and Technology Policy (OSTP). Appoint a dedicated UAM Senior Advisor
within OSTP to act as a liaison between industry and federal agency UAM
leads. Create regular forums to advance public-private partnership
initiatives.
Establish UAM Advisory Panel for DOT. Direct the
Secretary of Transportation to assemble a UAM Advisory Panel composed
of a diverse group of industry, local, state and Federal stakeholders
to examine the state of the industry, identify gaps in relevant policy/
regulations, and make recommendations on ways DOT can advance progress.
Pursue Public-Private Partnerships and Flexible
Regulatory Pathways. Demonstrate continued commitment to U.S.
investment and leadership in emerging aviation technologies through
industry-government collaboration. Advance UAS/UAM integration in the
National Airspace System through support for initiatives such as the
U.S. Air Force's Agility Prime.
Demonstrate Leadership in Global Aviation. Appoint a U.S.
representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
to demonstrate global leadership in developing standardized and
harmonized approaches for airspace and infrastructure.
Support Infrastructure Development
Especially in the era of COVID-19, the Administration can spur job
growth in state and local communities, and support the UAM/aviation
industry, by taking the following steps:
Expand Federal Financing Eligibility to Aviation. Expand
Transportation Infrastructure Financing Improvement Act (TIFIA)
financing program eligibility to airports, cities and developers
seeking to build out physical infrastructure to support UAM operations.
Promote R&D by Enabling eVTOL Aircraft Testing at Federal
Facilities. Sponsor access to FAA, NASA and DOD flight test facilities
for eVTOL aircraft test programs to unlock data collection and research
opportunities.
Launch a National Vertiport Demonstration Challenge.
Establish a National UAM Vertiport Development Challenge through a
joint FAA-industry-localities working group that supports early
identification of sites and the development of prototype vertiport
facilities through a competitive process.
Provide Grant Funding for Innovative Multi-Modal
Infrastructure Projects. Expand the US DOT's Better Utilizing
Investments to Leverage Development (``BUILD'') discretionary grant
program (previously the TIGER grant program) eligibility to support
State and local innovative multi-modal infrastructure projects that
would provide facilities to serve transit, commuter rail, and/or
intercity rail, and air transportation in a combined facility. Consider
a specific carve out of annual BUILD awards to support multi-modal
advanced aerial mobility projects (passenger or freight) to enable UAS
infrastructure.
Ensure Data Communications Access. Support the safe and
scalable integration of UAM into the National Airspace through
equitable access to both refarmed and new Spectrum licenses.
Fund FAA eVTOL Noise Research. Resource and initiate
collaborative research to define appropriate noise metrics and
methodologies for use in assessing community impacts associated with
electric aircraft.
Grow U.S. UAM Manufacturing Capabilities and the Supply
Chain System. In an effort to put Americans back to work and promote
American competitiveness, the White House should work with NASA, DOD,
DOT, FAA, DOC and other agencies to grow and fast-track UAM
manufacturing capabilities in the United States. Relatedly, in order to
stimulate the UAM marketplace, the White House should support NASA's
ongoing efforts to build a reliable U.S. UAM supply chain system and to
identify gaps and vulnerabilities in the current supply chain system
for unmanned vehicles, as well as downstream components. Collaboration
between the federal government and industry on these important issues
is critical to open the industry safely and securely.
Invest in Future UAM Workforce
To create good-paying jobs here in the United States and support
the workforce, the Administration should:
Promote STEM Programs in Emerging Aviation Technologies.
Promote STEM initiatives focused on UAM infrastructure, battery
technology, vertical flight, autonomy, and more to advance interest in
emerging technologies and provide diverse workforce opportunities.
Institute UAM Safety Standards
Safety is always paramount when promoting innovation. To that end,
the Administration should work right away to:
Implement Recommendations on Safety Management Systems
(SMS). Implement recommendations of the Special Committee Report on
Aircraft Certification that were delivered to the Secretary of U.S. DOT
earlier this year.\2\ Establish a formal mechanism for government-
industry collaboration to develop voluntary safety programs specific to
UAM based on those that have delivered proven safety benefits to
traditional aviation operations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2020-01/scc-
final-report.pdf
Mr. Larsen. Mr. Grimsley, thank you for your testimony.
I will now turn to Mr. Adam Bry of Skydio. Mr. Bry, you are
recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Bry. Chairman Larsen, Ranking Member Graves, and
members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to
be here today.
We meet at the dawn of a new era in flight. Electric
propulsion and autonomy will transform aviation, and small
drones are at the forefront. This new class of small, electric
drones will have a profound impact on our economy and our
national security. The countries that lead the way will help to
define this new era. Even though the drones are small, the
stakes are high.
For the recent past, the drone industry has been dominated
by manually controlled drones that are hard to fly and easy to
crash. Eighty percent of these drones are made by companies
based in China and come with a slew of cybersecurity concerns.
Many have assumed it will always be this way, but much like the
shift from flip phones to smart phones, the drone market is
ripe for a transition from hardware-defined products to
software-enabled solutions. And just as with phones, there is
an opportunity for U.S. companies to lead the way with the
potential to create tens of thousands of jobs here in the U.S.
I believe drones hold the promise of making our world
dramatically better: safer, more creative, and more productive.
And that the key to realizing that promise is making drones
smart enough to fly themselves. That is why my cofounders and I
started Skydio in 2014.
Skydio is a software and artificial intelligence company.
Our drones use computer vision and AI to build a real-time 3D
map of the environment, avoid obstacles, and automate complex
tasks. Thanks to an incredible team, we are now the largest
U.S. drone manufacturer and a world leader in autonomous
flight. We have grown to employ hundreds of people across the
country, but we are still small compared to the total
opportunity.
Having a strong domestic drone industry is important for
our security, economy, and values. Once viewed as consumer
toys, drones have become essential tools for a wide range of
applications including national defense and inspecting critical
infrastructure. Our customers include roof inspectors that use
drones to assess damage after storms, rather than them climbing
the roof and putting themselves in danger.
Telecom inspectors use drones to create digital twins of
cell phone and transmission towers while remaining safely on
the ground. As one of our customers put it, ``When you use a
drone for these inspections, you're not reducing an injury,
you're reducing a death.''
We manufacture our drones in the U.S., building thousands
per month. This gives us the fastest development times, the
highest quality, and the highest levels of supply chain
security. The more the market relies on American companies, the
more jobs we will create in the United States, and the more we
will be able to trust drones to keep our data secure. We should
also ensure that taxpayer funds support U.S. jobs. For example,
DoD's Blue UAS Program has boosted the industry by relying on
domestic drone companies like Skydio to equip our soldiers with
the most advanced drone technology.
Most importantly, the stronger the domestic drone industry,
the more this technology will reflect democratic values. In
2020, Skydio became the world's first drone company to issue a
set of ethical principles to guide our work. We consider the
holistic impact of our products with particular focus on
privacy and civil liberties.
This committee is considering a generational investment in
America's infrastructure. In addition to investing in the
infrastructure itself, this committee has a profound
opportunity to improve the way we maintain it. To ensure the
safety of America's infrastructure, inspectors put themselves
in harm's way by climbing towers, repelling from bridges, and
riding in gas-guzzling bucket trucks, which sometimes tip over.
Drones revolutionize infrastructure inspection, getting
better data with a fraction of the cost, risk, and carbon
footprint. That is why almost every State department of
transportation has started a drone program. Congress has an
opportunity to capitalize on those benefits, including by
enacting a grant program for infrastructure inspection. The
program would enhance safety and efficiency by providing grants
to State and local agencies to inspect America's highways and
bridges with drones. It can also offer grants to educate
workers on drone technology.
Whether this new era of aviation is led by the U.S. or
other nations will depend on a regulatory approach. The key is
to unlock the airspace from the ground up, enabling workers to
inspect America's infrastructure with small, light drones
flying low to the ground and beyond line of sight. These
operations can be conducted safely now as demonstrated by North
Carolina DOT's groundbreaking statewide waiver to inspect
bridges using Skydio drones.
I am grateful to the committee for holding this hearing.
Working together, we can ensure the United States leads this
new era of aviation, providing extraordinary benefits for our
economy, our security, and our infrastructure. Thank you.
[Mr. Bry's prepared statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Adam Bry, Chief Executive Officer, Skydio, Inc.
Chairman Larsen, Ranking Member Graves, members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today.
We meet at the dawn of a new era in flight. Electric propulsion and
autonomy are transforming aviation as we know it. Small drones are at
the forefront of both of these trends. The technologies, regulations,
companies, and countries that lead the way with small drones will help
to define this new era. Even though the drones are small, the stakes
are large.
I am the co-founder and CEO of Skydio, an American company on the
front lines of this transformation. Founded in 2014, Skydio is now the
largest U.S. drone manufacturer by volume and a world leader in
autonomous flight. Our customers include consumers creating amazing
videos, construction companies tracking project progress, state
departments of transportation inspecting infrastructure, energy
utilities monitoring transmission lines, public safety agencies
responding to emergencies, and U.S. and allied soldiers observing
battlefield threats. In each of these applications, drones are helping
to make our world more productive, creative, and safe.
My own aviation journey began 20 years ago when I began building
and flying remote controlled (R/C) aircraft, eventually winning a
national championship in R/C aerobatics. This hobby fueled a passion
for engineering. I studied mechanical engineering at Olin College, and
received my master's in aerospace engineering at MIT. There, I helped
to pioneer autonomous flight for drones, transferring my skills as an
R/C pilot into software that enables drones to fly themselves. After
graduating, I co-founded Google's drone delivery program.
In 2014, my co-founders and I started Skydio. We saw the potential
of drones to transform a wide range of industries and applications. We
believed that autonomy--the ability for a drone to fly itself and
perform complex tasks on its own--is essential to realizing the promise
of drones. Skydio is a software and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
company at heart. Skydio drones use advanced computer vision and AI to
build a real-time, 3D map of the environment, plan collision-free paths
around obstacles, and automate complex tasks. We build hardware that
embodies and accentuates our software.
The drone industry has long been defined by manually controlled
drones manufactured at low cost in China. But this is not the future.
In the early 2000s, Nokia held a dominant position in the global cell
phone market. In 2007, Apple released the iPhone, a software-centric
device that made phones infinitely more useful by making them more
intelligent. Apple not only captured market share, but dramatically
grew the market for phones globally. We believe the drone industry is
ripe for a similar transition, and there is an opportunity for U.S.
companies to once again lead that revolution.
Today we consider how to capture the benefits of this
transformation. This Committee will play a profoundly important role in
setting the conditions for U.S. leadership in aviation and safety. To
assist the Committee, I will outline my views on the strategic
importance of the domestic drone industry, how to harness the full
potential of drones to keep America's aging infrastructure safe and
resilient, and how to shape a regulatory system designed to ensure U.S.
competitiveness and safety.
I. Playing to America's Strengths: The Strategic Importance of the
Domestic Drone Industry
The story of the domestic drone industry has been defined by
struggle. For example, GoPro, a multi-billion-dollar company, launched
a consumer drone to great fanfare. Then their drones started falling
out of the sky. GoPro soon shuttered their drone business. Sensational
headlines followed. ``The dream of an American drone may be dead,'' one
headline speculated. Analysts suggested that when it came to
``engineering [drones] in the US,'' we should ``forget about it.''
That advice appeared well-founded. Before GoPro exited the market,
another U.S. company, 3D Robotics, launched a drone called the Solo
that sold thousands of units with features similar to Chinese drone
company DJI. Then DJI began to ``turn the screw,'' massively lowering
the prices of its own products,'' and ``dropping the bottom out of the
market.'' 3D Robotics stopped making drones, deciding instead to design
software for use on the very Chinese drones that pushed them out of the
market. PrecisionHawk, another promising company that once testified
before this committee, also left the hardware market to make software
for use on DJI drones (and drones made by other companies).
Today, companies based in China dominate the U.S. market with more
than 80% of the market share. DJI alone accounts for approximately 70%
of the market. As the following graphic reveals, the domestic drone
market is unlike almost any other.
a. America's Advantage
However unhealthy the market may be, reports of the death of the
domestic drone industry are greatly exaggerated.
The way to build a sustainable and secure domestic drone industry
is to embrace areas of natural advantage. In the past, domestic drone
companies sought to beat foreign competitors at their own game:
producing commodity hardware devices, sometimes even making them in
China and selling them here.
In today's crowded and competitive marketplace, dominated by
foreign firms, homegrown companies will succeed when they focus on
areas where the U.S. holds an advantage, such as AI. As graduate
students, my co-founders and I studied at MIT's Computer Science and
Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL)--one of the world's leading centers
for AI research. Our research in advanced navigation was funded, in
part, by the Army Research Laboratory and the Office of Naval Research.
CSAIL's roots trace back to the early days of the U.S. space program,
where America led the way in sensor fusion software and navigation
computers that enabled us to land on the moon. At MIT, we built a
fixed-wing aircraft capable of flying itself autonomously through a
parking garage. Skydio's technology grew out of that early research and
experimentation. We hope to be another success story in the tradition
of our nation's commitment to basic research.
Today, Skydio has experienced incredible growth based on the demand
for our AI-powered drones. From state departments of transportation, to
fire departments, to federal agencies, we are fortunate to have
hundreds of public sector customers that are excited to have an
American drone alternative to DJI, and even more excited about getting
more powerful products with the benefits of autonomy. Our customers are
at the center of our success.
Skydio is also proud to support our service members. The Defense
Innovation Unit and other forward-leaning government initiatives have
helped us connect with military end users, in whose hands our products
can save lives. The U.S. Army, for example, recognized that consumer
and commercial drone products were racing ahead of traditional defense
systems. Rather than acquire expensive and outdated technology from
traditional defense contractors, the Army launched a new effort, the
Short Range Reconnaissance Program, to equip soldiers with world-
leading technology produced here at home.
On the strength of that demand, we have grown from employing three
people to hundreds of people across the country. We design and assemble
thousands of drones a month in the United States. And we are expanding
rapidly around the world. With every drone we sell, and every new
employee we hire, we disprove the myth that American companies cannot
compete in the domestic drone market. American companies can compete--
and win. The key is to focus on areas of asymmetric advantage--and no
area provides more of an advantage than AI.
b. The Strategic Importance of the Domestic Drone Industry
Maintaining a viable domestic drone manufacturing base matters for
three reasons.
Creating Good-Paying Jobs, Benefiting the Economy: The small drone
market has a big economic impact. According to Levitate Capital, ``The
global drone economy will grow from $15B to $90B by 2030.'' The U.S.
represents the largest share of that market, with an overall size of
$8B in 2020, growing to $16B in 2025, and $34B in 2030.
Right now, more than 70% of the true value of that market is held
by foreign companies. The more the market relies on American companies
that produce their products at home, the more high-skill, good-paying
domestic manufacturing jobs we can bring back to the United States.
That goal deserves bipartisan support.
In addition to hiring U.S. workers, U.S. drone manufacturers
support domestic component suppliers. For example, the Skydio X2 uses a
breakthrough carbon fiber component produced by Arris, a U.S. startup
based in California, that would have otherwise required 17 separate
parts. Skydio is proud to be the first commercial customer of Arris,
which manufactures its components in the U.S.
Protecting National Security: Once viewed as little more than
consumer toys, drones have become essential tools for a wide range of
applications, including national defense and inspecting critical
infrastructure. Depending on a strategic competitor to meet the
nation's technology needs is neither healthy nor prudent.
To be clear, the Chinese government represents the central threat,
not Chinese companies. The Chinese government has the legal ability to
demand data from Chinese companies operating anywhere in the world--
without due process and the rule of law. DJI officials have
acknowledged, under oath, the company's obligation to comply with those
requests. Basic cybersecurity standards cannot buy down that risk.\1\
That is why Congress prohibited DOD, in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020
National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), from procuring drones
manufactured in China. We support legislation extending that common-
sense approach to other federal agencies.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ In characterizing the risks presented by DJI drones, the former
Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Ellen Lord, acknowledged
that the Defense Department ``know[s] that a lot of the information is
sent back to China.'' Billy Mitchell, Pentagon plans drone event for
new VC, startup matchmaker program, Fedscoop, Aug. 28, 2019, https://
www.fedscoop.com/dod-uas-drones-trusted-capital-marketplace-program-
ellen-lord/. See also Frank J. Cilluffo (Auburn University), Testimony
to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, Hearing on the Impacts of State-Owned Enterprises on
Public Transit and Freight Rail Sectors, p. 3-4, May 16, 2019, https://
transportation.house.gov/imo/media/doc/Testimony%20-%20Cilluffo.pdf
(``Chinese [drone] companies, for example, may be legally required to
help advance the mission and goals of China's security and intelligence
services. The use of UAS also raises the prospect of cyber/physical
convergence, whereby cyber tools and operations may be invoked
(particularly by an adversary with hostile intent) to generate kinetic
or real-world consequences.'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ultimately, the only way to trust a digital device is to trust the
company that developed it and the legal framework in which they
operate. That is something Skydio takes seriously. We design, assemble,
and support all of our products in the U.S. We develop our software in-
house and source our processors from U.S. companies. The result is a
homegrown aircraft that reflects the best of American innovation,
trustworthiness, and craftsmanship.
As a result of Skydio's commitment to supply chain and cyber
security and high level of product performance, the U.S. Defense
Department named Skydio one of a handful of ``Blue sUAS'' companies in
2020. DOD also determined that Skydio's flagship enterprise product,
the Skydio X2, complies with the rigorous supply chain security
restrictions in the FY20 NDAA provision mentioned above.
Our Values: Most importantly, the stronger the domestic drone
industry, the more this critical area of emerging technology will
reflect democratic ideals and values.
The final report of the National Security Commission on AI
recognizes that the U.S. finds itself in an ``AI competition'' with an
emboldened China. According to the Commission, ``The AI competition is
also a values competition. China's domestic use of AI is a chilling
precedent for anyone around the world who cherishes individual liberty.
Its employment of AI as a tool of repression and surveillance . . . is
a counterpart to how we believe AI should be used.''
Months before the release of the Commission's report, the U.S.
Commerce Department placed DJI on the entity list for supporting
China's suppression of the Uighur people in Xinjiang. The listing noted
the nexus to ``widescale human rights abuses within China . . . or
high-technology surveillance, and/or . . . the export of items by China
that aid repressive regimes around the world.''
That underscores the importance of U.S. leadership in the drone
industry. If we want this technology to align with our values, we must
lead the way. At Skydio, we believe companies that make the world's
most advanced products have a responsibility to shape the norms and
standards that govern their use. That is especially true with respect
to AI. In 2020, Skydio became the world's first drone company to issue
a set of policy and ethical principles--the Skydio Engagement and
Responsible Use Principles--to guide our work and move the industry
forward. These principles capture our commitment to considering the
holistic impact our products will have on communities and countries.
They also convey Skydio's core values of accountability, transparency,
and the protection of privacy and civil liberties.
II. Harnessing the Power of Drones to Keep America's Infrastructure
Safe and Resilient
This Committee is considering a generational investment in
America's infrastructure. In addition to investing in the
infrastructure itself, this Committee has a profound opportunity to
reimagine the way to maintain it.
America's infrastructure is aging. Although examples of crumbling
infrastructure are not in short supply, the nation's bridges have
become the symbol of infrastructure decay. According to the American
Society of Civil Engineers, ``Currently, 42% of all bridges are at
least 50 years old.''
We cannot rebuild our way out of this crisis. The President's
American Jobs Plan is ambitious in scope, but it calls only to replace
approximately 10,000 of the 46,154 bridges that America's civil
engineers consider structurally deficient. A serious maintenance
backlog makes the problem more pernicious.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ According to ASCE, ``A recent estimate for the nation's backlog
of bridge repair needs is $125 billion. Estimates show that we need to
increase spending on bridge rehabilitation from $14.4 billion annually
to $22.7 billion annually, or by 58%, if we are to improve the
condition. At the current rate of investment, it will take until 2017
to make all of the repairs that are necessary.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The way to reimagine our infrastructure is to make our existing
infrastructure more resilient. As recommended by ASCE, we must
prioritize ``existing deterioration'' and ``focus . . . on preventive
maintenance.'' Inspections are at the heart of preventive maintenance.
The older the infrastructure, the more it must be inspected, and the
more accurate and efficient the inspections must become.
That is exactly why 49 of 50 states have adopted drone programs
primarily to inspect critical infrastructure. Drones offer three
critical benefits in the journey to infrastructure resilience.
a. Drones Protect Workers, Drive Efficiency, and Slash Carbon Emissions
Protecting Workers: Inspecting infrastructure can be a dangerous
job. To ensure the safety of America's infrastructure, inspectors ``put
themselves in harm's way by climbing towers, rappelling from bridges,
and riding in bucket trucks'' (which sometimes tip over).
By contrast, inspectors equipped with drones can examine every part
of an infrastructure asset--including areas not visible to the naked
eye--without exposing themselves to danger. Capitalizing on that
capability, state departments of transportation have begun to equip
their bridge inspectors with drone technology.
North Carolina Department of Transportation (DOT), a partner and
customer of Skydio, has become a national leader in the employment of
drone technology for bridge inspection and other purposes. Eric
Boyette, North Carolina's Secretary of Transportation, has stated that,
``Drones are a fantastic new tool for our Bridge Inspection Units.
Safety is our top priority at NCDOT, and this new system helps improve
the safety of not only our bridges and other infrastructure, but of our
inspectors as well.''
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers has observed that
``drones can perform hazardous inspections and maintenance scans much
more quickly and with greater ease, lessening the perils on the
American worker.'' To that end, Sundt Construction uses Skydio's
autonomous drones to inspect ``very tight, claustrophobic, and
dangerous areas where you wouldn't want to put a human,'' such as
``high-pressure, high-temperature systems.'' According to Dean Miller,
Sundt's Virtual Construction Engineer,
When you use a drone for these inspections, you're not reducing
an injury, you're reducing a death. With human inspections, the
construction industry has been able to reduce the injury rate
over the years, but the death rate has stayed the same--when
something explodes in these environments, there is no coming
out of that. Because the Skydio can fly into these areas that
would be impossible with other drones and capture that data for
us, we can effectively reduce that death rate. A drone is
around $1,000, but a human life is priceless.
Driving Efficiency: According to a 2019 AASHTO survey, 29 state
departments of transportation have found that drones are ``helping them
save money.'' Drones drive extraordinary levels of efficiency--
empowering existing workers to be more productive while creating an
entirely new career field of drone operators.
In the case of a freeway bridge inspection, AASHTO estimates that
the average manual inspection costs $4,600, takes 8 hours, and imposes
$14,600 in social costs while the bridge is closed. Drone inspections
of the same bridge cost an average of $1,200, take only 1 hour, and
impose far lower social costs. Along those lines, Ohio estimates that
its drone bridge inspection program could save almost $1.7 million in
state funds over four years.
Consider ``as-built'' inspection of construction sites, which is
critical to ensuring that construction projects do not require rework.
As Danielle Gagne recently discussed in Commercial UAV News, rework can
account for 4-9% of the cost of the average construction project.\3\
Drones--and especially autonomous drones--offer high levels of value,
automating a process that can be time-consuming, complex, and costly.
Accurate Drone Solutions, a drone service provider specializing in
construction, has found that switching from manual drones to Skydio's
autonomous drones allowed them to perform as-built assessments 66%
faster and increase the frequency of cost-saving inspections on their
clients' job sites.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Gagne, Danielle, Why America's Infrastructure Needs the Drone
Industry, Commercial UAV News, April 21, 2021, https://
www.commercialuavnews.com/infrastructure/why-america-s-infrastructure-
needs-the-drone-industry.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As automation increases, it will become possible to create and
maintain full ``digital twins'' of every piece of infrastructure, and
update them frequently as drones autonomously capture imagery of entire
structures. This will enable early detection and tracking of potential
issues with preventative maintenance, further increasing efficiency.
Slashing Carbon Emissions: Reliant on electric propulsion, drones
significantly reduce carbon emissions compared to traditional methods.
Helicopters ``burn more fuel and emit far more CO2 emissions than cars
do over the same distance.'' Under-bridge inspection vehicles fare only
slightly better, achieving around 5 mpg. Drones shatter this paradigm.
If a state with 14,000 bridges could inspect 5,000 of them using
drones, the carbon savings would be equivalent to removing 1,000 cars
from the road.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ Internal analysis. Key factors: Snooper trucks achieve
approximately 5 mpg fuel economy; average round trip inspection
distance estimated at 225 miles; drones are fully electric.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The environmental benefits of drones will compound over time: as
drone use becomes more common, the benefits for our air and environment
will increase.
b. Drone Infrastructure Inspection Grants (DIIG)
To capitalize on these benefits, Congress should enact a Drone
Infrastructure Inspection Grants program. Administered by the Secretary
of Transportation, the program would consist of two pillars:
Promoting Infrastructure Resilience: The first pillar
would provide grants to state and local agencies allowing them to
capture these benefits by implementing advanced drone technology for
infrastructure inspection. State DOTs could apply for funding necessary
to scale the use of drones--purchasing equipment and standing up
program management capability--to inspect America's highways and
bridges, handing inspectors a powerful new tool to drive safety and
efficiency.
