[Senate Hearing 117-445]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 117-445
FAA REAUTHORIZATION:
INTEGRATING NEW ENTRANTS INTO THE NATIONAL AIRSPACE SYSTEM
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION SAFETY, OPERATIONS, AND INNOVATION
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE,
SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
SEPTEMBER 28, 2022
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available online: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
55-624 PDF WASHINGTON : 2024
SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington, Chair
AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota ROGER WICKER, Mississippi, Ranking
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut JOHN THUNE, South Dakota
BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii ROY BLUNT, Missouri
EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts TED CRUZ, Texas
GARY PETERS, Michigan DEB FISCHER, Nebraska
TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin JERRY MORAN, Kansas
TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska
JON TESTER, Montana MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona TODD YOUNG, Indiana
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada MIKE LEE, Utah
BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
JOHN HICKENLOOPER, Colorado SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West
RAPHAEL WARNOCK, Georgia Virginia
RICK SCOTT, Florida
CYNTHIA LUMMIS, Wyoming
Lila Helms, Staff Director
Melissa Porter, Deputy Staff Director
George Greenwell, Policy Coordinator and Security Manager
John Keast, Republican Staff Director
Crystal Tully, Republican Deputy Staff Director
Steven Wall, General Counsel
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SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION SAFETY, OPERATIONS, AND INNOVATION
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona, Chair TED CRUZ, Texas, Ranking
TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois JOHN THUNE, South Dakota
JON TESTER, Montana ROY BLUNT, Missouri
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada JERRY MORAN, Kansas
JOHN HICKENLOOPER, Colorado MIKE LEE, Utah
RAPHAEL WARNOCK, Georgia SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West
Virginia
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Hearing held on September 28, 2022............................... 1
Statement of Senator Sinema...................................... 1
Statement of Senator Cruz........................................ 3
Statement of Senator Cantwell.................................... 5
Statement of Senator Wicker...................................... 7
Statement of Senator Moran....................................... 43
Statement of Senator Rosen....................................... 44
Statement of Senator Thune....................................... 47
Statement of Senator Lee......................................... 51
Witnesses
Lisa Ellman, Executive Director, Commercial Drone Alliance....... 8
Prepared statement........................................... 10
Colonel [Ret.] Stephen P. Luxion, Executive Director, FAA Center
of Excellence for Unmanned Aircraft Systems [ASSURE]........... 21
Prepared statement........................................... 23
Stephane Fymat, Vice President and General Manager, Urban Air
Mobility and Unmanned Aerial Systems, Honeywell Aerospace...... 24
Prepared statement........................................... 25
Edward M. Bolen, President and Chief Executive Officer, National
Business Aviation Association.................................. 28
Prepared statement........................................... 29
Gregory Davis, President and Chief Executive Officer, Eviation... 36
Prepared statement........................................... 37
Appendix
Response to written questions submitted to Lisa Ellman by:
Hon. Maria Cantwell.......................................... 55
Hon. John Hickenlooper....................................... 57
Hon. Raphael Warnock......................................... 58
Hon. Roger Wicker............................................ 60
Response to written questions submitted to Stephane Fymat by:
Hon. Maria Cantwell.......................................... 62
Hon. Raphael Warnock......................................... 64
Response to written questions submitted to Edward M. Bolen by:
Hon. Roger Wicker............................................ 65
Response to written questions submitted to Gregory Davis by:.....
Hon. Roger Wicker............................................ 66
FAA REAUTHORIZATION:
INTEGRATING NEW ENTRANTS INTO THE NATIONAL AIRSPACE SYSTEM
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2022
U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations, and
Innovation,
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:24 p.m., in
room SR-253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Kyrsten
Sinema, Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding.
Present: Senators Sinema [presiding], Cantwell, Rosen,
Cruz, Wicker, Thune, Moran, and Lee