+ With 49 of 50 state DOTs already using drones to inspect
infrastructure, state DOTs understand the value of drone technology.
But, in the face of budgetary shortfalls, state DOTs have had trouble
scaling their programs. By enacting the DIIG program, Congress would
ensure that state and local inspection personnel have access to the
transformative technology and talent necessary to protect workers, our
environment, and provide new levels of infrastructure safety and
efficiency--while promoting U.S. leadership in emerging technology.
Education and Training: The second pillar would offer
grants to community colleges and other public educational institutions
to educate workers on drone technology. The program would position a
new generation of workers to capitalize on new economic opportunities
created by drones.
This program could form the foundation of an approach to
infrastructure that prioritizes long-term resilience by making
inspection easier and more effective than ever.
III. Leading the Second Century of Aviation: Enabling U.S.
Competitiveness, Ensuring Safety
When asked what is holding the drone industry back, the answer is
often ``regulations.'' There are elements of the regulatory framework
that should be improved, some of which I will discuss today. But,
overall, the arc of regulations bends in the direction of integration
and progress, and is reasonable given the state of manual drone
technology. Most encouragingly, we are seeing signs of regulators
recognizing the benefits of autonomy for unlocking safe, reliable
operations.
As an example, last year the FAA granted NCDOT a breakthrough
waiver to fly Skydio drones beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) to
inspect bridges. Unlike past waivers, this one applies statewide and
does not require the use of visual observers. Skydio's autonomy
technology enables bridge inspectors to fly BVLOS more confidently than
when piloting manual drones, which cannot avoid obstacles on their own.
That waiver demonstrates the important role that industry plays in
advancing regulations. If we want the FAA to permit drone operations
beyond line of sight, we should build drones capable of navigating
complex environments safely and efficiently.
As technology improves, we should ask how the regulatory system can
improve alongside it. To answer that question, we need to understand
that we have entered a new century of aviation. The first century of
flight was defined by crewed aviation. From the windy hills of Kitty
Hawk to the airliners that criss-cross our sky today, our aviation
system has revolved around the notion of a pilot onboard and at the
controls.
We have now entered the second century of aviation. This century
will be defined by uncrewed, and increasingly autonomous operations.
The nations that embrace this new paradigm will experience massive
economic and societal benefits--from safer work environments to more
efficient infrastructure. But other nations are not content to let the
United States lead the second century of aviation in the same way we
led the first.
There are two principles necessary for the U.S. to continue its
historical leadership role and take our economy and society to new
heights. Those principles are symbolized in the acronym, ``UP.''
1. Unlocking the Airspace from the Ground Up: The vast majority of
commercially valuable drone operations occur at very low altitudes in
close proximity to infrastructure. When inspecting infrastructure,
operators generally need to fly just beyond line of sight and behind
the object under inspection. Recognizing that reality, the first
principle calls for regulatory changes designed to unlock the airspace
from the ground up--enabling the low risk, low altitude, high-value
BVLOS operations necessary to inspect America's infrastructure at
scale.
a. America risks falling behind: When it comes to enabling BVLOS
operations, the European Union has created a regulatory pathway, known
as the ``specific category,'' designed to enable routine commercial
BVLOS operations. The ``specific category'' intends to fill the gap
between the general regulation that allows flights within visual line
of sight, on the low end, and the type certification of large drones
for more complex operations, such as the transport of passengers, on
the high end. In addition, Europe has proposed ``standard scenarios''
designed to permit BVLOS operations that fall within certain, low-risk
parameters. Australia has also released ``standard scenarios'' to
enable BVLOS operations, including low-altitude infrastructure
inspection. However in the US, we have yet to fill the ``missing
middle'' between Part 107 (which allows flights only within visual line
of sight) and type certification.
b. These operations are safe: These operations can be safely
conducted today, as demonstrated by NCDOT's statewide bridge inspection
waiver in the U.S. Along those lines, global regulators have recognized
that drone operators are very unlikely to encounter crewed aircraft at
low altitudes, such as the ``atypical airspace'' in the vicinity of
natural or artificial obstacles (e.g. within 100 feet of structures or
terrain).\5\ That is where we should start: enabling small, smart, low-
weight, drones to fly BVLOS while remaining close to the ground and
structures. After mastering those operations, we can begin to enable
more complex operations with larger aircraft at higher altitudes and
longer range.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ See, e.g., Joint Authorities for Rulemaking of Unmanned
Systems, JARUS Guidelines on SORA (Specific Operational Risk
Assessment), Annex I: Glossary of Terms, p. 5, definition of ``atypical
airspace,'' http://jarus-rpas.org/sites/jarus-rpas.org/files/
jar_doc_06_jarus_sora_
annex_i_v1.0.pdf#page=5. JARUS, a consortium of global regulators,
recognizes that drone operations within ``atypical airspace'' in close
proximity to structures and terrain generally do not require additional
airspace risk mitigation measures.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Promoting pathways for increasing levels of autonomy while
protecting safety: The second principle calls for regulators to provide
pathways for drones to exercise increasing levels of autonomy.
a. Why: First, autonomy is critical to safety. Trustworthy
autonomy enables drones to conduct complex operations while avoiding
obstacles that even the most proficient pilots may miss. Second,
autonomy is critical to scalability. The same trustworthy autonomy
technology that today allows drones to fly inside bridge trusses and
transmission towers will one day enable Advanced Air Mobility (AAM)
vehicles to shuttle cargo and people safely between cities. Without
autonomy, the AAM revolution risks becoming a tool for the wealthy few,
rather than an enabling technology for the many.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ Skip Descant, Flying Taxis: Experts Balance Enthusiasm Against
Reality, Government Technology, Sept 11, 2020, https://www.govtech.com/
fs/Flying-Taxis-Experts-Balance-Enthusiasm-Against-Reality.html
(quoting Dan Dalton, VP of Global Partnerships, Wisk) (``In order for
this industry to scale, we really believe that this has to be a self-
piloted aircraft.'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
b. How: In order to maintain U.S. leadership in emerging
technology and aviation, we must enable autonomous operations. We can
start small--but we have to start somewhere. If we fail to act,
autonomy pioneers will take their talent and investments overseas.
Congress could begin by directing the FAA to enable limited autonomous
operations within the context of a pilot program that would bring
together public and private partners, much like the current FAA BEYOND
program, but focused on autonomy. Operations could begin at low
altitude in remote areas, and scale up from there. The most important
thing is to get started--soon.
IV. Conclusion
I am grateful to the Committee for focusing on the future of U.S.
leadership in aviation. This Committee deserves great credit for
helping to cultivate a regulatory system that promotes both safety and
innovation. Working together, we can ensure the United States leads the
second century of aviation--providing extraordinary benefits for our
economy, workers on the front lines of the infrastructure crisis, and
all Americans.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Mr. Bry. I appreciate that very
much.
I now want to turn to Mr. Harter. Mr. Harter, you are
recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Harter. Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, I
would like to thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
My name is Pierre Harter, and I am director of research and
development for the National Institute for Aviation Research at
Wichita State University. I will start with some background.
After dominating in the 20th century, the U.S. aerospace
industry continues to be a world leader in this century as
well. The gap has closed significantly in the commercial
aviation sector, hastened by the pandemic and the MAX
grounding. Significant competition remains and is growing. U.S.
general aviation continues to slowly recover from the shock of
the 2009 financial crisis and other factors with significant
consolidation in the sector and continued pressure from
international competition.
In the defense industry, the U.S. continues to maintain air
dominance. The global arms race for unmanned aerial systems and
hypersonics is well underway, spurring innovation that will
impact the aerospace industry for years to come.
The U.S. aerospace supply chain is still in a precarious
position, recovering from multiple recent global shocks.
In aerospace manufacturing, transformation is well underway
and will accelerate as we emerge from the pandemic. This
transformation has been both physical and digital, across
existing production lines, as well as sustainment of legacy
fleets, incorporating new technologies and innovations in areas
such as automation, digital engineering, Industrial Internet of
Things, artificial intelligence and other technologies.
Now let's focus on the importance of innovation. Aviation
has always been a source of innovation and inspiration going
back to the Wright brothers' first flight in 1903. In many
ways, the next two decades hold the promise to transform our
daily lives as significantly as that event did for the 20th
century.
Advanced aerial mobility and supersonic flight will create
new travel paradigms and provide us with unprecedented global
and local connectivity. Unmanned aerial systems technology will
provide new and faster methods for delivering goods and
services, transforming business-to-business and business-to-
consumer transactions.
Electric technologies will provide cleaner, quieter, and
more efficient propulsion systems. Continued advancements in
composite materials, added to manufacturing and production
system technologies, will increase efficiency and reduce costs
across all of aerospace.
Safety must of course remain at the core of all aviation
related innovations but must be balanced by enabling new
technologies to enter the market efficiently, which inherently
enhances safety.
To remain the world leader in aerospace, the United States
must continue to evolve and execute a strategic plan to create
an environment that allows U.S.-based companies to innovate and
be first to market with these new technologies while
maintaining safety and security. We must continue to embrace
strong public-private partnerships to establish the strategic
framework and shape the regulatory environment. In addition, we
must invest in research and development that enables new
designs, products, materials, and manufacturing technologies
that enable U.S. businesses to efficiently design, certify, and
manufacture the most advanced air vehicles of the future.
Wichita State University's National Institute for Aviation
Research has a proven track record for supporting industry and
Government agencies in developing, certifying, and bringing new
technologies to market, as well as preparing the workforce for
the future.
Since its inception in 1985, NIAR has made a name for
itself as the most capable university-based aviation research
center in the United States, providing research, design,
testing, certification, and training to the aviation
manufacturing industry, Government agencies, education
entities, and other clients that can benefit from our services.
Because of NIAR's research efforts, Wichita State University
currently ranks fourth among all U.S. universities in
aeronautical R&D expenditures, and first in industry funding
for aeronautical expenditures according to the National Science
Foundation.
NIAR's mission is to conduct research, transfer technology,
and enhance education for the purpose of advancing the Nation's
aviation industry, and to assist nonaviation industries that
may benefit from aviation-related technologies.
Some of NIAR's areas of expertise are its additive
manufacturing and prototyping, advanced manufacturing,
composites and advanced materials, digital twinning,
engineering design and modification, reverse engineering,
robotics, and virtual engineering.
NIAR also runs several centers and participates in
initiatives that are strategically aligned with the institute's
capabilities and mission. NIAR centers promote the safety,
research, manufacturing, and design elements of today's
aviation industry. They strengthen airworthiness assurance in
the short term and long term.
In conclusion, it is apparent that U.S. dominance in
aerospace is a critical economic driver and a national security
imperative. The next two decades promise exciting new aerospace
innovations and products that will transform the way we live
and work, enhancing the quality of life for Americans and the
rest of the world.
As in the past, the Government must continue to support
innovation by incorporating these new technologies into its
strategic framework. Investment in R&D and capitalizing on
industry, academia, and Government partnerships will enable
safe, secure, and efficient introduction of these new
technologies and products.
WSU and NIAR look forward to continue working with industry
and Government to conduct research, transfer technology, and
enhance education for the purpose of advancing the Nation's
aerospace industry. I appreciate the opportunity to testify and
would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
[Mr. Harter's prepared statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Pierre F. Harter, Director of Research and
Development, National Institute for Aviation Research, and Associate
Vice President for Industry and Defense Programs, Research Operations,
Wichita State University
Thank You
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, I would like to thank
you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Pierre Harter, and
I am Director of Research and Development for the National Institute
for Aviation Research and Associate VP for Industry and Defense
Programs, Research Operations at Wichita State University.
Background
After dominating in the 20th century, the U.S. aerospace industry
continues to be the world leader in this century as well. The gap has
closed significantly in the commercial aviation sector, hastened by the
pandemic and the MAX grounding. Significant competition remains and is
growing, with major world powers (e.g. China, Russia, Japan, India,
Brazil) working to introduce new indigenous commercial platforms (with
some being nationalized) to capture the economic and trade benefits
associated with this industry and its products.
U.S. general aviation continues to slowly recover from the shock of
the 2009 financial crisis, with significant consolidation in the sector
and continued pressure from international competition.
In the defense industry, the U.S. continues to maintain air
dominance in traditional manned aircraft, although the competition is
stiff. Widely reported cybersecurity/espionage threats in the 21st
century have tightened the gap. The global arms race for unmanned
aerial systems (both autonomously and remotely flown) and hypersonics
is well underway, spurring innovation that will impact the aerospace
industry for years to come--and in some cases, the military relies on
innovation coming from commercial industry sectors like aerospace.
The U.S. (and international) aerospace supply chain is still in a
precarious position recovering from multiple recent global shocks \1\.
The aerospace supply chain is an essential component of the U.S.
economy that provides a competitive edge. It must remain a strategic
asset as well as national defense priority, as much of it serves the
civil, commercial, and military sectors.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Robin Lineberger, John Coykendall, Alan D. Faber, Steve
Shepley. Deloitte. ``2021 aerospace and defense industry outlook''.
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/manufacturing/articles/global-
aerospace-and-defense-industry-outlook.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the aerospace supply chain (civil, commercial and defense), as
well as the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), transformation was
well underway and will accelerate as we emerge from the pandemic. This
transformation has been both physical and digital across existing
production lines as well as sustainment of legacy fleets--incorporating
new technologies and innovations in areas such as robotics, automation,
digital engineering, additive manufacturing, Industrial Internet of
Things (IIoT), data science, artificial intelligence and other
technologies (aka ``Industry 4.0'' and ``Advanced Manufacturing'').
Technological advances in hardware, software, composites, and other
advanced materials have spurred innovation in recent years in several
new areas that are within the focus of this hearing:
Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), also referred to as
``drones'' or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) with some nuances
Advanced Aerial Mobility (AAM), also referred to as Urban
Air Mobility (UAM)
Supersonic (Mach 1-5) and hypersonic (greater than Mach
5) transportation
Electric propulsion
Innovation
Aviation has always been a source of innovation and inspiration
going back to the Wright Brother's first flight in 1903. In many ways,
the next two decades hold the promise to transform our daily lives as
significantly as that event did for the twentieth century.
Advanced aerial mobility (AAM) and supersonic flight will create
new travel paradigms and provide us with unprecedented global and local
connectivity. Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) technology will provide new
and faster methods for delivering goods, transforming business-to-
business and business-to-consumer transactions, similar to how
ecommerce has transformed our daily lives. Electric technologies will
provide cleaner, quieter, and more efficient propulsion systems that
will drive a variety of these new air vehicle platforms. Continued
advancements in composite materials, additive manufacturing, and
production system technologies will increase efficiency and reduce
costs for these new entrants, as well as the ``traditional'' general
aviation and commercial aircraft designs of the future.
I would also like to highlight the importance of advanced air
mobility as an emerging sector of the aviation industry. We need
broader thinking to facilitate industry growth within this realm, and
we are pleased to see both House and Senate legislation working to
address this important topic through the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM)
Coordination and Leadership Act. This legislation will facilitate
collaboration between federal agencies and civil aviation industry
leaders to develop policies regarding advanced air mobility, ensuring
we advance United States global leadership and competitiveness within
this growing sector.
It certainly is an exciting time in aviation history, with so much
innovation underway and on the horizon. And the stakes are high--as
these technologies will transform how we do business domestically and
internationally, and even more fundamentally, how we live and interact
with each other on a daily basis.
It is imperative that we recognize, as this hearing is, the promise
that these new innovations will bring. Safety must of course remain at
the core of all aviation-related innovations, but must be balanced by
enabling new technologies to enter the market efficiently, which
inherently enhances safety. The United States must maintain its
competitive advantage in aerospace, as it will continue to remain a
dominate economic driver and a national defense imperative.
To remain the world leader in aerospace, the United States must
develop and execute a strategic plan to create an environment that
allows U.S.-based companies to innovate and be first to market with
these new technologies, while maintaining safety and security \2\. To
do this, we must continue to embrace strong public-private partnerships
to help establish the strategic framework and shape the regulatory
environment. In addition, we must invest in research and development
that enables new designs/products, materials and manufacturing
technologies that enable U.S. businesses to efficiently design,
certify, and manufacture the most advanced air vehicles of the future.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Source: Robin Lineberger, Aijaz Hussain and David Silver.
Deloitte Insights. ``Advanced air mobility: Can the United States
afford to lose the race?''. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/
industry/aerospace-defense/advanced-air-mobility.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wichita State University's National Institute for Aviation Research
has a proven track record for supporting industry and government
agencies in developing, certifying and bringing new technologies to
market. An excellent example of this is composite technology.
Composites--Case Study
Composites have transformed aerospace since their introduction in
the late 1970s and 1980s. Early on, adoption was limited to OEMs with
deep pockets to invest in proprietary structural material databases and
analytical tools for certification. In many cases, identical materials
were used by multiple OEMs, each having to create their own database at
their own cost. This created a barrier to entry, and hence stifled
innovation.
Recognizing this barrier, a partnership was formed in the 1990s
with the FAA, NASA, academia and industry. The partnership was
successful in transforming the way new composite material databases
were created and approved for use on aircraft utilizing a shared
database methodology. This collaboration between the FAA, NASA, NIAR
and industry reduced the ``time required for certification of new
composite materials by a factor of four and the cost of certification
by a factor of ten'' \3\.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Source: Statement of John Tomblin, Ph.D. before the U.S. Senate
Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space.
February 27th, 2003. https://www.globalsecurity.org/space/library/
congress/2003_h/030227-tomblin.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over the last two decades, NIAR's relationship with government and
industry has evolved significantly. NIAR is the world's only non-OEM
entity that the FAA, and its counterpart in Europe (EASA), accept for
developing new composite materials and specifications \4\. NIAR
partners with OEMs, as well as sub-tiers and material suppliers, to
test and create certified material databases. Adoption has been broad,
starting with general aviation and quickly moving into commercial and
defense applications. Recognizing this expertise and experience, NIAR
now oversees the Composite Materials Handbook (CMH-17, formerly MIL-
HDBK-17) and works with industry and government to continuously amend
and add new content to this handbook that provides methods and guidance
material for certifying composite structure. NIAR also provides
research and guidance to government agencies for policy and regulatory
guidance material for composite structures as well as other
certification areas (e.g. crash worthiness).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ Sources: AIR100-2010-120-003.pdf (faa.gov) and Certification
Memorandum_v2 (europa.eu)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In recent years, this composite expertise has extended into the
additive manufacturing field. In 2019, working with government and
industry, NIAR provided new guidance for how to certify non-metallic
additive manufacturing materials and added the first AM material system
to its shared database--ULTEM 9085. NIAR is now working with government
agencies (FAA and DoD) as well as respected industry advisory groups
(America Makes, SAE International, ASTM International, Metallic
Material Property Development and Standardization (MMPDS), and others)
to create guidance material and create shared databases for metallic AM
materials. The first effort is with a titanium alloy, which is a
critical structural material for civil and military air vehicles.
New epoxy composite material systems continue to evolve, providing
higher strength and stiffness, lower costs, and higher operating
temperatures. Many companies are investigating and deploying new
thermoplastic polymer matrix composite (TP PMC) materials into
structure. These materials offer the ability to drastically reduce
composite manufacturing times down to the automotive-like efficiencies,
while offering higher temperature capabilities required for primary
structure and supersonic applications where skin friction at supersonic
speeds creates significant heat on the structure.
The hypersonic regime (speeds greater than Mach 5), creates a new
challenge for materials and manufacturing based on the intense heat
generated by skin friction at these speeds. Efforts are already
underway at NIAR, and industry partner Spirit AeroSystems Inc., to
build the infrastructure needed to create and test these new ultra-high
temperature materials. See Figure 1 for more details on the evolving
advanced material landscape applicable across all sonic speed zones.
Figure 1: Material Application in Aerostructures. Source: Spirit
AeroSystems Inc.
All of this was made possible via strategic decisions by the U.S.
government in the 1990's to fund R&D efforts in this area and embrace
public and private collaborations to create new policy, guidance and
regulations to enable innovation that has carried through to present
day. It is this successful model of investment in R&D and public-
private collaboration that will continue to enable innovation in U.S.
aerospace allowing U.S. companies to be first-to-market and maintain
the leading edge.
Wichita State University and the National Institute for Aviation
Research
Since its inception in 1985, National Institute for Aviation
Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University has made a name for itself
as the most capable university-based aviation research center in the
United States, providing research, design, testing, certification and
training to the aviation manufacturing industry, government agencies,
educational entities and other clients that can benefit from our
services. NIAR has a $125 million annual budget, a staff of over 875,
and over one million square feet of laboratory and office space in six
locations across the city of Wichita, the Air Capital of the World.
The Brookings Institution ranks:
Wichita #1 in manufacturing jobs as a percentage of all
jobs.
South Central Kansas as the most manufacturing-
specialized region in the United States with 17.7 percent of regional
jobs in manufacturing, more than half of which are engaged in making
some of the world's most sophisticated aircraft.
Wichita has the highest concentration of aerospace
manufacturing employment in the nation.
Wichita is ranked #3 nationally as an advanced industry
hotspot.
Wichita ranks # 1 in percentage of jobs involving stem
occupation.
Wichita ranks #3 among metros for highest concentration
of engineers per 1,000 employees (22.4/1000)
A key contributor to these rankings, the NIAR mission is to conduct
research, transfer technology and enhance education for the purpose of
advancing the nation's aviation industry, and to assist non-aviation
industries that may benefit from aviation-related technologies. NIAR's
areas of expertise are:
Additive Manufacturing & Prototyping
Advanced Coatings
Advanced Manufacturing
Aerodynamics
Ballistic and Impact Dynamics
Composites and Advanced Materials
Crash Dynamics
Digital Twin
Engineering Design & Modification (WERX)
Environmental and Electromagnetic Testing
Extended Reality
Flight Simulation
Full-Scale Structural Testing
Nondestructive Testing
Sustainability
Reverse Engineering
Robotics and Automation
Virtual Engineering
Wind Tunnel Testing
NIAR also runs several centers and participates in initiatives that
are strategically aligned with the institute's capabilities and
mission. NIAR's centers promote the safety, research, manufacturing and
design elements of today's aviation industry. They strengthen
airworthiness assurance in the short and long term. They make the
concerns of the general aviation industry their own. And they make
dreams of a reality. This happens not only through NIAR's own research,
but through the exchange of knowledge with researchers in other
centers.
Those centers include:
ATLAS Advanced Technologies Lab for Aerospace Systems (ATLAS)
NIAR's ATLAS is a multi-disciplinary manufacturing environment
and engineering education program to prepare engineers and
educators for the Factory of the Future and to aid the current
workforce in seamlessly adapting to advancements in the
workplace. ATLAS's mission is to provide a neutral ground for
advanced manufacturing research and development with state-of-
the-art machines, software and processing options.
Aircraft Structural Test & Evaluation Center (ASTEC)
NIAR's ASTEC encompasses 130,000 square feet (39,000 square
meters). The facility features include a 30x70-foot hangar
door, a clear span of 265 feet (80 meters) and ceiling height
of 48 feet (14 meters). ASTEC is a secure site designed to
perform proprietary client research and testing. The facility
is currently home to the institute's Full-Scale Structural Test
Lab, Aging Aircraft Lab, Mechanical Test Lab and Ballistics
Lab.
3DEXPERIENCE Center
The 3DEXPERIENCE Center, a partnership with Dassault Systemes,
involves an interconnected community of top researchers,
corporations and laboratories to accelerate innovation. The
22,000 sq. ft. facility at Wichita State University offers the
expertise and technology for companies to accelerate their
innovation. Aerospace and other industries can target
improvements from concept to production and extend to
operations--all while facilitating certification. The
3DEXPERIENCE Center enables companies to engage in advanced
product development and the manufacturing of next-generation
materials and technologies.
Jerry Moran Center for Advanced Virtual Engineering & Testing
The Advanced Virtual Engineering and Testing Lab (AVET) was
opened in 2019. It was dedicated to Kansas Senator Jerry Moran
in 2020 as tribute to Moran's commitment to helping WSU fulfill
its vision and mission to provide impactful student experiences
that drive prosperity in our region. AVET is home to NIAR's
Virtual Engineering and Crash Dynamics Labs. The facility
features additional client prep bays, which will allow multiple
clients to be in the lab at the same time, while maintaining
privacy during testing. It also includes workspace for 40+
virtual engineering staff, three collaboration rooms and
secured areas for restricted projects; and a space for related
technologies such as material/component testing and virtual
reality.
National Center for Advanced Materials Performance (NCAMP)
The National Center for Advanced Materials Performance (NCAMP),
located at WSU-NIAR provides the nation's commercial and
military aviation industry with a center for the validation and
quality assurance of composites and advanced materials.
Composite Materials Handbook-17 (CMH-17)
The CMH-17 organization, administered by Wichita State
University, provides information and guidance necessary to
design and fabricate end items from composite materials. Its
primary purpose is the standardization of engineering data
development methodologies related to testing, data reduction,
and data reporting of property data for current and emerging
composite materials. In support of this objective, the handbook
includes composite materials properties that meet specific data
requirements. CMH-17 works closely with NCAMP to approve
composite specification and design values.
FAA Center of Excellence for Composites and Advanced Materials (CECAM)
CECAM is an FAA-sponsored consortium of universities competent
in advanced materials research. CECAM is led by Wichita State
University, which interacts directly with the FAA to support
its advanced materials safety programs.
FAA ASSURE Center of Excellence for UAS Research
WSU is one of 24 core research institutions within the FAA's
Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence
(ASSURE). ASSURE's mission is to provide high-quality research
and support to autonomy stakeholders both within the US and
beyond to safely and efficiently integrate autonomous systems
into the national and international infrastructure, thereby
increasing commerce and overall public safety and benefit.
Kansas Aviation Research & Technology Growth Initiative (KART)
The Kansas Aviation Research & Technology Growth Initiative
uses funds provided by the Department of Commerce and the
Kansas Legislature with the goal of strengthening a variety of
aircraft industry technologies and marketing them to other
areas outside the State of Kansas and the United States. The
Kansas Aviation Research & Technology Growth Initiative will
help retain and grow the aviation cluster in Kansas and help
Kansas aviation companies remain competitive throughout the
21st century.
FirePoint Innovations Center
Established in 2018, FirePoint partners with the U.S. Army's
Combat Capabilities Development Command, Aviation and Missile
Center (DEVCOM AvMC) to accelerate the delivery of innovative
capabilities to the warfighter. FirePoint creates a
collaborative and networked environment of national scope to
investigate, collaborate and produce courses of action to solve
technology and equipment challenges identified by the Army.
National Institute for Research and Digital Transformation (NIRDT)
The newly created (2019) National Institute for Research and
Digital Transformation at Wichita State focuses on diversifying
and growing the economy while providing an important platform
for creating new academic and applied learning programs for
students. NIRDT is based on the model and strengths of NIAR,
but focused on developing technology that can transform other
industries, including aviation, to drive economic development
and support new ventures in Kansas and the United States.
Kansas's leadership in aerospace research and development and its
strong aerospace manufacturing presence is reflected in Wichita State
University. Because of NIAR's research efforts, Wichita State
University currently ranks fourth among all U.S. universities in
aeronautical R&D expenditures according to the National Science
Foundation. WSU ranks first in industry funding for aeronautical
expenditures. See Figure 2. WSU and NIARs R&D expenditures have
steadily increased over the last two decades, a testament to its unique
capabilities and ability to collaborate successfully with government
and industry as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 2: WSU aeronautical R&D expenditures 2019 rankings (Source:
National Science Foundation survey 2019)
Figure 3: WSU aeronautical historical R&D expenditures (Source:
National Science Foundation Surveys 2012-2020)
Summary
In conclusion, it is apparent that U.S. dominance in aerospace is a
critical economic driver and national security imperative. The next two
decades promise exciting new aerospace innovations and products that
will transform the way we live and work--enhancing the quality of life
for Americans and the rest of the world. As in the past, the government
must continue to support innovation by incorporating these new
technologies into its strategic framework. Investment in R&D and
capitalizing on industry/academia/government partnerships will enable
safe, secure and efficient introduction of these new technologies and
products. WSU and NIAR look forward to continue working with industry
and government to conduct research, transfer technology and enhance
education for the purpose of advancing the nation's aviation industry.
I appreciate the opportunity to testify today and would be happy to
answer any questions you may have.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Harter, for your
testimony.
I will now turn to Mr. Roei Ganzarski from the great State
of Washington and what some say is the best district in the
country: the Second Congressional District of Washington State.
About 700,000 people say that in fact.
So Mr. Ganzarski, I will recognize your 5 minutes. And good
to see you.
Mr. Ganzarski. Good morning, Chairman Larsen, Ranking
Member Graves, and esteemed committee members.
My name is Roei Ganzarski, and I am the CEO of magniX.
Headquartered in the great city of Everett, Washington, we
design and manufacture all-electric propulsion systems for
commercially focused aircraft.
Before I begin, I wanted to express what an honor this is
for me to be testifying here. I came to this country 24 years
ago in pursuit of an education and found a home, a haven to
raise a family, and a flourishing environment to work in. The
American dream is alive and well and I thank you for that.
Accessible, affordable, equitable, environmentally clean,
quieter--this is the future of aviation we should be striving
for in the United States. A future that offers all Americans
the ability to fly in convenient door-to-door fashion without
causing harm.
In this future, the average American only drives a short
distance to an airport, arrives 15 minutes before their flight,
boards without hassles, and flies up to a few hours. This
sounds like a utopia, but for the most part, the technologies
and infrastructure to do this exist or are being developed and
flight proven as I speak. It is called the electric age of
aviation.
On the world stage, the U.S. has always been a leader. Be
it economics, culture, or technology, the world looked to the
U.S. as a beacon for the future. However, with aviation, our
country is falling short of our reputation for pioneering
innovation and leading industry.
In Europe, countries are pledging domestic flights be
electric by 2030, banning short flights that produce emissions,
and providing hundreds of millions of dollars to advance
carbon-free aviation.
As the home of the Wright brothers and Apollo 11, our
legacy of asking ``Why not?'' demands ambitious, aspirational,
and forward-thinking action. Electric aircraft will have
significantly lower operating costs, stemming from cheap
electricity, and significantly less maintenance needs. This
means operators can provide much more affordable services using
smaller aircraft flying from and to smaller airports, all with
significantly lower noise and zero emissions. We can truly
connect all of America by air and do so cleanly.
Doing this will require us to be bold. As bold as President
Kennedy was when he announced the dramatic and ambitious goal
of sending an American safely to the moon. But like conquering
the moon, commercial electric aviation is an audacious goal;
one that will require determination, focus, and grit, and that
will compel us to put our best minds to work and make
sacrifices as we make advances.
We have everything we need here in the United States.
magniX, for example, has been flying all-electric, commercially
focused aircraft since December of 2019. And our FAA
certification, part 33, is on track for 2022, which means there
is a real possibility that smaller, all-electric aircraft can
start flying with people and packages on short routes within
the next 4 years. It will not be easy. But let's not forget
that we did not reach the moon in one attempt or one stage.
Expecting electric aviation to power a 737-sized aircraft
as it flies across the country is not reasonable at this stage.
We must start with smaller aircraft flying shorter routes from,
and to, smaller airports.
As investments are made, policies are set, incentives
introduced, and technologies progress, we will advance to
larger and longer distances. With the current state of
technology, our President and Congress can set a bold and
ambitious goal of having all-electric aircraft start to perform
commercial flights up to 250 miles by the end of 2024 and up to
1,000 miles by 2030. Doing this will also lead to thousands of
clean jobs across the country.
Congress needs to provide incentives for operators to adopt
electric aircraft for existing and new routes, incentives for
airports who invest in charging capabilities, and incentives
for manufacturers to develop all-electric aviation solutions.
These incentives can include grants, tax credits, and more. I
also propose amending the Essential Air Service, a taxpayer-
funded program, by adding an environmental performance
criterion to be awarded subsidies.
Separately I will share that the FAA is doing an amazing
job working with the right attitude and approach with these new
technologies, but they are lacking in resources. I highly
recommend more funding for the FAA to hire and train more
people in electric aviation.
I will conclude by shamelessly paraphrasing President
Kennedy, because his words are as relevant and accurate today
as they were for the Space Race in 1962: We choose to
transition to electric aviation within the next 4 years, not
because it is easy, but because it is hard. Because that goal
will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and
skills. Because that challenge is one that we are willing to
accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we
intend to win.
Thank you for the opportunity to share my insight. The
United States must seize the moment and lead. magniX is proud
to be a part of returning the American aviation industry to
preeminence and global leadership with the electric age of
aviation.
Thank you.
[Mr. Ganzarski's prepared statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Roei Ganzarski, Chief Executive Officer, magniX
Good morning Chairman Larsen, Ranking Member Graves, and esteemed
members of the Aviation Subcommittee. My name is Roei Ganzarski and I
am the CEO of magniX. magniX, headquartered in Everett, WA, designs and
manufactures all-electric propulsion systems for commercially focused
aircraft. I am also the executive chairman of Eviation. Headquartered
in Arlington, WA, Eviation designs and manufactures electric aircraft
starting with the Alice, a 9-passenger all electric commuter aircraft.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to provide my insights on the
future of aviation in the United States.
Before I begin, I wanted to express what a personal honor this is
for me to be testifying here in front of you. I came to this country 24
years ago from Israel, in pursuit of a graduate education at the
University of Washington. In addition to a great education, I found a
home; a haven to start a family and raise three amazing children; and a
flourishing environment to expand my career, grow companies, and create
jobs. The American Dream is alive and well. I thank you for that.
Accessible, affordable, equitable, environmentally cleaner, and
quieter--this is the future of aviation we should be striving for in
the United States. An aviation system that offers and promotes the
ability to travel, send and receive packages, and commute in a low-
cost, sustainable, quick, and convenient door-to-door fashion. This is
the future of aviation that I, and the entire team at magniX and
Eviation, are working towards.
In this future aviation system, the average American, including in
more rural areas, should be able to drive no more than 15 minutes to
their nearest airport (most likely not a large metropolitan hub
airport), arrive there only 15 minutes ahead of their flight, walk
onboard without hassles or waiting in lines since the airport is
smaller, fly for up to a few hours, land, and arrive at their
destination in another 15 minutes, because their smaller arrival
airport (most likely not a large metropolitan hub airport) is closer to
their final destination. While this may sound like an unrealistic
utopia, for the most part, the technology and infrastructure to provide
such an aerospace environment is being developed, flight-proven, and on
the path to FAA certification today.
It is called the ``Electric Age of Aviation.''
It will happen. The question is: will the Unites Stated lead or
lag?
On the world stage, the United States has always been a leader.
Whether it is economics, culture, or technology, the world looked to
the US to see and understand the future. In aviation, the United States
will always be remembered and respected for that magical Wright
Brothers' first powered flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
However, I am afraid our country is now falling short. We are
falling short of our reputation for pioneering innovation; falling
short of our track record in leading an industry; and in particular,
falling short for not embracing two major cultural shifts that are
happening both globally and domestically: a shift to democratize
demand-driven aviation in a way that makes it available and accessible
to all, and a shift to propel clean energy in aviation.
Sweden and Norway are increasing their commitments to curb
emissions by pledging that all domestic flights will be electric--in
other words, emission-free--by 2030 and 2040, respectively. France is
right now passing legislation that will ban short-haul flights as long
as they produce emissions. The United Kingdom is directly providing its
aviation industry with hundreds of millions of dollars to advance
carbon-free technology. In fact, the UK is attracting U.S. companies to
move across the pond.
As the home of the Wright brothers, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas
Edison, and Apollo 11, our legacy as leaders, inventors, innovators,
and a country that asks ``why not'' demands ambitious, aspirational,
and forward-thinking policies to spur immediate and bold action, and
encourage behavioral change on a grand scale. We must use the power of
pro-active government policy and incentives to help propel progress.
Some positive movement has recently started. Congressman Graves
(Louisiana) and Representative Davids (Kansas) introduced the Advanced
Air Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act. The legislation focuses
on development of new transportation options, moving goods, amplifying
economic activity and jobs, advancing environmental sustainability and
new technologies, and supporting emergency preparedness and
competitiveness.
Reps. Larsen (Washington), Schrier (Washington), and Davids
(Kansas) introduced the National Evaluation of Aviation and Aerospace
Solutions to Climate Change Act, instructing the U.S. Department of
Transportation to partner with the National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering and Medicine to study, catalogue and report on
technologies, processes, materials or practices that contribute to the
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
With that said, much more must happen. The United States must act
in unity and continue to move rapidly, aggressively, intentionally and
with focus, if we want to lead this global electric aviation revolution
that is happening.
This global electric aviation revolution, promises significantly
lower costs of aircraft operations, significantly reduced noise
pollution, and zero carbon (CO2) emissions. The hourly operating costs
of all-electric aircraft are 40 to 80 percent lower than using
traditional fuel-based technologies. These savings stem from two main
elements. The first is the much cheaper price of electricity when
compared to fuel. For example, a ninety-minute flight on a nine-
passenger fossil-fuel powered aircraft will burn about $424 in fuel.
The all-electric version of the same aircraft will only use $24 in
electricity. The second reason for the lower operating costs is
maintenance. Current engine technology is very complex, requires many
parts working in unison turning at thousands and tens of thousands of
revolutions per minute, at very high temperatures under substantial
friction. This requires significant, regular, time consuming, and
expensive maintenance. An electric propulsion system only has one
moving part, turning at very low revolutions per minute, and operating
at relatively low temperatures. The simplicity of electric propulsion
means dramatically reduced maintenance costs.
Transitioning to all-electric aviation means airline operators gain
efficiency, can better respond to increasing demand with smaller
aircraft flying from and to smaller airports, and offer more affordable
pricing for travelers and cargo alike. And this transition means lower
noise and zero emissions. Moreover, with the country's electric grid
becoming cleaner and more renewable every year, we are on a clear
pathway for an entirely clean electric value chain.
By incentivizing the move of the aviation industry to electric
flight by using small to mid-sized aircraft, we will be creating
affordable access to and from more rural areas and we can better
connect all of America. We can fulfill the vision this country had for
the aviation industry in the 1930s, '40s, and as late as the '60s, when
the massive number of small regional airports we have today in this
country were built.
Doing this will require us all to be bold. I would like to take you
back to a time our country and our leadership had the intestinal
fortitude to make courageous investments, take decisive action, and
lead the world. On September 12, 1962 President John F. Kennedy told an
audience at Rice University:
`` . . . So it is not surprising that some would have us stay
where we are a little longer to rest, to wait . . . but this
country of the United States was not built by those who waited
and rested and wished to look behind them. This country was
conquered by those who moved forward . . . We choose to go to
the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because
they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal
will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and
skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to
accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we
intend to win, and the others, too. It is for these reasons
that I regard the decision last year to shift our efforts in
space from low to high gear as among the most important
decisions that will be made during my incumbency in the office
of the Presidency . . . To be sure, we are behind, and will be
behind for some time in manned flight. But we do not intend to
stay behind, and in this decade, we shall make up and move
ahead.''
Like conquering space and the moon, commercial electric aviation is
an audacious goal. A goal that will require determination, focus, and
grit. A goal that will compel us to put our best minds to work and make
sacrifices as we make advances. A goal that will require the US
government to make changes in our policies, regulations, and funding.
We have all the ingredients we need right here in the United States
to lead us on this tough journey. Companies like magniX and Eviation
are doing this work right now. We have been designing, building, and
flight testing the required technologies and solutions, and as
companies, we are currently in a global pole position to lead the
industry. In 2019, magniX retrofitted and flew the first-ever all-
electric commercially-focused aircraft--a five-passenger de Havilland
Beaver (eBeaver) in partnership with Harbour Air--that took flight on
December 10, 2019 in Vancouver, BC. It has been flying ever since,
collecting data, testing performance, measuring noise, and more.
A few months after the eBeaver's flight, in Moses Lake, WA, magniX
started flying the world's largest all-electric commercially-focused
plane--the magnified 9-12 passenger Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, now
known as the eCaravan. With this aircraft flying at 8,000 feet, new
heights were literally and figuratively achieved in terms of electric
aircraft power and performance.
Both of our aircraft flew without creating emissions. That is
right--not one ounce of CO2 was emitted from these flights. Later this
year, the nine passenger, all-electric Eviation Alice, the first
aircraft to be designed from the ground up as an electric commuter,
will be taking flight for the first time in Arlington, WA. This will be
a monumental watershed moment for our industry. And it too, will fly
without emissions.
Our all-electric flight test aircraft measured that electric
aircraft noise energies are 100 times lower than those of traditional
fossil-fuel-based engines. In practical terms, when one of these
aircraft is taking off 300 feet away from you, it sounds like people
having a regular conversation next to you versus what it is today--
noise levels of a vacuum cleaner operating next to your ears.
This topic is not, well, simply noise. Noise pollution is an
important yet often sidelined pollutant from aircraft. The Harvard
School of Public Health and Boston University School of Public Health
found that people exposed to aircraft noise may face increased risk of
being hospitalized for cardiovascular disease. And the number one cause
of death in the US is heart disease. At significantly reduced noise
levels, all-electric aircraft will also have far reaching impacts to
our society and health.
The Environmental Protection Agency reports that aircraft
contribute 12 percent of U.S. transportation emissions and account for
three percent of the nation's total greenhouse gas production. In the
United States alone, 45,000 flights carrying three million airline
passengers take off every single day. If we continue down this path, by
2050, commercial aircraft emissions could triple, given the projected
growth of passenger air travel and freight. This is not sustainable.
Rapidly introducing electric aircraft that produce zero carbon
emissions is absolutely essential to a clean-energy and healthy future.
In addition to flying electric aircraft to prove out the technology
and its benefits, magniX has also been working closely with the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) on certification. The FAA has already
published the Special Conditions by which it will evaluate magniX's
electric propulsion and magniX is on a path to FAA certification before
the end of 2022.
Based on my experience, I believe the FAA is doing a great job and
is working with the right attitude and approach. The agency is making
every effort to learn about the new technologies and their benefits,
while maintaining the utmost integrity when it comes to safety,
reliability, and quality. As I plan to have my own children and,
eventually, grandchildren fly on these new aircraft, I appreciate the
work the FAA are doing and expect them to continue to uphold the utmost
safety and reliability standards.
With that being said, I think the FAA lacks the resources it needs
for the enormity of the task ahead. They do not have enough staff to
adequately support the new entrants and new technologies being
introduced at a lightning pace. The resource shortage at the FAA is
already creating delays; I fear that it will only get worse. I highly
recommend that additional funding be provided to the FAA so that it can
hire and train experienced staff and support the timely entry of new
companies and technologies into the marketplace. This will also
position the FAA to be the most knowledgeable and experienced regulator
on this new technology, and enable them to teach and lead other
regulatory agencies worldwide.
With electric propulsion certification on track for 2022, that
means there is a real possibility for smaller all-electric aircraft to
start flying people and packages on short routes within the next four
years--within this current Administration's first term. This is an
audacious--but realistic--goal for our industry.
The feasibility and benefits of electric aviation are clear and
proven. I know the naysayers, many of them within the ranks of the
incumbents of the industry's current antiquated technology, will
provide many reasons why electric aviation is not feasible, why risks
are not worth taking, why more time should be spent researching,
analyzing, and debating, while the world moves ahead. Most of those
reasons stick to a familiar theme: energy density of batteries and/or
hydrogen fuel cells. Indeed, as I testify before you today, batteries
and fuel cells are not powerful enough for a large-scale aircraft, also
known in industry as a single isle or twin isle aircraft, carrying 100
people or more, to fly 2,327 miles non-stop from Seattle to Washington,
D.C. Batteries are only good enough today, in 2021, to power a
passenger aircraft carrying five to nine passengers up to 500 miles.
However, the question we should be asking is not ``can an electric
aircraft fly as far as a fossil-fuel based aircraft?'' Instead, we
should ask ``does today's electric aircraft meet the demands of the
flying public?''
In the United States, half of all airline flights are less than 500
miles. This speaks loudly to the need and opportunity for middle-mile
regional electric flight. Moreover, only 1.6 percent of all 50-500
mile-trips in the United States are made by air. Travel for these
distances is clearly in high demand, but the aviation industry has yet
to provide customers a viable, affordable, and widely accessible
option.
What's more, access and equity are real issues for the future of
aviation. Electric aviation, with lower-cost flights at ranges of up to
500 miles, will enable affordable access even in the most rural of
areas in the United States. Electric aviation will connect our
communities like never before.
On the topic of energy sources, I would like to point out that
electric aircraft can be powered by multiple sources of electricity. As
long as the propulsion system, i.e., the technology creating the
thrust, is electric, it is deemed an electric aircraft. The source of
energy can be batteries, including lithium-ion, lithium-sulfur,
lithium-metal, solid state, and other battery technologies currently
being developed. The source of energy can also be hydrogen fuel-cells.
These fuel cells create electricity that then flows to the electric
propulsion systems. In the future, there might also be new sources of
electricity, fully renewable and recyclable, that are developed to
provide the electrons needed.
Today, given the state of development, the majority of electric
aircraft are battery-electric and specifically using lithium-ion
batteries. I believe this is temporary, as better and better battery
chemistries are being proven, as well as advances in the development of
hydrogen fuel-cells.
While the source of energy is indeed the biggest challenge for mass
adoption of electric aviation, I parallel this to where electric cars
were less than ten years ago. When Tesla, the company that we attribute
the democratization of electric cars started, it was with an electric
propulsion system developed for cars, rudimentary batteries, and the
conversion of the Lotus car. Mainstream car manufacturers, as well as
battery manufacturers, discounted and disregarded Tesla and their idea
of electric cars. The claims were similar to what we in aviation are
hearing today--batteries are not good enough and there will not be
enough range. But once Tesla started to prove that its converted cars
where real, battery technology started to progress, and Tesla began to
develop cars that were designed to be electric. Once it became clear
this solution was real, other car manufacturers followed suit.
Today, in 2021, seeing an electric car drive on our streets is no
longer a novelty, and seeing a car charger at the entrance to a
shopping mall is no longer an anomaly. Tesla had to start somewhere to
lead the electric car revolution. Similarly, that focus,
intentionality, and patience is required in aviation. magniX started
with propulsion and retrofits. Now companies like Eviation are
designing aircraft to be electric. And battery companies and fuel-cell
developers are starting to realize that the potential is real and are
making investments to improve the sources of energy.
However, many of these companies are outside of the United States.
Be it China, France, Germany, Norway, or the United Kingdom, these
countries have created ecosystems that stimulate, incentivize, and
financially support the rapid and aggressive development of carbon-free
aviation. If the United States chooses to lead the electric aviation
future, we'll see a significant number of jobs created across the
nation. From advanced research jobs to aircraft assembly jobs to
electronics manufacturing jobs--these jobs can support diverse
workforces across the country.
A paradigm shift in our mindsets must occur for this to happen. We
did not reach the moon in one attempt or one stage. The journey to the
moon started with low-altitude rockets, then higher altitude ones, then
low orbit, then high orbit, until eventually we could fly to and land
on the moon. Expecting electric aviation to immediately be able to
power a 737 sized aircraft as it flies across the country is not
reasonable. In fact, it only deters and defers the inevitable. The
American people want a low-cost, accessible, equitable, sustainable,
quiet, and demand-driven aviation transportation system. Electric
aircraft can enable that. We must start with the correct vision--with
smaller aircraft flying shorter distances from and to smaller airports.
And as investments are made, policies are set, incentives introduced,
and technology progresses, we will be able to advance to larger
aircraft flying longer distances--a pattern that should be familiar
across most evolving industries.
To reach this audacious goal within the next four years, we need
our President and Congress to take bold action to support and
incentivize the move to electric aircraft and to provide the boost
needed for the technology to really take flight. I recommend a holistic
flight ecosystem approach: set aspirational goals, provide incentives,
and set bold policies.
Aspirational Goals. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced
before a special joint session of Congress the dramatic and ambitious
goal of sending an American safely to the Moon before the end of the
decade. This goal was achieved on July 20, 1969. With the current state
of technology, our President and Congress could set a dramatic and
ambitious goal of having all-electric aircraft start carrying
passengers and packages for up to 250 miles in range by the end of 2024
and up to 1,000 miles by 2030.
Incentives. Congress needs to provide incentives for airlines and
operators to adopt electric aircraft and use them on existing or new
routes. In many ways, this would follow the same pattern as electric
cars. When buying or leasing an electric car, the buyer gets a
significant income tax credit against the car, sales tax exemptions on
the purchase or lease, and more.
Following the same analogy, Congress needs to provide incentives
for airports investing in charging capabilities and sourcing renewable
energy from solar, wind, and hydro--just as installing an electric car
charger at home provides a financial grant for the installation,
incentivizing people to do so and eliminating a barrier in purchasing
an electric car.
Finally, Congress needs to provide incentives for manufacturers
developing electric propulsion systems for commercially focused
aircraft, retrofitting conventional aircraft to electric, and designing
and building new fully electric aircraft. Using an existing model
familiar to automobile manufacturers, aviation carbon credits should be
introduced in which manufacturers of fossil fuel-based aviation
technology would be required to offset their environmental impact by
buying carbon credits from all-electric aviation manufacturers.
These incentives can take the shape of budget allocations,
financial grants, tax credits, rebates, exemptions, reduced
registration fees, reduced utility rates, and other innovative
proposals. We should also consider changes to the Essential Air
Service--a taxpayer-funded program that subsidizes rural air
connections. By simply adding an environmental-performance criterion to
qualify for and be awarded such subsidies, operators will be encouraged
to increase service to these underserved areas by using aircraft with
lower operational costs and zero emissions. This will result in gaining
additional clean and quieter routes without any increase in federal
investment.
Set Bold Policies. Policies drive behavior and right now our
behavior is lacking. Congress should set bold policies that require a
certain percentage of domestic middle-mile flights be emission-free by
a certain date. It could also require government officials fly a
certain percent of their flights on zero-emission aircraft by a certain
date. Similarly, the Department of Defense could operate short
transport flights using emission-free technology by a certain date.
Policies like this will set a clear line in the sand and send a message
that this Administration and Congress--and the country, take this issue
with the seriousness it deserves.
As this new electric aviation industry grows and flourishes, there
is a significant opportunity to bring new jobs and training across the
United States while meeting the goal of creating a more sustainable
economy. Investing in electric aviation will create thousands of jobs,
from manufacturers to suppliers to operators to airports and peripheral
servicing companies, right here in the United States. Moreover, it will
enhance the economies of smaller and rural towns by connecting them
with low-cost and cleaner flights, enabling access to new markets.
It is my sincere hope that Congress provides all modes of
transportation, and specifically electric aviation, the critical
support needed to accelerate our country and provide good-paying jobs.
Electric aviation will reduce our reliance on fossil-fuels, lower our
carbon footprint, decrease aircraft operating costs, and create greater
accessibility and connectivity to all areas in our country.
I will conclude by shamelessly paraphrasing President Kennedy,
because his words are as relevant and accurate today for electric
aviation, as they were for the Space Race in 1962:
We choose to transition to electric aviation within the next four
years, not because it is easy, but because it is hard, because that
goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and
skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept,
one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win. And
while it is not surprising that some would have us stay where we are a
little longer to rest--to wait--this country of the United States was
not built by those who waited and rested and wished to look behind
them. It was conquered by those who moved forward. I truly hope that as
a country, we make the decision to shift our efforts in aviation
towards electric. To be sure, we are behind, and will be behind for
some time. But we do not intend to stay behind, and in the next four
years, we shall make up and move ahead.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to provide my insights.
magniX and Eviation are proud to be a part of the solution that returns
the American aviation industry to preeminence and global leadership. We
can do this by continuing to build upon the innovative, environmentally
sustainable technology that is already here and can soon be
commercially available. With the right investment and incentives,
electric aviation can and will be our reality starting within four
years. We are on the cusp of the ``Electric Age of Aviation;'' the
United States must take advantage of it.
photos
Some of the magniX team members in the Everett, WA facility
magniX includes 23% women and 27% minorities Photo taken in 2021
The eBeaver powered by magniX all-electric propulsion flying in
Vancouver, BC
Photo taken in 2021
The eCaravan powered by magniX all-electric propulsion flying in Moses
Lake, WA
Photo taken in 2020
The magniX facility in Everett, WA
Photo taken in 2020
The magniX logo
Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Mr. Ganzarski. I appreciate that
very much.
And now I want to turn to Mr. Blake Scholl, founder and CEO
of Boom Supersonic.
Mr. Scholl, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Scholl. Good morning. I would like to start by
recognizing and reflecting on why flying is so moving. Even
though air travel has now become routine, it affords
opportunities and experiences that were just unfathomable a few
generations ago. And we get to enjoy all of this while miles up
in the air, at hundreds of miles an hour, while having a
breathtaking view of the Earth.
Sixty years before the early jets, crossing the Atlantic
took 6 days. And the jet shrank that to just 7 hours. But
today, we cannot travel any faster than we could 60 years ago.
So Chair Larsen, Ranking Member Graves, and members of the
subcommittee, I am grateful for the opportunity today to
discuss the coming renaissance of safe, sustainable, and
affordable supersonic flight.
Since the 1950s, the jet airplane has defined so much of
our modern lives. Thanks to the speed of the jet, places like
Hawaii are now major tourist destinations. Musicians think of
world tours, and entrepreneurs can reach customers around the
globe. And our leaders can gather frequently in person to build
relationships and defuse crises.
At Boom, we want to unlock new possibilities for human
connection and for business. We have three guiding principles:
safety, sustainability, and speed. Our first supersonic
commercial airplane, Overture, is designed to facilitate net-
zero carbon travel. Aboard Overture, London would be just 3\1/
2\ hours from New York, and Sydney becomes as accessible as
Honolulu is today.
Overture, along with the other emerging technologies
represented here today, are going to be pillars of the future
transportation ecosystem. Some day you might take an electric
taxi to the airport, board a supersonic jet, and then cross the
planet at twice today's speeds.
More seamless point-to-point travel makes for a more
connected world. At Boom, we have been building a strong safety
culture from day one. Developing our piloted supersonic
demonstrator, the XB-1, has helped us build a safety-first
mindset early on, and to develop our safety management system
well ahead of Overture's assembly.
We are also taking great care to ensure that speed and
sustainability are compatible goals. This is a deep part of our
culture, and our team is working diligently to maximize
efficiency and minimize noise in Overture's design.
Crucially, Overture will meet the same stringent noise
levels that are applicable to the latest generation subsonic
jets. We understand the importance of community engagement, and
we plan to undertake such outreach well ahead of Overture's
entry into service. And because Overture will fly at supersonic
speeds over water only, we will not be creating sonic booms
over communities.
Sustainable aviation fuels, or SAF, are key to Overture's
sustainability. And we are designing Overture from the ground
up to run on 100 percent SAF, enabling net-zero carbon flight.
Lastly, we plan to use and support high-quality carbon
offsets, including new generation carbon removal technologies
where necessary, to meet our net-zero commitments.
Additionally, we are excited to be working with the United
States Air Force, on potential military applications of our
aircraft. For example, carry leaders across the world in half
the time, evacuating wounded soldiers to medical care in time
to save lives, and transporting lifesaving emergency supplies
to where they are urgently needed.
And of course I would be remiss if I did not thank Congress
and especially this committee, for your leadership in passing
the bipartisan FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018. Through this
act, Congress helped drive important regulatory work in support
of new innovation. And indeed, the FAA's work at the
International Civil Aviation Organization is critical.
Regulatory certainty is vital to our success, and ICAO must
continue to advance economically reasonable, technologically
feasible, and environmentally beneficial standards for
supersonic aircraft.
In the field of SAF, policy incentives will also be
critical to accelerating production and adoption. At Boom, we
support measures such as blender tax credits to accelerate SAF
production, and we are working with a broad coalition of SAF
stakeholders to advance that policy. Boom is proud that
Overture will be designed and assembled in the United States,
leveraging the formidable talent, entrepreneurial spirit, and
tradition of innovation in our workforce.
Faster travel will offer many benefits to society, and I am
grateful that Congress continues to show leadership in aviation
innovation.
Thank you for having me here today, and of course, I am
happy to answer your questions.
[Mr. Scholl's prepared statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Blake Scholl, Founder and Chief Executive
Officer, Boom Supersonic
Good morning, Chair Larsen, Ranking Member Graves, and Members of
the Subcommittee. My name is Blake Scholl, Founder and CEO of Boom
Supersonic. Thank you for having me here today to talk about innovation
in U.S. aerospace and our efforts to ensure the safe, sustainable
reintroduction of commercial supersonic air travel.
At Boom, we believe in a world where more people can go more places
more often, and we want our children to grow up in such a world. Today,
the barriers of time and inconvenience limit us from experiencing more
of what Earth has to offer. By building transportation that is faster,
more affordable, more convenient, and more sustainable, we can unlock
new possibilities for human connection and for business.
Boom is redefining what it means to travel long distances beginning
with Overture, our first supersonic commercial airplane. We envision a
future in which anyone can buy a ticket and enjoy the benefits of high-
speed travel. Aboard Overture, London would be just 3.5 hours from New
York, and Sydney becomes as accessible as Honolulu is today. With
Overture, three-day business trips could be done in just one day--you
could attend meetings across an ocean and be home in time to tuck your
children into bed. Speed powers growth and transformation, and
increasing the speed of travel would foster greater human connection.
And Overture is about more than just speed--we are also raising the bar
for safety and sustainability.
Traditional wisdom says that supersonic flights are expensive,
uncomfortable, noisy, and unsustainable. Thanks to key breakthroughs at
Boom and to innovations across the industry, supersonic flight can now
be not just faster, but also more comfortable, more affordable, and
sustainable. For example, our whole-lifecycle approach to
sustainability will facilitate net-zero-carbon Overture flights.
Overture will also fly at supersonic speeds only over water, so
communities will not experience sonic booms. Overture is already a
massive leap forward from Concorde--the only supersonic commercial
airplane to see lasting service--but Overture is only our first
airliner. Ultimately, we want the fastest flight to be the most
accessible, too.
Why now is the time for a paradigm shift in travel
Until the middle of the twentieth century, people could expect
continued innovation in travel speeds. Railroads, steamships, piston-
powered airliners, and jets each represented a significant improvement
in how we got around. But in 2021, we're flying no faster than we were
in 1960. The world has gone more than sixty years without a meaningful
improvement in travel speeds. Limited by 1960s technology, Concorde was
loud, costly, and fuel hungry. Concorde was a technological marvel in
its time, but it was neither economical nor sustainable.
Over the subsequent decades, aviation saw steady improvements in
efficiency and safety. Fundamental advancements and key breakthroughs
allow Boom to bring back supersonic travel--this time, economically and
sustainably. Overture will be a brand-new airliner optimized to run on
100% sustainable aviation fuels, facilitating net-zero carbon flights.
It will leverage state-of-the-art computational design methods,
advanced composite materials, and modern turbofan engines to increase
efficiency and reduce noise. These technologies represent sixty years
of advancement, but supersonic commercial aviation is still in its
early days. Over time, we expect continued investment and innovation to
lead to supersonic airliners that are even more efficient and less
expensive--reducing ticket costs, fuel burn, and emissions. Overture,
along with other emerging technologies represented on this panel
including advanced air mobility and electric propulsion, will be key
pillars of the future transportation ecosystem. Someday, you might take
an electric air taxi to the airport, board a supersonic jet, and fly
across the planet at twice today's speed. Together, these modes will
enable easier, more seamless point-to-point travel and a more connected
world.
Safety
At Boom, we have been working diligently to build both a strong
safety culture and safety technology from day one. The U.S. aviation
industry has an exceptional safety record, and we are committed to
build on that legacy. However, we are also mindful of recent tragic
accidents, and we have been proactively incorporating learnings and
program governance best practices to ensure Overture is designed and
built with safety in mind at every step. At Boom, we have involved
pilots in the design and development of our airplane programs since the
beginning.
Our piloted supersonic demonstrator, XB-1, is a critical element of
our safety culture. Designing, building, and testing XB-1 has given us
the opportunity to build a safety-first mindset from day one and start
to develop our safety management system well ahead of Overture
assembly. XB-1 has helped mitigate risk from the Overture program.
In addition, our goal is that Overture will be the first clean-
sheet airliner to seek certification in the aftermath of the COVID-19
pandemic. The global health crisis has brought significant changes to
how we go about our lives--and in the context of air travel, it has
shown all of us that passenger and crew health is a critical component
of safety. We plan to incorporate state-of-the-art air filtration
systems and other health-promoting innovations, ensuring that flying
aboard Overture is both safe and healthy.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Environment and Sustainability
Air travel offers many benefits to society--facilitating cross-
cultural understanding, fostering new trading relationships, and
supporting millions of jobs. But it also creates externalities,
including community noise and climate effects, that the aviation
industry is working diligently to minimize. As a new company designing
a new airplane from a clean sheet of paper, Boom has the opportunity to
optimize our products for sustainability. We have built this mentality
into our culture from the beginning, and we are committed to making
supersonic flight something communities welcome. Our team is working to
maximize efficiency and minimize noise in Overture's design, and we
plan to engage with airports and communities well ahead of Overture's
entry into service to understand their concerns and help develop noise-
reducing flight procedures. Key for airport communities, Overture will
meet the same stringent noise levels set for subsonic jets. Because
Overture will fly at supersonic speeds only over water, Overture will
not create sonic booms over communities.
Because Overture is a new airplane, Boom is able to take a whole-
lifecycle approach to sustainability. This includes designing for clean
manufacturing at our future final assembly line, where we plan to
incorporate waste-minimizing production practices and leverage on- and
off-site renewable energy, and it also includes planning for end-of-
life recycling.
At the core of this whole-lifecycle approach is facilitating net-
zero-carbon Overture flights. In the development phase, we are reducing
tailpipe CO2 emissions through airframe and engine design optimization.
This step aligns economic and environmental goals. Next, we are
ensuring that Overture can operate on up to 100% sustainable aviation
fuels (SAF), a key strategy for more sustainable long-haul aviation,
which will continue to rely on carbon-based fuels for some time.
Current-generation SAF enables up to 80% reductions in life-cycle
carbon emissions when compared with conventional petroleum-based jet
fuels, and emerging SAF technologies could offer even greater
reductions in net CO2. We believe the fastest and most comfortable
flight should also be sustainable--and our goal is a net zero carbon
future.
Beyond the carbon reduction benefits, SAF also reduces emissions of
particulate matter, helping mitigate the non-CO2 climate effects of
aviation. SAF is currently only permitted to comprise up to 50% of a
blend with petroleum-based fuels, but the clean-sheet nature of
Overture allows Boom and our suppliers to design the airplane to use
100% SAF, capturing the fuel's full potential to reduce CO2 and non-CO2
effects. In the coming years, we will continue to engage with SAF
producers to ensure adequate supply for Overture operations, and we
expect to power Overture's engine test, certification, production test,
and delivery flights using SAF. Lastly, we support and plan to use
high-quality carbon offsets, including new-generation carbon removal
technologies, where necessary to meet our net-zero pledges.
Sustainability is at the core of Boom's mission to make the world
dramatically more accessible.
U.S. global leadership in aviation
Boom is proud that Overture will be designed and assembled in the
United States, leveraging the formidable talent, entrepreneurial
spirit, and tradition of innovation in our workforce. And we are
fortunate to draw on the expertise of a variety of partners--including
Collins Aerospace, Amazon Web Services, Rolls-Royce, and others. We are
a growing team, and over the next several years, we will continue to
create well-paying engineering and manufacturing jobs to support the
Overture program.
Beyond the immediate economic impacts of Boom and its partners,
commercial supersonic manufacturing will have a sizable global economic
impact. Leading investment bank UBS recently estimated the commercial
supersonic market could be worth $255 billion by 2040.\1\ Undoubtedly,
the promise of this market will spur international competition, and the
United States must lead the charge.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ ``The need for speed--How will supersonic jets transform the
travel industry?'' UBS Q-Series, 01 December 2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The benefits of Overture go beyond commercial applications--for the
United States government, supersonic travel represents a significant
expansion in capabilities: conveying leaders across the world in half
the time to resolve crises and build international connections;
evacuating wounded soldiers to medical care in time to save lives; and
rapidly carrying life-saving emergency supplies where they are needed.
Boom is excited to be working with the United States Air Force to adapt
Overture for executive transport. Overture could offer the Air Force a
unique combination of passenger capacity, speed, cabin space, and power
to accommodate requirements of multiple missions, enabling accelerated
diplomacy and greater responsiveness to crises. Beyond USAF missions,
Overture could also become part of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet and
enable humanitarian and other critical airlifts in half the time.
The United States has long been a global leader in aviation. To
ensure that this leadership endures, the federal government must
continue to encourage innovation and facilitate the integration of new
entrants into the National Airspace System. I would be remiss if I did
not thank this Committee and Congress for your leadership in passing
the bipartisan FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, which helped drive
important regulatory work to support new innovation. We are grateful
for the direction Congress provided to the Federal Aviation
Administration, which has exercised global leadership in developing
economically reasonable, technologically feasible, and environmentally
beneficial standards for supersonic aircraft--helping ensure that U.S.
industry remains the leader in this field.
Regulatory certainty is critical to our success in bringing
Overture to market. The FAA has also shown great leadership both
domestically and at the International Civil Aviation Organization
promoting the global standards necessary to develop, certify, and
operate supersonic aircraft. The FAA has set up an office to deal with
new entrants such as advanced air mobility vehicles. These processes
will be extremely helpful to facilitate the introduction of supersonic
aircraft--and to wider U.S. efforts to support emerging technology in
aviation. I ask that Congress continue to provide resources to support
this important work.
Government also plays a key role providing policy incentives and
resources for common infrastructure. We are grateful for the leadership
role that this Committee has played in authorizing the FAA's Continuous
Lower Energy, Emissions and Noise (CLEEN) program. CLEEN has been a
successful public-private partnership to help advance sustainable
technologies and we support expanding the program to include
technologies applicable to new entrants. The technology behind SAF is
well understood, but policy incentives will play a critical role in
accelerating production and adoption. Boom supports measures such as
blender tax credits to accelerate production of SAF, and we are working
with a broad coalition of fuel producers, operators, airports, and
manufacturers to advance this key policy.
Thank you for having me here today, and I am happy to answer any
questions.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Mr. Scholl.
And I want to thank all the witnesses for sticking to 5
minutes or under. I appreciate that. It might be a record. We
are going to go back and spend some staff time and look at
that. So I appreciate that very much from folks.
I also want to thank the staff on both sides of the aisle
for putting together an excellent panel for us. I did think
this was going to be a fairly interesting and somewhat exciting
hearing based what I had planned to hear, and I think I can say
ahead of time, before we get to questions, that this is giving
us a lot to think about on the committee as we move forward in
aviation. So I really want to thank the panelists for that.
We are now going to move to 5 minutes each for Member
questions. I am going to start by recognizing myself for
questions. And next, if Mr. Graves--he had to step away. If he
is not back, I think Mr. Massie will be next. He will be the
first Republican up unless Mr. Graves comes back. So if Mr.
Massie can be ready.
So I recognize myself for 5 minutes. The first question is
for Mayor Garcetti. Can you elaborate, specifically, on the
elements FAA should include in vertiport standards to meet the
needs of densely populated areas? This is the question that we
are taking a look at on the committee. So specific elements the
FAA should look at in terms of vertiport standards to meet the
needs of densely populated areas.
Mayor?
Mr. Garcetti. Yeah, absolutely.
First, I just think you have to coauthor this and write it
with the community. Access is critically important, especially
when it comes to private buildings. And looking at ways that
the FAA can create a national standard, but also respect local
zoning, local land use, and figure out a way to give that sort
of flexibility on the ground and listen to the coauthorship of
this with local communities as well.
Seleta, I don't know if you want to add anything to that
real quick, because I know the Members do not have a lot of
time; but anything else you would add?
Ms. Reynolds. I would just say consideration for
integration with existing transit systems, as well as noise and
redundancy. So do we have a large enough footprint to make sure
that there are alternate landing and takeoff locations if
something happens with the first one.
Mr. Larsen. Yeah.
And a follow up, Mayor Garcetti, how are you thinking about
equitable access for residents using AAM?
Mr. Garcetti. Well you know, we have developed something
called Principles of the Urban Sky, or the other POTUS, as I
call it. But Principles of the Urban Sky really looks at the
ways that we can make sure that whatever we do in Los Angeles,
that we have a public process to kind of coauthor that. That we
look at links with our public transit system so that it is seen
as connecting to a system, rather than existing above it.
And making sure that there are stakeholders from
underrepresented communities: lower income communities,
commuter communities that often have been bypassed when it
comes to cutting-edge technology. They should be the first to
benefit, as well as folks of other communities.
So we are looking at putting that together and probably
having a task force while we develop a standard that wouldn't
be just good for Los Angeles, but a playbook that hopefully
folks from around the world can do. And doing that together
with the World Economic Forum.
Mr. Larsen. OK. Yeah, great. Thank you very much; it is
great food for thought.
Mr. Ganzarski, regarding magniX, you talked about in your
testimony, you got the eBeaver and eCaravan 5 to 6 person and 9
to 12 person. What is the limiting technological challenge to
get to a platform that is larger, say, than a 12-seater
caravan?
Mr. Ganzarski. You are right. Right now, the limiting
factor is sources of energy, meaning batteries and/or hydrogen
fuel cells. With that said, today's batteries are enough, as
you mentioned, to take a six to nine-passenger aircraft up to
500 miles. And hydrogen fuel cells are good enough to take a
40-passenger aircraft up to 500 miles. That is a project we are
doing with Universal Hydrogen, converting at Dash 8.
And so in the next 10 to 15 years, I would say that 40 to
70 passengers will be the max size you see, and up to about 500
miles in range. By the time we get to 2030, having 1,000-mile
ranges with a 100-passenger aircraft should not be a problem.
Mr. Larsen. Oh, we will make a note of that and check up in
9 years with you on that one. You noted in your testimony, Mr.
Ganzarski, that 23 percent of your workforce are women, 27
percent are minorities. Is magniX doing anything specific to
attract and hire a workforce that is more reflective of the
Nation's diversity?
Mr. Ganzarski. Yes. We intentionally and with purpose look
for both women and minorities in the roles that we have. This
is a challenging industry. Aerospace is a tough, tough industry
to find good diversity in because they just do not exist. And
that starts at middle school and high school; not enough women
go into engineering. Not enough minorities go into engineering.
And so when you want to hire someone today in 2021, the pool is
much smaller.
So you have to intentionally do that starting at middle
school and high school programs. We go to campuses to look for
women. We do internships, and then when we look at resumes, we
specifically try to focus on minorities and women in this
industry so that we can propel them up; but it is not an easy
task.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you. I want to touch on that with Mr.
Grimsley.
Given your focus on improving visibility of drone research
and testing among the K to 12 Choctaw Nation students, how can
the Federal Government--or should the Federal Government
support the Choctaw Nation's efforts to encourage the students
to pursue STEM and aerospace careers?
Mr. Grimsley. Well thank you very much for that question.
It is a very important question, and I agree with what the
previous witness said. We need to reach the children at younger
ages. That is when they develop the passion and when they have
the ability to have a sense of confidence that STEM is
something that they could do a career in, engineering is
something they can do.
I believe the things that Congress is doing right now in
terms of broadband buildout, including STEM education as part
of things like the FAA reauthorization, are all important. But
I think more opportunities for partnerships. We have a great
partnership with NASA where we do a lot of STEM-related camps
for our Choctaw youths. So more opportunities where we can work
with agencies so that we can reach some of these underserved
students in some of these areas.
The Choctaw Nation has really historically been an
impoverished area. The Tribe has made a huge impact on the
quality of life and economic opportunity. But we are still an
emerging area. So one of the big things that we are working on:
STEM at that younger age. We are looking at middle school and
all the way through high school as something very important to
us, even as part of BEYOND and our previous IPP efforts.
So I think that----
Mr. Larsen. OK.
Mr. Grimsley. Thank you, appreciate it.
Mr. Larsen. Yeah, thank you. I need to cut myself off.
And with that, I will just doublecheck that Mr. Graves is
available.
[Pause.]
Mr. Larsen. OK. Then we will move to Representative Massie
of Kentucky.
You are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Massie. Thank you, Chairman Larsen, for having this
hearing.
Mr. Bry, since we share an alma mater, I want to start with
you. Also, I was very disturbed by the state of our drone
manufacturing and the small market share that we have. What are
the biggest challenges that you see for drone manufacturers in
the United States? Why is China so dominant and what can we do,
if anything, in Congress to sort of change the playing field or
level it out?
Mr. Bry. Well thank you, Representative, for that question.
I think it is a really important issue.
So there is some history to this. I grew up flying radio-
controlled airplanes, which is kind of my on-ramp into the
industry. And the U.S. had a thriving, and still has a
thriving, obvious community, which I think is really important.
But most of those RC airplanes, RC toys, were manufactured in
China. And I think that is actually one of the reasons why
China got out to an early lead, because there has kind of been
this blending of the hobbyist industry into what is now the
drone industry.
I think the most important thing to recognize is that we
are still very early. The technology is in its infancy, so
there is tremendous opportunity. Ultimately, the way that we
win is by having better products. And I think the way that we
have better products is by focusing on the stuff that we are
good at.
So at Skydio, we focused on autonomy and AI. We think that
is the future of the industry. And we are winning head-to-head
with customers across basically every segment based on the
strength of that AI and autonomy.
From Congress' standpoint, I think there is a few things to
consider. The U.S. public sector represents a really
significant customer base for drones: from State departments of
transportation to DOT to public safety. And the more the
taxpayer dollars are going to support U.S. companies, the
stronger the U.S. industry is going to be. So legislation like
the American Security Drone Act, which is primarily concerned
with security of drones, will also help promote U.S. industry.
And I also think doubling down on the stuff that is
working. So using drones for infrastructure inspection--and
this is a use case that has tremendous public good. There is an
opportunity to provide grant funding to increase that and help
State departments of transportation stand up stuff that is
working. You have heard this in a number of the opening
statements as well: the regulatory environment matters a huge
amount. We need to have regulations that support autonomous
flight because that is really the future of the industry.
Mr. Massie. Well let me ask you about that. As you well
know, I am sure there were 50 UAS provisions in the last FAA
authorization. How is that going at the FAA? We need a robust
domestic end-user market for drones in order to have robust
manufacturing, I believe.
So how are they doing on that and what can we do?
Mr. Bry. Again, I very much appreciate the question. I
mean, I think there is a lot of good stuff in there.
So one of the things that we have really benefitted from,
from the last FAA reauthorization, was what is called the 44807
provision. So there is kind of this, you know, small--part 107
if you have a pilot, if they are flying within visual line of
sight. That is one end of the spectrum.
The other end of the spectrum is full type certification,
which is designed primarily for crewed aircraft at a much
larger scale. And there is kind of this missing middle, which
44807 begins to fill where it is a lighter weight, faster
process to certify autonomous aircraft for routine operation. I
think we need a lot more of that. The FAA seems to be kind of
backing away from this. I think we need to double-down on
things like that.
And one of the other areas that was called out in the
reauthorization, which I think is really important to continue
with, is investment in education. Because that is really where
all of this starts. We are hiring from the pool of talent that
comes from our educational system. And I think that is
ultimately the future.
Mr. Massie. Mr. Scholl, I am really excited about the
prospect of civilians flying supersonic again, and especially
if those routes will start from the United States. Can you tell
us how far away we are, Mr. Scholl, from civilians flying
supersonic? And what is the first route you are going to focus
on?
Mr. Scholl. Yeah, thank you.
Yes. Super exciting. We are going to have passengers on
board before the end of the decade. To give you a little bit of
a sense of the timeline, our XB-1 supersonic demonstrator--
which is history's first independently developed supersonic jet
and the first new civil supersonic aircraft since the Soviets
did it in 1968--that airplane is going to fly around the end of
this year, early next year, start to set some speed records.
We are breaking ground next year on the factory for our
Overture airliner. We are going to start building the first one
in 2023; it is going to roll out of the factory in 2025, and
begin flight tests in 2026. So we are just 5 years away from
having the first American-made supersonic airliner in our
skies, and that is tremendously exciting.
As far as which routes we are going to focus on, that is
really up to our airline customers. But you are going to see
supersonic first on the routes that are transoceanic. Think New
York to London in 3\1/2\ hours. Think L.A. to Sydney in 8
hours. Think being able to get from the U.S. to Asia an entire
day faster than it takes today. You can leave a day later,
sleep at home before you have to leave, it is super, super
exciting.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you.
Mr. Massie. Thank you, Chairman Larsen. Has my time
expired?
Mr. Larsen. I am sorry, your time has expired.
Mr. Massie. OK. Thank you very much.
I yield back.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Representative Massie.
And next up, we have Representative Carson, who will be
followed by Representative Mast.
Representative Carson of Indiana, you are recognized for 5
minutes.
[Pause.]
Mr. Larsen. I was waiting for a hint from the staff about
sound.
[Pause.]
Mr. Larsen. You seem to be muted, Mr. Carson.
Representative Carson.
Mr. Carson. Yes, sir.
Mr. Larsen. There you go. Representative Carson is
recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Carson. All right. Thank you. You know, I'm preparing
to reintroduce my bipartisan bill with Don Young, the National
Center for the Advancement of Aviation Act. It would
effectively support and promote collaboration among civil,
commercial, and military aviation sectors to address the
demands and challenges associated with ensuring a safe and
vibrant national aviation system through research, education,
and training.
To the panel, what do you think about this kind of center
that would effectively go across silos of so many different
aviation sectors and build up our American aviation industry.
Is this too ambitious? What are your thoughts?
Mr. Larsen. Mr. Carson, this is the chair. Could you
identify a specific person to ask that of, please?
Mr. Carson. Let's start with the good mayor. I think he's
passionate about aviation.
Mr. Garcetti. Absolutely. I would welcome it, Congressman.
I think it's absolutely critical, and as we look at
infrastructure packages that you'll be considering, having
these national centers to both test and develop, I think of the
high desert where the B2 bomber, Northrop Skunk Works, others
have for a long time helped develop the aerospace innovation
that's helped us win wars and keep the peace.
Right now where there's drone technology and transportation
technology being focused, I think for all of us it would be
welcome to see that sort of investment. We can't take for
granted that it will just happen. I think the best of public-
private partnerships are the public funding to see this
research be accelerated and then the private sector to spin it
off as we've seen in this country from everything from the
internet to the aerospace breakthroughs we've made in the past.
So I would absolutely welcome it, and I'd probably lobby to put
it here, but since my wife's from Indiana, I'd settle for
Indiana too.
Mr. Carson. Those Hoosiers ties run deep. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Garcetti. You bet.
Mr. Scholl. I can throw in a couple cents here. I am not
familiar with this specific proposal but I think we're really
onto something here with the importance of innovation at the
intersection of different technologies. Especially as we think
about the future of advanced air mobility, supersonic flight,
how that intersects with our infrastructure, bringing together
airports, airlines, aircraft manufacturers including new kinds,
and thinking about how we can more fluidly move around the
planet. This can be a major opportunity for innovation.
Mr. Carson. Thank you.
Mr. Ganzarski. I'd be happy to add to that as well in that
I think the center would really have to focus on what is the
deliverable and what do you call success. Is it about R&D? Is
it about bringing practical solutions to market? How do you
know the sector has been successful and how do you measure it?
Mr. Carson. That's good, very good. Thank you all. I yield
back, Chairman. Thank you.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you. I recognize Representative Mast for
5 minutes, who will be followed by Representative Davids.
Representative Mast for 5 minutes from Florida. Sorry. We're
going to skip ahead, and I apologize. Representative Balderson,
you're recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Balderson. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. I
appreciate everyone joining us today. My first question is
going to go to Mr. Scholl. Mr. Scholl, I have had the
opportunity to visit NASA's Glenn Research Center, which is
located in Cleveland, Ohio, outside of my district, but within
a 2-hour drive.
So one of the many great projects they're working on with
their state-of-the-art wind tunnels is developing a prototype
quiet boom supersonic aircraft. Has your company collaborated
with NASA or other Federal agencies on researching this
technology or delivering a commercial product?
Mr. Scholl. Thank you very much for the question. To be
clear, with Overture 1, we are starting focusing on routes that
are over water only for supersonic flight. So the question of
quiet boom and sonic boom over communities is not something
we're addressing in Overture 1. However, I am very excited with
the work happening at NASA Glenn with the QueSST program and
elsewhere about developing the technologies that will
ultimately enable supersonic flight unrestricted everywhere,
and I think that is certainly part of the future.
Mr. Balderson. Thank you. Is there anything Congress can do
to ensure some of the Federal research to help commercial
airspace?
Mr. Scholl. I think that's a great question. I think we're
on a good track with QueSST. I think one of the things that
would be important, sort of guidance in the regulatory process,
is balancing sustainability, balancing affordability, and
balancing what is an appropriate, acceptable noise level for
communities. Sometimes, those goals can be intention, and
having to balance on making supersonic flight acceptable for
everybody, affordable for everybody, is going to be huge to
enabling that next generation of high-speed flights everywhere
for everybody.
Mr. Balderson. Thank you very much. My next question is for
Mr. Harter. Mr. Harter, thank you for joining this morning
also. What do you believe the best practices are for Federal
research collaboration with entities like your university and
how can Congress best support your work and ensure that Federal
agencies are collaborating with researchers on the university
level?
Mr. Harter. Thank you for the question, sir. I appreciate
the opportunity. So I think NIAR has a long history of being
able to process intersections and bring together all the
different stakeholders; the Government, the industry, academia
to collaborate on different research projects as well as to
inform and help write the regulations and policies.
So I think the Federal Government should continue to invest
in research opportunities as well as policy and guidancemaking
in centers that create those intersections, and I think Wichita
State is very well poised to do that as are other institutions
in the U.S.
Mr. Balderson. OK, thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, I
will yield back my remaining time. Thank you all very much.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Representative. I now recognize
Representative Davids, after which it will be Representative
Van Drew. Representative Davids from Kansas, you are recognized
for 5 minutes.
Ms. Davids. Thank you, Chairman. And thank you to all our
witnesses for taking the time to join us today, especially Mr.
Harter, who is coming from the Sunflower State and serving on
today's panel. Thank you so much.
I also really want to just kind of note how much I
appreciate the chairman and ranking member for holding the
hearing that we're having today. This is a chance for us to
look forward and evaluate the opportunities that exist that are
frankly really exciting in the U.S. aerospace sector.
Of course, one area of particular interest for me is
advanced air mobility, or AAM, as folks often refer to it as.
Because these air transportation systems hold a lot of
potential to integrate into existing aerospace operations,
whether we're talking about local and regional, rural, urban,
passenger, cargo. I think we're hearing about all of that
today. And I think a lot of folks would love to imagine a
future where you can hop onboard a small electric vertical
takeoff vehicle in the middle of an urban environment or city
environment like Kansas City and then fly a really manageable
distance. What would normally take maybe 45 minutes to commute
now only would take 10 or 15 minutes. And it's obvious that
that future is not really that far off.
And I've had the chance to visit with some of the companies
that are working on this exciting technology, and I know that
now is the time for us to be engaged in this from the
congressional level. And this is actually one of the reasons
that Ranking Member Garret Graves and I have introduced H.R.
1339, the Advanced Air Mobility Coordination and Leadership
Act. We're going to come up with a nice little acronym for that
for everybody.
But you know, this is a simple bill that's got some pretty
commonsense stuff in it directing the DOT to establish an
advanced air mobility interagency working group. That includes
executive agencies, labor, public and private stakeholders,
which we've heard are going to be so important to this.
And then, of course, there's obviously the infrastructure,
security, cybersecurity, but when we're talking about an
industry that's predicted to be a $1.5 trillion industry, we
need to make sure that we're taking this really seriously here.
And that's for everybody here in States like Kansas and all
across the country.
So I want to start off actually with a question to Mayor
Garcetti. Mayor, I know you all have already started to prepare
for an AAM-enabled future with your Mobility Plan 2035. You
have a working group established, and I'm just curious, what
questions and answers do you think that other cities need to be
looking at when they're evaluating the future of AAM?
Mr. Garcetti. Well, thank you, Representative Davids, and
thank you to you and to Ranking Member Graves for the AAM
Coordination and Leadership Act. I think it's a really
important piece of legislation to have introduced.
We're looking at a few different things and trying to do
this in conjunction, not just with other cities but rural
Tribal areas, as well as having this conversation outside the
United States to see what sort of global standards might be
developed, though I think America should lead on these.
Obviously, it's the sharing of data in a way that's open-
sourced as much as possible for stakeholders to be able to see
that and understand the space that we all own collectively.
We're looking at things like affordability, how much do these
rides actually cost if they were in an urban area. Of course,
the planning issues that I mentioned about land use, but also
the distribution of vertiports. Are they equal in different
communities? It's like broadband; this will be something for
rural communities to consider as well as poorer neighborhoods
in urban areas, the noise and visual pollution.
And then lastly, the jobs from the manufacturing all the
way to the passenger experience. What sort of standards do we
want to establish for these jobs and opportunities for folks
who are underserved and economically don't have as many
advantages.
Ms. Davids. Yeah, I appreciate the--particularly when it
comes to the up and down stream. Both the jobs and also making
sure that our suppliers are taken care of, and in Kansas where
we've got both up and down stream suppliers, I'm keenly aware
of how important that can be.
And one last thing I wanted to just----
Mr. Larsen. If the Representative could wrap? Your 5
minutes is up.
Ms. Davids. OK, OK. Sorry. I just wanted to--thank you to
the Choctaw Nation for all the innovative work that you all
have been doing. I meant to say that earlier.
Mr. Grimsley. Thank you.
Mr. Larsen. Thanks. A little change-up here. We're going to
recognize Ranking Member Garret Graves from Louisiana for 5
minutes.
Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Great. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, I love that we're talking about advanced
technologies and found my internet was not solid in the first
opening statement, but I think we got that fixed.
In any case, I want to follow up on a question I believe
Mr. Massie asked, and if I could ask Mr. Bry. We've seen a lot
of problems with supply chain and perhaps dependence upon
supply chain from China that's problematic. We've seen the
percentage of the drone market share. Could you talk a little
bit, you know, Congress is especially concerned about this
increased reliance upon them for batteries for technology for
components. Can you talk a little bit about the current status
of domestically sourced components and supply lines and why you
think that's important?
Mr. Bry. Yeah, I very much appreciate the question,
Representative Graves. I think this is a really, really
important issue, and it's something that we think a lot about
at Skydio. So most of the most critical components on our
drones are coming from U.S. companies. The two major processors
that we use are coming from Embedia and Qualcomm, both U.S.
companies. Wherever we can, we're sourcing stuff from U.S.
companies or allied nations. And there are a lot of great
components out there.
We were actually the first commercial customer for a
company called Arris Composites that has a really innovative
composite technology, a critical component for our latest
enterprise drone. So I think there's a lot of good stuff
happening. It's also important to recognize that these things
take time, and there are certainly areas where there just are
not U.S. alternatives. I think there's a lot of innovation and
a lot of good things happening. I think everybody kind of
recognizes that there's opportunity and need here. It's just
going to take a little bit of patience to get there. But I
think a lot of positive things are happening.
Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Great. Thank you. I appreciate it.
Mr. Harter, one of the things the subcommittee has been
focusing a good bit of time on, and I know the chairman shares
concerns, is on cybersecurity threats as it relates to
aerospace. And certainly with new generations of technologies
before us, this whole threat evolves. Could you talk a little
bit about how you see the current threat and what we need to be
thinking about as policymakers and some of those on the Zoom in
terms of innovators?
Mr. Harter. Yes, certainly. Thank you for the question.
Cybersecurity is a paramount concern in all of new
technologies. Aerospace, of course, is getting more and more
connected. Not only in the technology of the aircraft or the
air vehicles themselves, but in the technology that helps those
air vehicles navigate our pathways. So we need to spend a lot
of time and have a lot of concern and research and make sure
our workforce is ready to support the cybersecurity of not just
the air vehicle itself, but the systems that support those and
help them fly around our Nation and across the world. Does that
answer your question, sir?
Mr. Graves of Louisiana. It does. Thank you. And I think
this is an area where we need to continue being very thoughtful
and vigilant, ensure that we keep it on the front burner.
Mr. Bry, if I can go back to you, the FAA has done a number
of rulemakings and a number of initiatives to integrate drones
into the national airspace, IPP, BEYOND, unmanned traffic
management systems and others. Can you talk a little bit?
Again, I know the chairman mentioned this. I mentioned it in
the opening as well. We've got to make sure that all of these
efforts are coming together to ensure that we are efficiently
and safely integrating drones into the national airspace.
Could you just talk a little bit about how you see these
things coming together?
Mr. Bry. Yeah. Again, I think it's a great question, and I
think this committee and the FAA deserve a lot of credit for
the work that's been done. We've benefited quite a bit from the
integration pilot program, the IPP. It's gotten us connected to
end users. We've gotten some breakthrough waivers for low-
altitude beyond visual line of sight.
The most important thing I think is using that momentum to
create repeatable operational stuff that goes beyond these
pilot programs and gets codified into actual scalable
regulations. And thanks to the pilot programs I think we now
have a lot of data that suggests and shows the kinds of
operation that can be done safely. So I think we've got a lot
of the pieces we need. We just need to make sure that we keep
the momentum and turn those into actual scalable operational
standards.
Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Great. Thank you. Yield back, Mr.
Chairman.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Representative Graves.
I now recognize for 5 minutes Representative Kahele of
Hawaii. Representative Kahele.
Mr. Kahele. OK. Thank you so much, Chair, and aloha,
everyone. It's great to be on this hearing today. As a pilot, a
lifelong pilot, I'm really excited about some of the really
innovative things that we're talking about.
And my first question goes to Mr. Scholl from Boom. I had a
great opportunity to read your testimony and I had something
that popped out at me and I wanted to ask you a question on it.
You mentioned in your testimony that Overture, the
supersonic aircraft which looks very similar to the Concorde,
but obviously from your testimony, there's much greater
technological advancement in this type of aircraft. But you
noted that the Overture will--due to noise--only fly supersonic
speeds over the water.
And so my question was, that makes a lot of sense when
you're flying from New York to London or Japan to Hawaii, but
how would that work flying from Los Angeles to New York if
we're limited to flying right under the speed of sound?
Mr. Scholl. Great question, really appreciate it. The
reality is we're going to see supersonic travel coming to
market in a couple phases, and that first phase is going to be
focused on supersonic flight over water. So fortunately, Hawaii
is one of those places to get a super benefit from it since
it's right in the middle of a lot of water.
Of course we want to get from, say, Seattle to Washington,
DC, faster than we get from Seattle to Tokyo. And so there is
going to be, I think, a second generation here, possibly some
supersonic corridors that would allow high-speed flight over
land.
And then what we really need to have this be mainstream
everywhere is global standards for supersonic flight over land,
understanding what's going to be an acceptable level of noise
over communities that doesn't create disruption.
And then once we have those standards, once you have that
certainty, we know we can build aircraft that meet it, but we
can't do that in phase 1 because we don't know what we need to
do. So it's that regulatory uncertainty that's really holding
it back.
Mr. Kahele. All right. Thank you for that. Second question
is in regards to the SAF reductions in carbon emissions and the
types of fuels and technology and research we're doing to build
aircraft that are more energy efficient, more carbon neutral
and the ones that help us contribute to a cleaner environment.
Can you talk a little bit about that part of your testimony
and what Boom is doing and Overture is doing to do R&D into
that?
Mr. Scholl. Yeah. It's a great question. It's super, super
important to us, and we believe deeply that the airplane that
you most want to be on from a comfort perspective, from a
convenience perspective, from a speed perspective, also needs
to be the one that's best for the planet. And, you know,
historically we've seen those things in conflict, but they
really don't need to be.
And I think there is great inspiration that we can take
from what Tesla has accomplished in automotive. You know,
before Tesla you didn't want an electric vehicle. They were
slow. They didn't go very far. They weren't fun to drive. And
then they showed us that we could build an electric car that's
great to drive and is best for the planet.
And so that's the kind of vision that inspires us in
Overture. And so the question is well, how do you do it? You
can't do it with electricity, not anytime soon, because
batteries are simply too heavy for a long-range flight. You'll
run out of charge before you get to your destination.
So what you need is sustainable aviation fuel, which is
chemically very similar to today's jet fuels, but can come from
completely carbon-neutral sources. So there are a bunch of ways
we can do this. There are biofuels. There are fuels that are
based out of municipal waste. There are fuels that are based in
carbon sequestration. And we're designing Overture from the
ground up to be the first commercial airliner that's going to
run on 100 percent SAF, and that's super important to us as a
design goal.
Now, the biggest challenge, and I think this is where there
is an opportunity for this committee and for Congress to
provide some leadership, is that the supply chain for
sustainable aviation fuel, for SAF, needs to be scaled. And
today the technologies exist, but they're not scaled up yet.
So we need things like producer tax credits, R&D around SAF
and how we scale that so that it is not just technologically
feasible, but available in large quantities and available on
terms that are economically competitive.
Mr. Kahele. Thank you so much for that. And mahalo, Chair,
and I yield back.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Representative, and I'm going to
recognize Representative Steel of California. And just a heads-
up that Representative Williams from Georgia will follow
Representative Steel.
Representative Steel, you're recognized for 5 minutes.
Mrs. Steel. Thank you, Chairman Larsen and Ranking Member
Graves. I'm happy to have the opportunity today to hear from
the witnesses about the advances that aerospace industries are
making through research and innovation for the future of
American air transportation.
I have the honor of representing coastal Orange County,
California, in Congress. My district is home to John Wayne
Airport. The airport is located between the cities of Costa
Mesa, Irvine, and Newport Beach, and serve more than 3 million
people within 34 cities and unincorporated areas of Orange
County.
In 2019, approximately 10.7 million passengers flew through
John Wayne Airport. The residents of Orange County and of my
district care a lot about our airport. In addition to the
convenience of having a world-class airport close to home, my
constituents are also deeply concerned about the impacts noise
and pollution have on our community.
I'm very encouraged by the innovations that the witnesses
have presented today. They show that private-sector innovation
is the driver for a new, cleaner, and quieter air travel. But I
know the new technology such as electric airplanes have been
part of the discussion for quite some time.
I believe the Federal Government has an important role to
play in cutting redtape and providing a regulatory environment
where new technology can be approved for use safely yet avoid
the pitfalls of using taxpayers' dollars to pick winners and
losers. I'm happy to be a member of the Quiet Skies Caucus and
to work here in Congress to help reduce noise and pollution
from air travel.
I believe the best way to do this is to create a fair
playing field where innovation can flourish and airlines,
manufacturers, and travelers can make the best choice for their
businesses, and most importantly for the health and wellbeing
of their passengers and the communities in which they operate.
So having said that, I want to ask Mr. Ganzarski, can you
share more about the current market for electric aircraft and
about what the barriers are to transitioning to this more clean
and more efficient technology?
Mr. Ganzarski. Thank you very much. John Wayne Airport is a
great example of a regional airport in the middle of a dense
population. Imagine being able to fly in and out of John Wayne
Airport with an aircraft that produces 100 times less noise
energy, 20 percent less decibels, and do so at zero emissions.
That completely changes the landscape. Now imagine that
aircraft costs 40 to 80 percent less per hour to operate. How
many more people in and around John Wayne Airport can now have
access to flying?
The fact is that most flights in the United States are less
than 500 miles in range, which means that battery-electric or
hydrogen fuel cell electric aircraft, even small ones, can
today serve a large amount of demand.
Because of battery density and fuel cell density, we will
start with small aircraft, 6, 9, 12, 40 passengers flying to
and from smaller airports in distances of 250 to 500 miles. But
that will open up access and equity at costs and cleanliness of
levels that have never existed before, and so the market is
very strong for it. Now we have to incentivize the move
forward.
Mrs. Steel. So your testimony includes a request for
incentives for manufacturers that make electric aircraft. So
can you share how to see electric aircraft competing without
taxpayer subsidies?
Mr. Ganzarski. So it wouldn't have to be even taxpayer
subsidies. Imagine carbon credits. So there is now the
discussion about having carbon credits for synthetic aviation
fuels. What if it was also for electric? If you use an aircraft
or are manufacturing an aircraft that pollutes the environment,
you can offset those with credits towards an aircraft or a
propulsion system manufacturer that does so with completely
clean technology.
And so those types of incentives and subsidies, if we call
them that, will encourage other manufacturers in other
aerospace companies to go more electric.
Mrs. Steel. Thank you very much. Thank you for all the
witnesses and I yield back.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Representative.
The Chair now recognizes Representative Williams of Georgia
for 5 minutes.
Ms. Williams of Georgia. Thank you, Chairman Larsen for
convening this hearing, and thank you to all of our witnesses
today. It's critical that we make investments into aeronautics
research. We have some of the best scientists and researchers
at NASA working with the FAA on advanced air mobility. What was
once thought of as futuristic or something from ``The Jetsons''
will be our reality in no time. With all of the forms of
transportation, safety is one of the top things that we need to
ensure.
Mayor Garcetti, I represent the city of Atlanta, and we're
similar to the city of Los Angeles in many ways. Both cities
are urban areas. Both have very large, busy airports, some of
the busiest in the world, and have extreme vehicle congestion.
As we move to implement AAM, what safety regulations and
standards do you believe the Federal, State, and local
government should have in place to ensure that residents in
urban areas that are high density are safe?
Mr. Larsen. Mayor Garcetti, you seem to be on mute.
Mr. Garcetti. Sorry. Thank you so much, Representative
Williams. We have a real expert here, who not only serves on
the FAA Drone Advisory Committee, but who has been trying to
help us hear what some of these things might even sound like in
an urban environment. So I'm going to ask Seleta Reynolds to
answer that with your indulgence if that's OK.
Ms. Williams of Georgia. Yes, thank you.
Ms. Reynolds. Thank you so much, Representative Williams,
for the question. And I was born in Atlanta, so it has a place
in my heart forever. I just want to share that like Atlanta,
Los Angeles is a city that has suffered a legacy impact of
where freeways are and how they really box Black and Brown
neighborhoods and low-income neighborhoods out of opportunity.
And as we consider where we are going to locate vertiports,
we want to consider equity of impacts. We want to make sure
that we don't double down on those same legacy impacts of the
past. And that means we have to consider safety, which means
that while the industry wants to innovate and lean forward,
that probably should not happen over urban areas.
But we also want to consider noise impacts. And in Los
Angeles, we've actually built a sound lab where residents can
come in and stand on the corner of a different part of Los
Angeles; touch, feel, and hear what it might sound like, so we
can really start to get their reactions about how they might
like to see these things come into their community.
We want everybody to benefit, but we want to make sure that
we do not continue the harms of the past. And so that sound lab
research is something that we hope we can share with other
cities, especially cities like Atlanta that share so much in
common with Los Angeles.
Ms. Williams of Georgia. Thank you, Ms. Reynolds. And going
more into that, AAM aircraft will still require landing areas,
so thinking about the equity and the concerns from the past,
how do you propose we build this infrastructure in cities that
currently have limited space and land like L.A. and Atlanta?
Mr. Garcetti. Go ahead, Seleta. Yeah.
Ms. Reynolds. So I think that we need to come up with a
tiered policymaking, so there may be regional hubs where larger
or louder aircraft can take off and land, maybe near existing
airports or other regional hubs like Union Station.
But then at smaller distributed hubs throughout our
neighborhoods, we want to have a higher bar and make sure that
those aircraft are quieter. Maybe they're more appropriate for
aircraft that are carrying cargo that are delivering things to
restaurants and other sort of retail establishments, or even
residents in those arenas.
And so I think there is a thoughtful approach to
policymaking where we really can come up with some creative
ideas that directly address the needs of communities. We don't
need another solution in search of a problem, and I think
that's where sort of thoughtful city voices at the table can
make the difference between success and failure for this
industry as it scales.
Ms. Williams of Georgia. Thank you. And Mr. Bry, in your
testimony, you mentioned that companies based in China
currently dominate the U.S. market share of drones by 80
percent. What would it take for the United States-based
companies to manufacture drones at the same rate or faster than
what is currently being manufactured by these other companies?
Mr. Bry. Thank you, Representative, for the question. I
think this is an incredibly important issue and topic, and
something that we think a lot about at Skydio and we're proud
of the progress that we've made. I think just a few years ago,
people thought it wasn't possible for a U.S. company to build a
competitive product, and we're showing now on the strength of
our artificial intelligence and autonomy that we can build a
product that is winning just on the strength of its
capabilities for a really wide range of customers.
And I think that's really the most important thing, is
using the things that the U.S. is good at. We've led the way in
cell phones with the transition to software-defined devices
with the iPhone, with Android. I think there's a similar
opportunity with drones as AI and autonomy become more
important. So I think getting the product piece right is most
important.
And anything that's good for domestic manufacturing is also
going to be good for the U.S. drone industry, so we started
building our drones in the U.S. because it was the way to get
the best product the fastest with the fastest development
times. Drones are really like other aerospace products where
there's tight integration between hardware and software
manufacturing.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Mr. Bry. Thank you, Representative
Williams. The time is expired.
I'll now recognize Representative Johnson of Georgia,
followed by Representative Brownley of California. So I
recognize Representative Johnson for 5 minutes.
Mr. Johnson of Georgia. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would
like to ask Mr. Harter, how has the COVID-19 pandemic
illuminated the need for greater innovation in the aerospace
industry, and how can Congress amplify its role in
incentivizing greater innovation in the aerospace industry?
Mr. Harter. Thank you, Congressman Johnson, for the
question. So how has COVID illuminated innovation in aerospace?
That was the question. Correct?
Mr. Johnson of Georgia. Yeah, the--how has the pandemic
illuminated the need for greater innovation in the industry?
Mr. Harter. I can't say that I've thought about that
particularly, but let me try and, let me try and shed some
light on that. So I think what we've seen is a big impact in
air travel. We've certainly seen the airlines and OEMs respond
with innovation in ensuring that air is clean inside their
vehicles as we fly, and we've seen great innovation there and
very good progress.
There's been a lot of research and effort spent in ensuring
that the way that we clean the aircraft doesn't damage them.
And I think we're going to see a lot of innovation in the way
seats are configured, the way people board airplanes, and
continued innovation in the way air is cleaned on board the
airplanes as well. I think----
Mr. Johnson of Georgia. OK. All right. Well, thank you.
Does anyone else care to respond to that question?
Mr. Ganzarski. Yes. This is Roei Ganzarski. I'll be happy
to add, COVID has showed us that people can work from home
regularly. Many companies have already said that even post-
COVID, people can continue working from home because it saves
costs and increases productivity.
What that means is--and we saw an article today in CNBC
saying that younger generations are now moving out of the
cities. Where once people were afraid of gentrification, of
city costs going up, now it's the opposite. People are moving
more to the suburbs, more into rural areas. That means now that
low-cost aviation can connect them when they do need to come to
the office, once a week, once every 2 weeks. They can come with
low-cost, clean energy electric aircraft from a small airport
nearby.
The second thing----
Mr. Johnson of Georgia. OK. All right.
Mr. Ganzarski [continuing]. COVID----
Mr. Johnson of Georgia. OK. Go ahead, go ahead.
Mr. Ganzarski. The second thing is with COVID, maybe people
don't want to come an hour ahead to their flight, stand in line
with hundreds and thousands of other people at a large,
congested airport. Maybe they would prefer to come 15 minutes
ahead of time with only 10 or 15 other people to a smaller
airport. So both those aspects are making changes.
Mr. Johnson of Georgia. OK. Anyone----
Mr. Grimsley. I'd like to comment on--yes, on behalf of the
Choctaw Nation, in a way that we were not ready with
regulation. We had communities when the pandemic started
reaching out to us because they wanted to do contactless
delivery. They said, is there anything we can do to do drone
delivery now to get supplies to assisted living centers,
basically to reduce that contact, human to human. And the
regulatory system was not ready.
So we saw a lot of other technologies, businesses that were
using things like curbside delivery and online ordering, app
ordering. They were able to shift, and society was able to
adjust very quickly.
On the side of things like drone delivery, where society
could have benefitted, the regulatory system was not ready. We
could not get anything in place to do any sort of meaningful
missions or to help the public, specifically because the
regulatory system has been so slow to get to where we are now.
So I'd say our regulatory system actually delayed our
ability to respond, in my opinion, very proactively or very
constructively to the pandemic response.
Mr. Johnson of Georgia. OK. Anyone else?
Mr. Scholl. Yeah. I have a couple of things to throw in
here. I think we're going to see that one of the effects of the
pandemic is it's going to actually accelerate the adoption of
supersonic flight, and that's for a couple reasons. First is
the more we're able to do things over Zoom, the less tolerance
people are going to have for the time inconvenience and hassle
that air travel takes today, and the more attractive the
faster, speedier flights are going to be. So that's thought
number one.
And thought number two is the way the aircraft fit into the
airline fleets is changing. Airlines, as we know, have
downsized their subsonic fleets, many retiring aircraft 10, 15
years ahead of when they otherwise would have. And as we exit
the pandemic and we see that air travel starts to recover,
there's going to be a new generation of fleet plans made at
airlines and supersonic for the first time is going to be baked
into those from day one, and that's going to result in a much
faster adoption of high speed than what we would have seen
otherwise.
Mr. Johnson of Georgia. Thank you. I'm sorry I'm not going
to be able to ask you a question, Mr. Bry, but technology is
very interesting. I wanted to ask about weaponized drones. You
don't produce those, do you?
Mr. Bry. We do not. We're focused on----
Mr. Johnson of Georgia. Thank you, and I yield back.
Mr. Larsen. All right. Thank you, Representative Johnson.
We'll have Representative Brownley, followed by Representative
Payne.
Representative Brownley, you're recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. Brownley. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you very
much for having this very interesting hearing. My first
question is to Mr. Mayor, and you've sort of already touched
upon this question, but I wanted to ask it anyway. So can you
kind of explain how your city is engaging with the community to
determine these vertiport locations for UAM, and how UAM is
really being integrated into an extraordinary transit system
being developed and in progress right now in Los Angeles?
Mr. Garcetti. Yeah. It's actually very exciting,
Representative, to engage the community. There's a lot of
excitement and a lot of fear. I think human beings are either
totally horrified by this or totally excited by this, and
there's not a lot of people in between, and sometimes human
beings can contain both of those emotions together.
But for instance, I chair a Metro system for Los Angeles
County, the third busiest transit system in the country. When
we were just changing our bus service or looking at new rail
lines in anticipation of the Olympics, we engaged with as many
as 20,000 people. It's been tougher to engage people around
this, and so we're looking for creative ways with the FAA and
others. And FAA has done a great job of putting safety first,
though we need to have the ability maybe to test some of this
stuff a little bit more real-time.
We are looking at those conversations, but we're trying to
engage people with things like what Seleta Reynolds has done
with our Department of Transportation is you can go someplace
and listen to the difference between a helicopter, a drone, you
can look at some of the AAM options, and hear that. In most
neighborhoods in Los Angeles, for instance, you don't really
hear much of the electric drone noise because it's already
louder than that. We don't have, as you know, a lot of rural
areas where there's a lot of quiet.
So we're looking at ways to engage people where it's not
just: What do you think of the boogeyman or are you excited
about ``The Jetsons''? It's more like: Listen to this, how do
you move from place to place, where would you want a vertiport
if one was here, and how would you use it? Would you want it
mostly to deliver packages in this area, or would it be
something that human beings should be able to use, and how do
you get accessibility through a private building for a public
good?
So those are some of the things and--but I think it's going
to be a challenge for us across the country to engage people on
the technology they don't really know anything more than a
caricature about at this point.
Ms. Brownley. What are two or three things at the top of
your list that Congress should be doing to integrate UAM into
the transportation systems?
Mr. Garcetti. Absolutely. I mean, first, just with drones
in general and UAM, I think it's very important. As I said, FAA
has done a great job of putting safety first, whether it's NASA
and the Grand Challenge or the Agility Prime in the Air Force.
But at LAX, for instance, we have, I think, 260 reported
cases of unauthorized drones in the area since 2016, and we
can't test some of the kind of defensive work that we need to
do to detect and to mitigate and have remote IDs. I think that
would be a critical thing that Congress could help us, and the
FAA could help us do in the short term.
I think also it's very important that Congress, like I
said, establish national standards and allow the local
flexibility, especially when it comes to land use so that we're
not overruled on things. We're often overruled, as we know,
about the flightpaths, and people complain about them that are
under them. When it comes to land use, people get even more
intense.
So I think that automation deconfliction, helping work with
planning departments, and then finally, working together to
understand the technical requirements of aircraft, but also
their impacts on the noise, the density, environment, and
privacy, those would be the main things that I would--and how
do you fund the infrastructure?
Is this something that cities pay for, or are Tribal areas,
are areas in cities going to be potentially left behind if
they're not higher income parts of America, and again we create
that two-class transportation system?
Ms. Brownley. And do you think FAA is hearing your message
regarding Federal standard but local control?
Mr. Garcetti. There's been some--I think they're hearing
it, for sure, and we look forward to actually the
implementation of that as well, and that's tough. I know FAA
doesn't want 10,000 local standards, but a standard to allow
local flexibility, especially when it comes to what gets built
in cities and even rural areas, I think that's absolutely
critical.
Ms. Brownley. Thank you so much.
And Mr. Scholl, I wanted to just comment to you. I have
very limited time now, but you had mentioned SAF, and what the
Federal Government needs to do to increase its supply and
supply chain. And I just wanted to let you know that I have a
bill, a great bill to do just that, and I would hope that you
take a hard look at it and join many in the aviation industry
in supporting the bill in terms of moving forward for cleaner
fuels for all of aviation, so I appreciate your interest.
And with that I will yield back. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Representative Brownley.
The Chair, before recognizing Representative Payne, will
note that Representatives Stanton and Norton are next in order
after Representative Payne, who is now recognized for 5
minutes.
[Pause.]
Mr. Larsen. Sorry. We'll just move on and then we'll come
back to Representative Payne. Representative Stanton from
Arizona is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Stanton. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Can you
hear me OK?
Mr. Larsen. Hear you fine. Go ahead there, Greg.
Mr. Stanton. All right, great. What a fascinating hearing
and an important hearing, so thank you for holding it. The
aviation industry played such a critical role in Arizona's
economy, supporting good jobs, making it easier for travelers
and workers to get to our region, shaping local communities and
impacting our environment. We already see how technology and
innovative practices can transform every aspect of our lives,
and it's no surprise that the aviation industry is evolving as
well.
In Arizona, we're committed to being at the forefront of
transportation innovation. That includes the latest in
aerospace and defense, clean public transit, autonomous vehicle
testing, and drones.
The common thread is that these innovations are
strengthening our economy and our local communities, and as
Government leaders, we're here today to explore how innovations
in aviation can improve policymaking and the way we invest in
infrastructure.
My first set of questions are for Mr. Bry, CEO, Skydio.
Drones play an increasingly important role in the way we
inspect infrastructure such as roads and bridges. It's a job
that when done by humans can be incredibly dangerous, and you
addressed this during your testimony, but I want to hear a
little bit more. How can the FAA help to promote safe and
effective use of drones to inspect America's aging
infrastructure?
Mr. Bry. Thank you, Representative Stanton. It is a great
question, and it is something that we are really excited to be
working on at Skydio. I think the first thing is just
recognizing the benefits, as you alluded to. There is
incredible safety benefits for the workers doing these
inspections. And it is also a positive transformation for the
inspections themselves. You get a full digital record of the
structure. Makes it easy to track changes over time. So we
really think this is the future of this industry.
From the FAA's perspective, from a regulatory perspective,
I think the most important thing is unlocking autonomous
operations from the ground up. We have the data now with our
customers, and there are other companies doing similar things
to know there is the potential for safe operations very close
to the ground where drones pose no risk to manned aircraft.
They pose no risk to people on the ground, and there is
tremendous benefits for the people operating them. And I think
that is really the place to start. We can scale up in size and
altitude from there.
Mr. Stanton. OK. That is great. And then I know you have
talked a little bit, and I want to hear a little bit more about
how the use of drone technology can help the environment. How
can drones help mitigate carbon emissions and play a role in
reducing climate change?
Mr. Bry. Yeah. Thank you for the question. This is another
really important area and, I think, an area of tremendous
opportunity. So in basically every industry where our customers
are using drones, the kind of status quo technology is some
piece of heavy machinery. It could be a snooper truck for
bridge inspection. These trucks actually get about 5 miles to
the gallon. They have to drive them all over the country to
perform bridge inspections.
It could be a crewed helicopter which burns hundreds of
gallons of fuel per hour. And a drone uses negligible energy.
It is all electric. So the general story is the more that we
are using drones to perform this work, the smaller the carbon
footprint is going to be. We have done some analysis on this
with our customers that finds that using drones for bridge
inspection--just a fraction of the bridges in a State is
equivalent to removing thousands of cars from the road. And the
more that we do that across the country, the more that we are
going to see the benefits.
Mr. Stanton. That is great. And my next question is for
Mayor Garcetti. Great to see you. Thank you for your
outstanding testimony today. The balancing act between Federal
jurisdiction and the role of local governments as it relates to
drones. When I was mayor of Phoenix, I expressed some
frustration when the FAA was trying to regulate airspace over
the city and didn't really understand the full context in my
city, particularly desert preserves and the importance of
protecting desert preserves in my city. Maybe you can talk a
little bit about your thoughts about the balancing act between
the role of the FAA in drone regulation and what is the role of
local governments in managing low-altitude airspace over
cities.
Mr. Larsen. I am sorry. This is the chair. Before you
answer that--and I will give you a few extra seconds here,
Greg--reminding Members to mute yourselves if you are not
questioning because your talking is interrupting the questioner
and the answers. Mute yourself if you are not currently asking
questions.
Mr. Garcetti. Well, thank you, Mayor. I mean,
Representative Stanton. It is great to see you. And I know that
experience you have had. Certainly, I think at some lower
level, on the lowest level, that you have to have some local
ownership, some local power, some local jurisdiction because it
does become the city itself, not just the airspace above it.
But we have been working with Google and others to--kind of how
to even map three-dimensionally the space above a city and
what's the basic unit of that, something that Seleta Reynolds
has been the cutting edge of. And I think making sure that we
can--again, around that, planning land use in transit
connections.
This isn't something that is autonomous--no pun intended--
from the rest of the way we get around cities. It has to be
integrated in, and that has to be a fundamental understanding.
So I think that is the best way to approach that and to empower
local governments, whether it is at a certain altitude or
certainly not mandating how and where--unless it is around
equity. I would welcome some sort of Federal mandates where
cities have to make sure this is done equitably and affordably,
but then we can figure out exactly how to hit that standard.
And finally, from your previous question, as chair of our
L.A. Metro, we use drones right now to inspect our rail
infrastructure. And our fire department uses them all the time
for hotspots. So we are already seeing that from a public
safety perspective, not just transportation.
Mr. Stanton. All right. Thank you for that excellent
answer, and I yield back.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you. Thank you, Representative Stanton.
We are going to flip back again to Representative Payne,
and then after that, go to Representative Norton.
Representative Payne, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Payne. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And, you know, sorry
for not being there when called on. It was a bit of a dilemma.
The Uber Eats guy came right at the same time you called on me,
so I had to go pick up the Uber Eats, so I am back, though.
Thank you.
Mr. Larsen. We understand. Go ahead.
Mr. Payne. Let's see. Mr. Grimsley, emerging aviation
technology such as unmanned systems have the potential to
greatly assist underserved communities. Businesses that have
been historically discriminated against should not be left out
of the process of developing these new technologies and
bringing them to consumers. Can you explain why it is important
that disadvantaged businesses be given a fair shot to implement
emerging aviation technology?
Mr. Grimsley. Yeah. That is a very good question. Thank you
very much for that. I am an optimist when it comes to
technology. I see technology as always a potential equalizer,
an opportunity where we can see communities actually change the
way they have access to quality of life through technology.
I could give an example. I also serve as an Oklahoma
transportation commissioner. So I have some oversight
responsibility over our roadways and our bridges. And in our
area, it is very historically impoverished and a very poor area
historically. The roads are not that great. And so your life,
your access to healthcare or just the risk of safety of driving
around is at risk because these roads are not always up to the
standards that they need to be for the traveling public.
I see technology such as drones and even AAM as being able
to allow us to leapfrog, to allow communities that don't quite
have that infrastructure in place in roadways to get access to
health services or get access to emergency healthcare or to get
access to other things that improve the quality of life by
leapfrogging very quickly. So I think it is very important that
we ensure equity in what we are doing.
We are seeing some tremendous things happening within the
Choctaw Nation. And that is an area that traditionally has not
had access to a lot of things. But it is happening very quickly
now because of technology. Thank you.
Mr. Payne. Thank you. And Mr. Chairman, that--I wish I had
picked up on the topic for today a bit earlier. I work with
several minority drone companies in Maryland, the consortium of
four African-American companies that have gotten together that
are in the drone space. So maybe one day, we can look at
people, minorities in that space, and what they are doing, so
just as potentially a topic in the future.
Mayor Garcetti, it is good to see you here once again.
Unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS, have opened the doors to
numerous practical applications that improve lives and benefit
communities. However, they must be used in a responsible
manner, especially when used in dense urban areas near major
airports such as Los Angeles or Newark, where I am from. How
have you been engaging with your community to educate them on
the responsible use of UAS, and what advice do you have for
other cities who wish to do the same?
Mr. Garcetti. It is a great question, Representative Payne.
And I hope Uber Air delivered your food. I know they are
talking about aerial delivery. I think it is a really good
question because you really have a bunch of hobbyists right
now. And trying to get to them is like trying to find your
tweezers in the haystack and pull out the people that are
engaged in this. The rest of us are kind of watching it and
wondering about it.
But I think what I would advise is kind of traditional
community organizing, going into communities and putting
together--we have a system of neighborhood councils, folks who
are already interested in traffic and transportation issues and
empowering them to be the voices and then provide them not just
what do you think of X, but give a curriculum. Give them an
experience, which is why our Department of Transportation is
actually going and inviting community members to listen to what
these things hear about, mapping and going around the city to
see where noise is variable.
Those things can empower you beyond just the particular
issue of UAS. I think it is for all of us to be able to look at
ways of empowering ourselves in the system. And that equity of
access, that availability and affordability of services--for
instance, we are trying to make transit free in Los Angeles, a
bold pilot to make our Metro lines, which we already do with
our city bus lines, free for everybody.
But what does that mean when it comes to aerial
transportation as well? And giving them the choice of weighing
in on themselves being moved by these vehicles versus the goods
that they need or the supplies for the businesses they go to.
But it is a tough one. I think really there should be some
funding that goes into that community capacity and organizing
or else this will be a conversation among a lot of geeky
experts like us, but it won't engage the public at large.
Mr. Payne. Well, thank you for that answer, Mr. Mayor.
And I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Representative Payne, and your
suggestion is so noted by the staff, so we will follow up with
you, Representative Payne, on meeting with some of these folks
in the drone business and minority-owned drone businesses.
Next up will be Congresswoman Norton from the District of
Columbia. You are recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. Norton. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. This is
really not a futuristic hearing because the future is now. I
want to begin with Mr. Garcetti. I am interested in jobs and
economic opportunity, particularly when you say there are
280,000 new jobs coming by 2035. I am interested in the wages
and opportunities. Are there existing pipelines to ensure a
diverse talent pool, particularly of underrepresented
minorities, or is this going to be an all-White matter?
Mr. Garcetti. Well, that is an important question. We are
trying to make that be reflective of our city and our Nation.
Los Angeles is kind of the face of the Nation, I think,
tomorrow, in many ways. And we are doing everything from
setting up transportation schools that are focused on children
who have experienced homelessness, been in the foster care
system, live in our lowest income communities of color and
getting them from the seventh grade into a public school that
will prepare them for transportation careers as engineers and
investors and builders, people who will be operators and
maintainers of systems as well as people who can run agencies.
New York had one of these, and we looked at it. And Phil
Washington, the head of our Metro system, and I at the time--
Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas are building this school. And we
are going to our community colleges, which I think is
absolutely critical saving some of those aerospace maintenance
programs that have existed through our public schools, our
adult schools, and our community colleges.
And that is absolutely critical because if we get this
wrong, then there will be a backlash, I think, against this.
People won't see those jobs. In L.A., 50,000 people in L.A.
County are in aerospace jobs, 300,000 indirect and direct jobs
in the southern California region. So it is an immense
manufacture. We are also going straight to those companies and
asking them to make pledges to hire more diversely and to train
more diversely because that is the pipeline of what is coming.
I say don't wait for the pipeline to produce. Build it
ourselves, and I think Federal funds that would go into those
sorts of job training and, last piece, local hire. Please let
us hire locally when we are investing our money in local
transportation to support this and any transportation measures,
something that was allowed in the Obama administration and
taken away.
Ms. Norton. That is encouraging, though, Mayor.
Mr. Scholl, I am a cochair of the Quiet Skies Caucus. I am
particularly concerned particularly here in the District about
noise, aircraft noise.
Mr. Larsen. Congresswoman Norton, would you--Congresswoman
Norton, would you just suspend for a moment? There is some
background noise. If everyone could mute yourselves, please.
Thank you. No, thank you. Please mute yourselves.
Ms. Norton. If I could--if my time----
Mr. Larsen. Go ahead, Congress----
Ms. Norton [continuing]. Could begin again, sir----
Mr. Larsen. No. We stopped your clock. Don't worry about
it.
Ms. Norton. OK.
Mr. Larsen. Go ahead. Go ahead.
Ms. Norton. My question was for Mr. Scholl because here in
the Nation's capital, we have been particularly concerned about
aircraft noise. And supersonic flights were once infamous for
that. I am a cochair of the Quiet Skies Caucus. I understand
that Overture will only fly supersonic speeds over water to
avoid creating supersonic booms. Still, even flying at normal
speeds, aircraft generate a significant amount of noise. Is
there research that would allow these aircraft to mitigate
noise?
Mr. Scholl. Thank you for the question. And we share your
view and concern that aviation impacts to communities need to
be minimized and continue to make forward progress. And you are
right. Supersonic flight over water only so sonic boom isn't a
consideration at all. And secondarily, we are using the latest
generation propulsion technology, optimizing the airplane.
So Overture is going to meet the same most stringent noise
levels that apply to latest generation subsonic aircraft, so
completely different than the last generation of supersonics.
You were asking about R&D that could further advance that.
There are opportunities that are kind of on the drawing board
today, something called variable cycle engines, for example,
that are going to allow us and next generations to push to even
higher speeds while being even quieter at the same time. So we
have got even more to look forward to here, and supersonics,
going forward in the future.
Ms. Norton. Can I ask you, Mr. Scholl, will Overture follow
the same routes as current aircrafts over the same communities,
or will it need new routes for its flight speed?
Mr. Scholl. So over airport communities, it will take off
and land just like every other airplane today. No need for
special integration of the airspace.
Ms. Norton. Thank you. I have a final question for Mr. Bry.
Mr. Bry, drones interest me, and you mention education and
training as some of the programming that Congress should enact
in order to build a workforce. Let me ask you, drones with
artificial intelligence cameras and sensors pose serious
concerns for privacy that only grows as these technologies
become more ubiquitous.
How are you as a company building in safeguards for privacy
as you build your technology?
Mr. Larsen. Mr. Bry, we will give you 30 seconds to answer
that, please.
Mr. Bry. Yes, thank you, Representative, for that question.
I think this is an incredibly important topic and something
that we think a lot about at Skydio. So the most important
thing that we do is only send customer data back to us if they
explicitly choose to do so. So our app makes this very clear.
If customers want to, they can say ``share flight logs with
Skydio.'' There are all kinds of reasons why somebody might
want to do that, to help us debug an issue or improve their
experience. But it is totally transparent to customers and it
is up to them.
And we are actually the first drone company in the world to
announce a set of ethical principles that guide our work.
Privacy, civil liberties, transparency are at the forefront for
us. I think this is----
Mr. Larsen. Thank you.
Mr. Bry [continuing]. Companies and lawmakers----
Mr. Larsen. Thank you. Thank you, and thank you,
Congresswoman Norton.
The Chair now recognizes Representative Johnson from Texas
for 5 minutes, and Representative Garamendi will follow
Representative Johnson. Representative Johnson from Texas, 5
minutes.
[Pause.]
Mr. Larsen. Just waiting for Representative Johnson maybe
to return. We will put her in the queue and we will go to
Representative Garamendi for 5 minutes.
Sorry, Representative Garamendi, to catch you in mid-lunch
there, sorry about that.
Mr. Garamendi. Hello, Mr. Larsen.
Mr. Larsen. You are good.
Mr. Garamendi. Fascinating hearing. Thank you very much for
the opportunity to ask a couple of questions.
Mayor Garcetti, you seem to be a very busy person this
morning. You seem to be the focus of a lot of attention.
Perhaps that is because L.A. is such an important city with
such an awesome mayor. But I have a question for you, Mayor.
Mr. Garcetti. Sure.
Mr. Garamendi. The upgrading of your airports requires a
pile of money. We have a financing program at the Federal
Government for transportation, mostly for highways, it is
called TIFIA.
Mr. Garcetti. Yes.
Mr. Garamendi. We have been trying to expand TIFIA to
include other modes of transportation, particularly airports,
so that the investment in those airports could be made using
Government financing. Federal Government can borrow money now
20 years, maybe in 30 years, somewhere around 2 percent. It
seems to me to make enormous sense for us to take advantage of
that, make that money available through the TIFIA program for
airports such as yours and others from around the Nation so
that they can meet the requirements of much of what Mr. Larsen
has put on the table today.
So what do you think about going with TIFIA? And do you
think it is a cool idea that you would support? If you think it
is a bad idea, just don't say anything. What do you have for
us, Mayor?
Mr. Garcetti. Well, the feeling is mutual towards you.
Thank you for your excellent service to our State and our
country.
As I mentioned, it is the third busiest airport in the
world, second busiest in the United States, and the biggest
airport improvement program in America, $15 billion. In my
state of the city address just last week, I greenlit three more
terminals.
We have essentially, as folks put it, done open-heart
surgery on somebody while they are running a marathon, because
we had to keep this going while building every terminal out as
well as three new terminals, four now, that we have greenlit.
We would love, in anticipation of the 2028 Olympic and
Paralympic Games returning to American soil, and we would take
advantage of TIFIA funds if they were available for airports,
together with the long overdue increase to the PFC cap and
added flexibility for AIP funding. We would absolutely welcome
it. I think it is a brilliant idea.
Mr. Garamendi. Well, thank you. We do share brilliant
ideas. It is good to work with you. I don't know how many years
we have been at it, but it has been a good, long while and a
good run.
Mr. Garcetti. Thank you; you, too.
Mr. Garamendi. Hang in there and we will see what we can
do. I think we got a good shot at this. If you could talk to
the other mayors, other airport folks around----
Mr. Garcetti. You got it.
Mr. Garamendi [continuing]. Many of whom are on this, I
think we can push this thing through.
The other question goes, if I might, to Mr. Harter. And
this has to do with my work on the Armed Services Committee. We
are trying to green the military. We are trying to see if we
can really force them to reduce their consumption of carbon
fuels, particularly hydrocarbons, petroleum products.
Conservation is one of the best ways of doing that, but
beyond conservation and they are going to battery-powered
vehicles, including Abrams tanks, so that would be hybrid, the
fuel is still petroleum based. And what I am looking for here
is really what we can do, how we can move the military to be an
early starter on biofuels of all kinds.
And so if you can comment on that, and if any of your
colleagues want to jump into it, that would be cool, too. So
what do you think here? Can we do that?
Mr. Harter. Thank you, Representative. Yes, I think there
is already a lot of work being done in that area. I think Mr.
Scholl addressed that earlier with some of his comments on
sustainable aviation fuels. And I think all of that research
that is underway on sustainability of fuels is applicable to
the military. I certainly think it helps with your work on the
Armed Services Committee to make that a focal point for the
military and have them emphasize that more in their research.
I also think a lot of the other technologies we are talking
about here today are going to help with that greenifying. So,
drones being able to deliver equipment and supplies to the
solider on the front lines, not just the last mile but part of
the last 100 miles of delivery.
Electric aircraft, as Mr. Ganzarski has talked about, is
going to evolve and we will eventually be able to carry our
soldiers and equipment into battle and replace some of those
fixed-wing and nonfixed-wing aircraft that we have flying
today.
Mr. Garamendi. Thank you very much. I am going to ask all
of you to lobby your Congress Members about the military and
going green in the military and going to biofuels, using the
military to bring into the market these new fuels.
With that, I am going to yield back my remaining 13
seconds. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Take care.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Representative Garamendi. I will now
recognize--I think Representative Johnson is back--
Representative Johnson of Texas is recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. Johnson of Texas. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
And let me thank you for this very interesting and needed
hearing, and all of our witnesses. I would also like to ask
unanimous consent to put my opening statement in the record.
Mr. Larsen. Without objection.
[Ms. Johnson of Texas' prepared statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Representative in
Congress from the State of Texas
Thank you, Chairman Larsen and Ranking Member Graves for holding
today's hearing, which delves into the intricate and truly awe-
inspiring ideas behind ``innovation in U.S. aerospace.'' I would like
to thank our outstanding witnesses for testifying today, and my
colleagues on the Aviation Subcommittee for engaging in today's
thought-provoking discussion into the future of aviation and novel
modes of transportation.
As a nearly 30-year member of the House Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure, I have witnessed first-hand the astounding
technological advancements and transformations in the aviation arena.
As Dean of the Texas Congressional Delegation, I represent the city of
Dallas, a critical and vital metropolitan area for the airline
industry. In fact, Dallas Love Field, based in my congressional
district, is home to Southwest Airlines' corporate headquarters.
Southwest also operates a key base at Love Field Airport. Just outside
my congressional district lies Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport
(DFW), which is the largest hub for American Airlines, and whose
headquarters is nearby in Ft. Worth. By all measures, DFW is one of the
busiest airports in the world and, according to The Texas Commercial
Airports Association, generates a $37 billion impact for the North
Texas region each year.
Certainly, as the Chairwoman of the House Committee on Science,
Space and Technology, the rapid advancements in U.S. aerospace are
issues of primary importance, as reflected by the attention that the
Science Committee has given to aerospace innovation. We have been
examining the role that both NASA and the private sector play in
promoting innovation in aerospace, whether in the areas of low boom
supersonic flight, sustainable aviation, urban air mobility, and
drones. We recently held a Subcommittee hearing looking at R&D pathways
to sustainable aviation, an important avenue for innovation in cleaner,
more efficient aircraft and aviation systems. We're also interested in
understanding how aviation and aircraft operations can contribute to
efficiencies in the aviation system.
The role of academia, students, and the workforce is integral to
our advances in U.S. aerospace innovation. In that light, we also are
considering opportunities for further university involvement and ways
to increase the diversity of professionals in aeronautics and
aerospace. We need to include all of our talented students and
professionals to remain on the cutting-edge.
The Science Committee has and will continue to focus on innovation
in our NASA Authorization and standalone bills. The testimony from
today's witnesses will be helpful in illuminating the impact that
innovation in U.S. aerospace will have on the operation of the National
Airspace System, and I look forward to today's discussion.
In closing, I want to again thank Chairman Larsen for holding
today's hearing. Our nation is clearly at a decisive turning point with
respect to innovation, specifically in the arenas of advanced air
mobility, electric aircraft, drones, and supersonic plane exploration.
And as we move forward and examine the federal government's role in
these scientific advances, we need to make sure that our progress is
inclusive of all Americans, and that no one, irrespective of race,
income or ethnicity, is marginalized and left out of the tremendous
benefits that have already been, and will continue to be produced by
aviation innovation.
Ms. Johnson of Texas. And let me say, Mayor Garcetti, I
really like your attitude about preparing staff. I chair the
Science, Space, and Technology Committee and we are very
concerned about the lack of diversity in our STEM careers. And
across the board here as we talk about this future, and it
sounds exciting, but I want all of the people to comment on
where they are getting talent, and what are they doing to
expand the talent in trying to reach all of these goals that we
have in this technology, and especially at home in the United
States.
So let me start with you, Mayor, to see if you have any
other comments on producing more talent, on diversity, both by
gender, whatever, and then move to the other witnesses.
Mr. Garcetti. So we have what I think is a national model
for going to technology companies, including aerospace
technology companies as well was digital and biotech and other
technology companies, something called PledgeLA with the
Annenberg Foundation. It is voluntary but it has been highly
successful and uses peer pressure.
It started with kind of an equity framework we are using on
ourselves hiring in the city of Los Angeles. But it essentially
has two aspects. It goes to companies, over 100 of them, and
their funders. So it goes to private equity, venture capital,
other funders, and ask them to sign a pledge to look at the
hiring of more women, of more people of color, and other
disenfranchised communities, as well as then, second, applying
some of their brilliance to problems that our communities face.
I have an Italian last name because of an Italian who went
through Mexico, but my father's whole side of the family is
Mexican American. Looking at the Latino community, for
instance, the STEM careers were greatly lagging. African-
American communities as well; many Pacific Islander communities
and some Asian-American communities, our Native communities.
So it starts with that, and over 100 companies have signed
off on kind of self-imposing that. And that becomes very
collaborative. It becomes: If you are not doing that, you are
not an excellent company here in Los Angeles anymore. And I
think that is a great model building on some of the other
things I mentioned, like the schools and community colleges
before.
Mr. Bry. I just want to jump in here. Thank you,
Representative, for raising this issue. It has come up a couple
of times. I think it is incredibly important and it is one that
I am incredibly excited about. And I think drones can actually
be one of the most valuable tools, not just for the drone
industry but for all of aviation and all of aerospace because
it is one of the few aerospace devices that people can actually
use themselves and see how it works and benefit from.
And so at Skydio we are doing a few things. We are donating
drones to underrepresented communities, or groups that focus on
underrepresented communities, to get them exposed to the
technology. In our own recruiting efforts, we engage with
college and campus groups that focus on diversity. And I think
there is an opportunity for Congress here as well.
So I have more details on this in my written statement, but
something like a drone infrastructure inspection grant program
could not only provide funding to State departments of
transportation for using drones for inspection, but could
provide funding to educate folks on how to use drones and
really empower a new generation of workers with very diverse
backgrounds.
Mr. Grimsley. I would like to----
Mr. Scholl. I would like to comment as well. Your core
principle for building our culture here at Boom is to make the
company the place where the most talented people on the planet
can be inspired and enabled to do the best and most meaningful
work of their careers. And today, many of the most talented,
best people on the planet don't even consider careers in
aerospace. And so this is a problem that runs deep, and you
have to solve it at many levels.
We focus on diversity at every level of the company at
Boom. I am proud to have a very diverse leadership team with
me. But we have to go much further beyond that. We need to do
things that inspire the next generation of people to think
about what they can do and to take on more challenging careers.
But even more than that, we have to reach all the way back
into early childhood and make sure that people have the
opportunity and the education that they need to go off and do
great things, and that everybody from every walk of life can
look in the mirror and say ``I am somebody who can do something
great. I am somebody who can change the world. I am somebody
who can take on a tough challenge.'' And that is a very tall
order. But if we inspire people and we focus on education, we
can make it happen.
Ms. Johnson of Texas. Thank you.
Mr. Grimsley. And on behalf of the Choctaw Nation, I can
say, just like the other witnesses here, we are focusing on
that middle school and even younger age because that is when
students develop a sense of confidence, when they develop their
passions.
An observation I have had on the IPP and BEYOND is some of
our biggest champions within our region within the reservation,
are school superintendents and our STEM educators, because the
kids hear about what we were doing, they ask questions, they
kind of get interested and excited about it, but it gives the
STEM educators an opportunity to talk to them about STEM
opportunities and so we have made it a priority. The pipeline
that you are talking about, we have to start building it at
that middle school level to make sure that it propagates all
the way through the university level. So that is very important
to us. So thank you for the question.
Ms. Johnson of Texas. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I
yield back.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Representative Johnson. And next is
Representative Titus of Nevada. Representative Titus, you are
recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. Titus. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. It is a very
interesting hearing this morning.
I would like to change the subject a little bit. We have
heard a lot about the technological developments of the
aircraft itself, but not too much about the impact it is going
to have on infrastructure.
What is going to be needed at our airports to accommodate
these new kind of aircraft? Are the air traffic controllers
engaged? How are we going to be able to provide some of these
alternative, sustainable fuels?
Could Mr. Ganzarski or Mr. Scholl talk about those kinds of
changes that they see coming, or that we need to be considering
as we take up an infrastructure bill that looks at modernizing
our airports?
Mr. Ganzarski. Yes, I would be happy to address that.
Mr. Scholl. I would like to comment. So I think there are a
couple things here that are important to emphasize. When it
comes to sustainable aviation fuels, the technologies all
exist. The biggest challenge is how do we scale them up.
So finding ways to make investments in the SAF supply chain
is going to be critical for making sure those fuels not just
exist in laboratories in small quantities, but actually go into
aircraft. And today, the SAF capacity for planned projects is
just about 6 percent of what we're going to need in 2030, so
there is a lot of work to do there to scale things up.
The other piece of this is airports, and when we think
about the ways transportation is going to get faster, the
advanced urban mobility with vertical takeoff and landing, as
well as supersonic, all of a sudden our airports can start to
become a bottleneck. And so I think there is an opportunity
there to say how can we think differently about how we build
and operate airports such that these can also come up to the
experience that we are going to see in the transportation
itself.
Mr. Ganzarski. And I would like to add to that that, and I
will even oversimplify it, in the next 5 years you will see
electric aircraft, traditional fixed-wing aircraft that take
off from airports and land at airports, start to fly in the
country. This country has over 10,000 airports that these
aircraft can fly in and out of. So you don't need to invest in
infrastructure. You do need electrical power, which lo and
behold most of these airports have. Most of the States are now
going to renewable energy, so we can even perhaps install the
renewable energy sources at the airports themselves.
The beauty of small aircraft going to and from airports is
that we change the way we think about aviation. As long as we
think about hub and spoke, everyone having to go to one large
airport, then yes, airports get condensed and the costs go up.
But if you think of most Americans and where they travel, it's
locally, which means 200, 300, 400 miles. They would rather fly
to and from an airport next to them, which means less flights
per each of those airports.
So the infrastructure challenge, while there, can be solved
easier than we think. But having incentives from the Government
to these small airports to help is critical.
Ms. Titus. Thank you, that is interesting. Thank you very
much.
I would also like to ask Mayor Garcetti, or anybody, about
the interconnectivity regionally. We are not nearly so
connected in the Southwest as they are in the Northeast, and
part of that is geography, part of it is demographic patterns,
part of it is people just like to get in their car out here and
drive wherever they want to go.
But as we develop this kind of aircraft, how are we looking
at regional approaches, so you can start in Los Angeles and
come and see me in Las Vegas and you won't run into different
kinds of regulations or barriers to getting here?
Mr. Garcetti. Well, I will jump in, because whether it is
high-speed rail or the highway that we are constantly trying to
improve between our cities, we essentially are part of one
State in two States, you know, we have more in common sometimes
than we do with folks who are ``in our State'' than with each
other.
Seleta, do you want to address that a little bit? Because
we were talking about regional work and making sure with rural
and urban areas we can develop these standards and create that.
So let me toss that over to Seleta for a couple words, if you
don't mind.
Ms. Reynolds. I really appreciate the question,
Representative Titus, and just want to flag that when we talk
about not wanting a patchwork of regulations so that industry
can scale, what we don't mean is preemption, right? But in
order to make sure that we retain our ability to sort of have
the community voice heard and control our destiny, we have to
collaborate and get together.
So we have been working very closely with different
organizations like CAMI and others to try and exercise that
convening power of Government to think about a golden triangle
of aviation that connects Los Angeles and Las Vegas and Phoenix
and how we can all sort of grow together and come up with that
policy framework that can be used broadly. Because you are
right. The potential for regional interconnectivity is
tremendous.
I think one of the things that we can't walk past, though,
is the needs for the municipal power grids. An airplane needs
to be able to recharge in Los Angeles or recharge in Las Vegas,
and our municipal grids, to your question about infrastructure,
really need shoring up to enable that future. So whether it is
infrastructure or it is questions about land use, I think there
is a powerful role for local voices to play at the front end of
this technology, and that is where we are now, so it is a
perfect time to get together and come up with some great ideas.
Ms. Titus. Well, thank you so much. Just make it easier for
Mayor Garcetti to come over here and see me in Las Vegas.
Mr. Garcetti. You got it.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Representative Titus. And that
actually concludes Member questions.
I want to thank the Members for their attentiveness to this
hearing, to the great questions. It is not often we get a
chance to have hearings on things that we have to think about
for the future, because as Congresswoman Norton said, the
future is now in terms of innovation in the airspace. But I
really do want to thank the Members for their questions. I want
to thank the staff for putting this together.
I want to thank the panel for providing this, a broad
spectrum of ideas that we need to think about as we help the
FAA sort out the new entrants in the airspace, who they are
going to be, what they are going to be, how they are going to
be using the airspace, and ways we can help.
So with that, this concludes our hearing.
I want to thank the witnesses for your testimony. Your
comments have been informative and very helpful, and I want to
ask unanimous consent that the record of today's hearing remain
open until such time as our witnesses have provided answers to
any questions that may be submitted to them in writing. I also
ask unanimous consent that the record remain open for 15 days
for any additional comments and information submitted by
Members or witnesses to be included in the record of today's
hearing.
Without objection, so ordered.
And with that, the subcommittee now stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 1:22 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
Submissions for the Record
----------
Prepared Statement of Hon. Sam Graves, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Missouri, and Ranking Member, Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure
Thank you, Chair Larsen, and thank you to our witnesses for being
here today.
Just before the COVID-19 pandemic we held a similar hearing, and at
that time we were excited about the possibilities for new aircraft, new
operators, new business models, new technology, and new and expanding
opportunities.
If nothing else, the last year has shown us that opportunities for
aerospace innovation are endless.
In fact, some new technologies hit the market much faster during
the pandemic due to high demand.
There's no doubt that American innovation can lead the way in
changing how we move people and goods across town, around the globe,
and into space.
However, during the advancement of new ideas, technology, and
careers, we must maintain a high standard for safety.
Today, I am interested to hear about some of the newest users of
the airspace, including drone operators; and to hear from those
pursuing drone manufacturing, Advanced Air Mobility, electric aircraft
technology, and supersonic flight.
I am particularly interested in how innovation will help connect
small and rural communities with the rest of the country and world.
I yield back.
Appendix
----------
Questions from Hon. Rick Larsen to Hon. Eric Garcetti, Mayor, City of
Los Angeles, California
Question 1. In your written testimony, you emphasized that
``purpose-driven data sharing'' across all levels of government is
critical to ensuring the safety of the National Airspace System. What
types of data from the Federal government does the City believe it
needs?
Answer. While the FAA's record for aircraft and operational safety
is nearly unparalleled across the transportation industry, Advanced
Aerial Mobility (AAM) presents a new set of challenges--for safety both
on the ground and in the sky. Purpose-driven data sharing can help
reduce the actual and perceived risk of AAM operations, providing the
public with greater confidence whether they are passengers or
spectators of AAM. Purpose-driven data sharing is also not just about
improving safety: it is about making sure AAM operations are consistent
with all of the ``Principles of the Urban Sky,'' [https://
www.weforum.org/reports/principles-of-the-urban-sky] including equity
of access, multi-modal connectivity, sustainability, low-noise, and
local job creation. States, Cities, Local Governments, and Tribal
Nations will be held accountable for successfully integrating this mode
into their built environments and achieving desired social and
environmental outcomes.
Some examples of purpose-driven data sharing include:
Safety: Cities are places of spontaneity, and while local
officials make all efforts to plan for the unplanned, there are often
events and emergencies that crop up without notice. To that end,
estimated and actual arrival and departure times, flying altitudes,
geographic location of aircraft while in flight, number of flights per
day and hour are among the data points cities might need to access on a
real-time basis. And safety around areas of high traffic in the air,
such as airports, is critical. LAX was recently selected by the U.S.
Transportation Security Administration to test state-of-the-art
technology to detect, track, and identify drones that are encroaching
on restricted airspace. Data sharing pilot programs such as these are
also critical to ensuring the safe integration of AAM.
Sustainability: Many cities, including Los Angeles, have
set ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets, and are actively
implementing programs to improve local air quality. Data such as
emissions of aircraft at flight, at take-off and landing; air quality
impacts of aircraft at flight, at take-off and landing, and more will
ensure that AAM helps cities reach sustainability goals, rather than
inhibit progress. With many transportation modes transitioning to
electric motors, cities need industry data to properly plan for
electric grid enhancements and clean power production. We cannot afford
a future where transportation modes compete for limited energy
resources. We must search for synergies now to plan for an integrated
future. Cities view sustainability comprehensively, and that includes
impacts to nature, whether animal or botanical. Impacts to trees,
birds, and other urban habitats need to be understood in order to site
vertiports and operations sustainably.
Multi-modal Connectivity: Flight path, origin, and
destination, as well as the mode of transportation used to access AAM
trips, are critical for transportation agencies to create integrated
transportation networks with minimal impact to neighbors and to realize
shared outcomes across communities.
Low-Noise: Aircraft noise characteristics are important
for planning low-impact arrival and departure procedures. Real noise
data keeps community stakeholders educated and prevents the propagation
of misinformation.
Equity of Access: Where the FAA is concerned with equity
of access to airspace, cities and communities are concerned with equity
associated with exposure to detrimental impacts. Historically, a
relatively small number of neighborhoods have borne the burden of
negative externalities induced by new transportation technologies.
These neighborhoods are often underserved communities of color. Cities
should work with the FAA and other stakeholders to develop an index to
identify both in advance and with operations the equity of impacts of
AAM, including on affordability of services, time to reach vertiports,
mode of transportation to vertiports, noise impacts, air quality and
emissions impacts, connectivity and grid interruptions resulting from
AAM, noise, emissions, job creation, and more.
Local Job Creation: Data related to the manufacturing,
maintenance, and servicing of future aircraft is critical to ensure our
local workforce is prepared. From these data, secondary and tertiary
job forecasts can further improve our ability to respond with targeted
economic development strategies. Dense cities like Los Angeles cannot
afford to develop a system where few are transported over the air at
the cost of worsening our jobs to housing imbalances and induce more
single occupancy vehicles onto our roadways. Organizations like Los
Angeles' Urban Movement Labs [https://www.urbanmovementlabs.com/] are
well positioned to help shape the job creation and workforce
development of the burgeoning AAM industry.
Question 2. How would the City need to enhance its digital
infrastructure to accommodate the new frequency and scale of data from
AAM operations?
Answer. This is a question better suited for industry to answer at
this time. Industry has not yet shared with the City the technological
underpinnings of AAM operations, including what type or speed of
digital infrastructure would be needed to facilitate data sharing,
smart charging, connectivity for customers and for aircraft operations,
and more.
Understanding these needs is a critical component of planning for
AAM, and part of the reason why the City has advocated for federal
funding to support local AAM infrastructure planning.
As a foundation, the City of Los Angeles has invested in open-
source digital infrastructure called MDS that allows it and other
transportation agencies around the world to have a two-way digital
relationship between commercial transportation companies operating in
the public right of way, and public regulators, planners, and
operators. This system is being used today to receive over 4 million
anonymous notifications daily from more than 50,000 shared vehicles in
the City of Los Angeles and at the LAX Airport. The City of Los Angeles
and other city transportation agencies participating in the Open
Mobility Foundation [https://www.openmobilityfoundation.org/],
participants in NASA's National Campaign, and FAA workshops are working
to expand the digital infrastructure capabilities to include full-scale
AAM operations in the near future.
Without question, major metropolitan areas with existing airspace
complexities will need the ability to communicate their policies at
scale to the FAA and in turn, private companies. As cities begin to
deploy pilots such as emissions-free delivery zones on the ground and
invest in infrastructure such as bus-only lanes and protected bike
lanes to access major transit hubs, we are relying on a mix of physical
and digital methods. Enabling this same continuity of communication in
the sky using similar open-source systems will assist the industry in
scaling while allowing cities to achieve climate, safety, economic, and
equity outcomes that residents expect.
The lessons learned from aviation hubs like LAX in cities is that
up-front investment in community outreach, a shared discussion about
costs and benefits, and a strong role for cities can save tremendous
amounts of time and energy further down the line. As we anticipate the
arrival of AAM in the next several years, a timely investment now will
avoid or minimize challenges in the future, with a goal of opening up
shared wins for both industry and community.
Questions from Hon. Rick Larsen to James L. Grimsley, Executive
Director of Advanced Technology Initiatives, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Question 1. As the only tribal government participating in the
Federal Aviation Administration's UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP),
what are your main takeaways from the Choctaw Nation's experience in
that program?
Answer. Thank you for your interest in our experience as a tribal
government.
As noted in the question, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma made
history by becoming the first and only tribal government to be selected
by the U.S. Department of Transportation to participate in the UAS
Integration Pilot Program--or ``IPP''. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
was selected as part of a group of lead participants that also included
state and local governments to focus on safely accelerating the
integration of drones into our national airspace system (NAS). This was
historic for the Choctaw Nation since, prior to the UAS IPP, tribal
governments had not been eligible to participate in many technology-
related federal government-sponsored pilot programs. Many positive
developments and accomplishments were made possible due to the IPP. For
example, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma became the first tribal
government to be recognized by the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) as a public aircraft operator (PAO).
In 2020, the Choctaw Nation was invited to continue our
collaborative relationship with the FAA as part of the FAA BEYOND
program, which is focused on advancing beyond visual line of sight--or
``BVLOS''--drone operations, as well as cargo delivery by drone. As
part of both the IPP and BEYOND, we have also focused on community
engagement with public stakeholders. It has been exciting to be part of
the Choctaw Nation team as we have accomplished many historic firsts
for tribal governments in this exciting area of emerging aviation
technology.
As the only tribal government lead participant in the IPP and
BEYOND, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma did face challenges, due to an
outdated regulatory framework as well as to a legacy of exclusion of
tribal governments from similar programs in the past. Some of these
challenges highlighted some of the inequities that tribal and rural
communities still face today.
First, as we mentioned during the hearing, even as an IPP lead
participant, we were frustrated by the lack of enabling regulatory
progress in areas such as drone delivery, especially during situations
such as the COVID-19 pandemic response. We believe that missions such
as drone delivery could have possibly helped us to reduce person-to-
person contact in our communities and could have been a significant
tool for safely managing many parts of daily life during the pandemic
response. However, outmoded regulatory frameworks designed for manned
aviation did not enable this, nor did the IPP. The purpose of
innovative pilot programs is to offer the ability to work around unduly
restrictive existing regulatory frameworks. Indeed, that is why the
Choctaw Nation was excited to participate in the IPP. Without that
ability, the IPP's success enabling expanded UAS operations was
limited.
Relatedly, we are fully committed to safe aviation operations and
protecting the safety of the NAS. However, when weighing the social
benefits against safety risks, it is important to find ways to ensure
that the societal benefits of these types of activities (such as drone
delivery) are fully and thoroughly assessed and considered by the FAA.
During disruptive events such as a global pandemic, our regulatory
system needs to properly balance societal benefits versus safety risks
to ensure that potentially groundbreaking changes in technology
adoption are not unduly discouraged and prevented, especially when
those technology changes could have significant immediate benefits for
communities. Congress should require the FAA to account for these
factors in its analysis.
We have also experienced challenges associated with the legacy of
exclusion from similar pilot programs. The FAA Modernization and Reform
Act of 2012 (FMRA 2012) directed the FAA Administrator to initiate a 5-
year program to establish six (6) UAS test sites to support the FAA in
integrating UAS into the NAS. Unfortunately, tribal governments were
excluded and ineligible to participate in the program, and thus unable
to seek UAS test site status. Although originally only planned for a 5-
year program life, these test sites have been extended and remain
active programs today. This initial exclusion has therefore had
cascading effects for the Choctaw Nation. Unfortunately, many follow-on
pilot program opportunities and activities such as the UAS Traffic
Management (UTM) Pilot Program (or ``UPP'') were limited to the
original UAS test sites, and the Choctaw Nation was ineligible to
participate in either the UPP 1 or UPP 2 programs. The history of
exclusion of tribes from these types of pilot programs continues to be
perpetuated when new pilot program opportunities are restricted to
legacy programs, and there are no opportunities for inclusion of tribal
governments.
Finally, our activities with the IPP also reinforced our concerns
about the historic lack of funding for science, technology, engineering
and mathematics (STEM) educational opportunities and resources for
tribal and rural communities. The STEM educators in our reservation
territory were some of the most vocal supporters of our IPP activities
because the visibility of our activities helped generate interest and
enthusiasm for aviation and STEM-related topics among their students.
However, a general lack of resources to fully support public STEM
educators throughout our reservation territory was frustrating and
discouraging, and the lack of available resources prevented us from
fully exploiting the IPP activities to the maximum extent possible to
support and encourage STEM educational opportunities for students in
our region.
As a result of the IPP, and now the BEYOND program, we are
optimistic about the potential to use drone technology to improve the
quality of life and health in our rural and tribal communities. It is
our hope that these pilot programs are just the beginning of even more
collaborative partnerships between tribal governments and the FAA, and
that these collaborations can yield meaningful advances in regulatory
modernization to accommodate emerging aviation technologies.
Question 2. What lessons from the IPP should the FAA apply to the
BEYOND program and future UAS integration efforts?
Answer. Thank you for your focus on applying lessons learned from
UAS pilot programs to support further UAS integration.
In general, we endorse the industry recommendations as set forth in
the Commercial Drone Alliance (CDA) policy papers included as an
attachment to this document. We also endorse the CDA policy paper for
IPP Renewal Recommendations (also attached).
With respect to our experience as an IPP lead participant, we
strongly believe there were important lessons learned that can be used
to inform both near-term and long-term FAA decision-making and we offer
the following suggestions. We believe also that Congress can play a
valuable role. As described in my written extended testimony, Congress
can provide important support by codifying BEYOND and funding the
program (funding for both the FAA and lead participants). Congress can
also empower the FAA to make important decisions and hold the FAA
accountable for congressional mandates related to aviation regulatory
modernization and reform.
We offer the following specific suggestions for how the FAA can
better pursue future UAS integration efforts:
First Recommendation: Establish Senior Leadership Positions That Are
Empowered to Advance and Enable Emerging Transportation
Technologies.
We believe there is a strong need for an Associate Administrator to
be appointed within the FAA to focus solely on emerging aviation
technologies. The new Associate Administrator should also be empowered
to make decisions related to regulatory modernization and reform, and
to oversee and enact mandates from Congress. The new FAA Associate
Administrator should have responsibility for ensuring that our
regulatory system can safely and efficiently integrate new emerging
technologies into the NAS.
Ideally, there should also be a counterpart position created within
the U.S. Department of Transportation, such as an Assistant Secretary
of Emerging Transportation Technologies. This particular office and
official should have oversight of both ground and aerial emerging
technologies. This is necessary to provide leadership and coordination
to related efforts to integrate emerging technologies into existing
transportation systems.
Second Recommendation: Enable Site-Specific Regular Operations.
As described in my extended written testimony, we recommend
mandating that the FAA accelerate opportunities for particular
communities and sites that can demonstrate the ability to safely scale
regular operations, such as drone delivery. Some sites, such as the
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, have already made significant investments
in ground-based radar and other safety infrastructure and mitigations
to support safe drone operations today. This can serve as an
opportunity for industry to innovate and demonstrate economic viability
by allowing these sites to move forward and scale their low-risk low
altitude drone operations within a safe and managed environment.
The original FAA UAS Test Sites fell short of fully meeting the
needs of society and industry since the federal government did not make
meaningful accommodations to enable regular advanced operations in the
NAS. For many decades, the military and defense communities have
benefited from the use of restricted military test ranges to support
research, development, testing and evaluation (RDT&E) of emerging
aviation technology. Over this same time period, civil aviation was
typically the beneficiary of military aviation technology development
as the technology moved from the military environment to civil
environment. However, with the quick and expansive growth of electric
propulsion, innovation in aviation is now occurring much more quickly
within the civil market, and within commercial industry, versus the
military and defense communities. The lack of fully capable aviation
testing locations or ``sandboxes'' for regularized UAS operations
adversely impacts the emerging aviation industries. This also places
considerable pressure on the FAA's ability to achieve UAS integration.
Overall, this situation is placing the United States at a global
competitive disadvantage in these important emerging industry sectors.
Therefore, we recommend that the FAA work with specific sites that
have made necessary investments in safety mitigations to enable regular
operations for missions such as drone delivery. Many of these missions
can be broadly enabled now in those locations where there are
sufficient safety mitigations in place. For example, the Choctaw Nation
of Oklahoma has already made significant investments to enable safe
operations within a 44,000+ acre test range that has been developed on
tribally-owned land in rural southeastern Oklahoma.
Third Recommendation: Proactively Prepare for Important Public Safety
Missions.
Many public safety emergency scenarios and disasters have common
elements such as disruption of ground transportation, and an urgent
need for an immediate pivot to alternative transportation/delivery
modes. Given the unique utility and versatility of drone technology, a
more proactive response should be taken by the FAA to prepare for--and
enable--drone operations for public safety emergency operations. Most
often it is not practical or possible to engage in detailed discussions
with the FAA after an emergency situation or disaster scenario has
commenced. Instead, the FAA should proactively work with emergency
management and public safety officials to identify common scenarios and
situations, and work to establish guidance for emergency operations
during those scenarios. The FAA should not cede authority during these
situations but should instead proactively evaluate common scenarios of
emergency public safety operations and develop guidelines that can be
used by public safety and emergency management personnel during times
of emergency. This would enable the FAA to focus on only those elements
or factors that are unique to the situation at hand, rather than
``starting from scratch'' during each and every emergency situation or
disaster scenario.
Fourth Recommendation: Establish Pilot Program(s) to Demonstrate
Benefits of Drone Delivery to Improving Health in Rural and
Tribal Communities.
We enthusiastically support legislative proposals to establish a
grant program to fund the use of commercial drones to increase rapid
access to medical care in rural and tribal communities. As an example,
we enthusiastically endorse the current pending industry proposals for
infrastructure from the Commercial Drone Alliance (see attached in the
appendix) for Congress to create a $20 million program for Advanced
Infrastructure Solutions for Rural and Tribal Health Access to be
administered by the Department of Transportation to provide grants to
eligible entities to plan for and implement the use of drones to
deliver medication or medical supplies to rural and tribal areas.
American drone technology is already proven to operate safely at scale
through extensive operations abroad and the time is right for it to be
used at home to address rural and tribal health access inequities,
create high-paying, next-generation jobs in our communities, and
bolster American global competitiveness in crucial emerging
transportation technology sectors.
Fifth Recommendation: Empower the FAA Regional Administrators to More
Actively Support Tribal Governments.
We believe that the FAA Regional Administrators can be more
effectively utilized to work directly with tribal governments, and
typically these FAA regional offices are more familiar with the
uniqueness of the particular regions, including tribal governments. For
programs like BEYOND, the FAA should consider designating a regional
liaison to work with the tribal government lead participants, and the
resources of the regional offices should be fully leveraged.
appendix
Commercial Drone Alliance's Policy Documents
[Editor's note: The Commercial Drone Alliance's ``Policy Priorities
for 2021: Proposed Executive Actions for the First 100 Days of the
Biden-Harris Administration'' and ``Urban Air Mobility Policy
Priorities for 2021: Proposed Executive Actions for the First 100 Days
of the Biden-Harris Administration'' are included as an appendix to Mr.
Grimsley's prepared statement on pgs. 25-31.]
Commercial Drone Alliance Urges Continuation of the UAS Integration
Pilot Program
[Editor's note: This document is retained in committee files and is
available online at https://www.commercialdronealliance.org/letters-
comments/commercial-drone-alliance-urges-continuation-of-the-uas-
integration-pilot-program]
Drone-Related Infrastructure Proposals of the Commercial Drone Alliance
[Editor's note: This document is retained in committee files and is
available online at https://www.commercialdronealliance.org/letters-
comments/drone-related-infrastructure-proposals-of-the-commercial-
drone-alliance]
Question from Hon. Steve Cohen to Adam Bry, Chief Executive Officer,
Skydio, Inc.
Question 1. Mr. Bry, I've been a longtime advocate for the Stadiums
Operating under New Guidance (SONG) Act, which would give the Federal
Aviation Administration the authority to issue Temporary Flight
Restrictions (TFRs) for concerts and other events held at stadiums
across the country. I know that some drone companies have the ability
to recognize TFRs through their geo-fencing capability, which helps to
keep careless and clueless drone operators out of airspace they
shouldn't be in. However, I believe that Skydio does not offer a geo-
fencing capability. In light of the FAA's Drone Advisory Committee and
Unmanned Aircraft Safety Team, why is your company not implementing/
endorsing that drone technology feature?
Answer. Thank you for your question. I appreciated the opportunity
to testify about the importance of enabling U.S. leadership in the
uncrewed aircraft sector. The drone industry plays a critical role in
leading the next generation of aviation innovation, creating good-
paying domestic jobs, protecting workers who inspect America's aging
infrastructure, and slashing carbon emissions.
The safe and secure integration of drones requires a layered
approach. Manufacturers have an important role to play, and Skydio
takes that obligation seriously. In 2020, Skydio became the world's
first and only drone company to issue a set of policy and ethical
principles--the Skydio Engagement and Responsible Use Principles
[https://medium.com/skydio/skydio-engagement-and-responsible-use-
principles-49c6576eb740]--to guide our work and move the industry
forward. These principles capture our commitment to considering the
holistic impact our products will have on communities and countries.
Skydio takes a range of measures to promote safety, including
education and training. Our safety guidelines advise customers to
follow FAA regulations and ensure it is appropriate to fly in a given
area by using resources like the FAA's B4UFLY app. New customers
acknowledge compliance with our safety guidelines when they first use
the Skydio app. Skydio is one of the only drone manufacturers to offer
a virtual and in-person flight school, known as Skydio Academy. The
educational curriculum for Skydio Academy reinforces the importance of
safe operations, including compliance with FAA regulations. In addition
to Skydio Academy, Skydio offers flight school videos that teach our
customers how to use Skydio drones safely and effectively. The nature
of our products also contributes to safety of flight. Both of our
drones--the Skydio 2 and Skydio X2--weigh less than three pounds and
are not designed to carry cargo.
We take pride in engineering advanced features that provide high
levels of safety and efficiency. For example, we recently released
Skydio 3D Scan, a transformational product that automates photographic
data collection and mapping tasks. Enterprise customers use 3D Scan to
produce stunning digital twins of bridges, cell phone towers, and dams.
First responders use the product to capture 3D maps of accident scenes
in a fraction of the time it takes to snap manual photos. 3D Scan
enables the operator to create dynamic limitations on the boundaries of
the flight--a feature known as geo-caging.
As for geofencing, the FAA and global aviation regulators promote a
layered approach to safety and security and generally have not required
geofencing. Among other reasons, geofencing has been less effective
than expected and can be easy to defeat.\1\ Geofencing also makes it
difficult for critical infrastructure operators and commercial drone
pilots to use drones for inspection and security purposes,
inadvertently grounding authorized drone flights. We will continue to
closely monitor developments in this space.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ See, e.g., Ben Heubl, Conflict Groups Arm Consumer Drones for
Terror Attacks, Engineering & Technology, April 9, 2021, https://
tinyurl.com/j8mejbax (describing terrorist groups' use of DJI drones to
drop explosive devices in Syria and Iraq, notwithstanding geofencing);
Alan Levin, Drone Easily Pierced New York `No-Fly Zone, Exposing Risk,
December 15, 2017, https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2017/12/
15/474422.htm (discussing a DJI drone that struck a U.S. Army
helicopter 2.5 miles away from the operator, despite Presidential
security TFRs); Special Agent Deana M. Jones, Criminal Complaint,
United States v. Henry Alejandro Jimenez, February 5, 2021, at 5-6,
https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/press-release/file/1365131/download
(supporting federal criminal charges against a drone pilot who flew a
DJI drone into restricted airspace surrounding the 2021 NFL Super Bowl
in Miami, notwithstanding geofencing). Those anecdotes suggest that
layered safety and security measures--from robust training and
education to drone detection and enforcement--are important tools in
ensuring airspace safety.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Skydio, we think safety and security go hand-in-hand.
Appropriate security measures support the safe and effective
integration of drones into the airspace. For that reason, we support
the expeditious implementation of Section 2209 of the FAA Extension,
Safety and Security Act of 2016, which directed the FAA to enable
flight restrictions over security sensitive fixed-sites, such as
critical infrastructure, refineries, and ``other locations that warrant
such restrictions.'' Along similar lines, the Stadiums Operating under
New Guidance (SONG) Act referenced in your letter would direct the FAA
to protect sporting events from unauthorized drone overflights. I would
welcome the opportunity to learn more about the Act.
Skydio is committed to promoting safe and effective operations. We
appreciate your interest in this topic and look forward to working with
you and your office.
Question from Hon. Rick Larsen to Pierre F. Harter, Director of
Research and Development, National Institute for Aviation Research, and
Associate Vice President for Industry and Defense Programs, Research
Operations, Wichita State University
Question 1. Your written testimony highlights NIAR's long-standing
collaboration with Federal agencies, academia, and the aerospace
industry to improve the certification of new composites and additive
manufacturing.
What investment in composite technologies do you think is necessary
to grow the United States' leadership in this field?
Answer. In my initial testimony, I touched briefly on some areas
that I will elaborate on in this response.
Public-private partnerships
We must continue to embrace strong public-private partnerships to
help establish the strategic framework and shape the regulatory
environment.
We have seen great strides in enabling innovation over the last few
decades in aerospace when government agencies have embraced
collaboration with industry and academia. Indeed, the FAA has been
strongly encouraged to utilize industry-based performance-based
standards whenever possible \1\ \2\.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ OMB Circular A-119 Federal Participation in the Development and
Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity Assessment
Activities
\2\ FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, SEC. 329. PERFORMANCE-BASED
STANDARDS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regardless of the origin of the standards, associated guidance and
policy material, funding must be provided to enable the creation of
material. That can range from convening forums of experts in an effort
to collect and create standards based on consensus and experience, to
executing on basic science or fundamental research to close knowledge
gaps necessary to create new standards.
Research and Development
We must continue to invest in research and development that enables
new designs/products, materials and manufacturing technologies. There
is strong historical precedence and evidence that strong United States
government investment in fundamental research and development creates
tailwinds for economic prosperity (including closing the inequality
gab), technological dominance, and national security. Some areas of
composite technology historically have benefited in part from this
investment, as referenced my testimony.
To grow our leadership in this field, there should be continued
funding to current composite topics of research funded via the FAA,
NASA, DoD, DoE and other federal agencies. Some particular areas of
focus are:
Composite material formulation and characterization for
thermosets, thermoplastics as well as higher temperature capable
composites like CMCs and Carbon-Carbon (reference Figure 1 in my
original testimony)
+ This includes traditional fiber-reinforced composites (e.g.
carbon and glass fiber-reinforced) as well as the other materials that
are used in composite structures (e.g. honeycomb and other core
products, film and paste adhesives, hybrid materials, sealants,
fasteners, etc.)
Composite process development. New materials and new ways
to process existing materials need to continue to be developed to
decrease costs, increase production rates and increase quality and
safety. Process development is especially important in composites, as
the processing of composites items can greatly affect the final
physical, mechanical and other important properties of the end-use
item. Some examples of this are:
+ In-situ curing of composites (to reduce the need on capital
intensive ovens and autoclaves)
+ Bonding and welding of composite primary structure (to reduce/
eliminate fasteners and decrease weight/cost)
Fabrication and production-related technologies that
focus on reducing manufacturing costs of raw materials as well as
finished products. Special focus in this area will help enable US-based
manufacturers to compete (via technology) in this market that has often
been out-sourced to low-cost countries. This is especially important to
creating a resilient U.S.-based composite supply chain to avoid
production disruptions, and to ensure the ability to design and
manufacture composites from a national security perspective. There is a
broad array of technologies in these areas that are often combined to
increase benefits, which adds to development complexity and the need to
fund research. Many of these technologies have been matured in other
industries, but still need to be developed for composite applications.
Some examples are:
+ Automation and robotics
+ Industrial Internet of Things
+ Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and Deep
Learning
+ New tooling technologies aimed at faster development time,
reduce cost, increased tool life, including adaptive and reconfigurable
tooling
+ Non-destructive inspection, in-process and post-process
+ Process control technologies that eliminate or reduce the need
to inspect every part
Analytical tools and techniques that enable virtual
design, analysis, certification, and life-cycle management through
physics-based modeling and other techniques. With better simulation
tools and computational infrastructure, we will be able to drastically
reduce the time to market as well as the non-recurring costs associated
with extensive testing for certification. These tools and techniques,
coupled with large data sources and AI and ML, will also aide in
reducing maintenance costs and increasing fleet safety
Embedded structural health monitoring and other multi-
functional hybrid composite technologies
I appreciate the opportunity to answer this question and would be
happy to answer any questions you may have in the future.
Question from Hon. Rick Larsen to Blake Scholl, Founder and Chief
Executive Officer, Boom Supersonic
Question 1. In your written testimony, you recommend expanding the
Federal Aviation Administration's Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions
and Noise (CLEEN) program to include technologies applicable to new
entrants. Can you please elaborate on this proposal?
Answer. The commercial supersonic aircraft industry is nascent, and
supersonic technology requires research and development investment.
Including an emphasis on new entrants as part of CLEEN would give the
U.S. an opportunity to maintain leadership in these areas.
Subsonic jet aircraft technology has matured over the past eighty
years. This progress has occurred in part thanks to substantial NASA
investment and the $225 million in CLEEN funding committed over the
last ten years. These investments have helped improve performance and
reduce noise and emissions. Boom recognizes and appreciates the new
inclusion of supersonic technologies to the CLEEN III program, but we
recognize that supersonic technology is eligible for only one of the
program's four goal areas. The program explicitly includes the
considerations of LTO noise and NOx emissions but does not include
technologies that could enhance fuel efficiency and reduce other
emissions. Certain potential technologies, like variable noise
reduction technology, directly benefit the performance of supersonic
aircraft but may also ultimately benefit subsonic aircraft. The CLEEN
III program also omits other emerging technologies, including advanced
air mobility and battery technologies.
An expansion of CLEEN with funding exclusively dedicated to
supersonic aircraft and other emerging technologies would help the U.S.
maintain leadership in these new industries while also reducing the
environmental effects of new technologies. This could come in the form
of a mid-cycle expansion in CLEEN funding through direct Congressional
appropriations; inclusion in the 2023 FAA reauthorization; or a number
of other forms. Should an expansion not be realized by 2025, dedicated
funds for supersonic technology in the CLEEN IV program would be
beneficial for enhancing the environmental performance of supersonic
aircraft.
Question from Hon. Greg Stanton to Blake Scholl, Founder and Chief
Executive Officer, Boom Supersonic
Question 1. Mr. Scholl, I understand that one challenge in the
development of supersonic aircraft is the lack of clear international
standards for environmental performance. The Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) plays an important role here on the International
Civil Aviation Organization's Committee on Aviation Environmental
Protection, which is charged with developing those standards.
Ultimately the success of supersonic aircraft will depend on harmonized
international rules that allow them to operate across national
boundaries.
Why are the development of international environmental standards
important to Boom and how would you assess FAA's engagement on these
standards at the International Civil Aviation Organization?
Answer. Global supersonic standards, including a noise landing and
takeoff standard, will facilitate the reintroduction of commercial
supersonic air travel. For Boom, global standards would create a path
for Overture certification and worldwide operations. Boom is committed
to sustainability, including optimizing for reduced emissions and
noise. The nuances of supersonic aircraft require alternative
certification procedures (including increased takeoff speeds and
variable noise reduction systems) to achieve reduced noise levels
without significant emissions increases, and these procedures will need
to be defined in global certification standards. The FAA has shown
strong engagement and global leadership to date. FAA representatives
lead noise, emissions, and modelling working groups within the
International Civil Aviation Organization's Committee on Aviation
Environmental Protection (ICAO/CAEP), and significant investment in
research and modelling efforts to support data driven standards. Boom
would like this strong engagement to continue. To meet Overture's
planned entry into service in 2029, global standards are needed during
the next CAEP cycle, which begins in 2022 and ends in 2025. An
agreement to develop supersonic standards by 2025 must be reached at
the next meeting of CAEP in February 2022, and FAA leadership is
essential to achieve this goal.
[all]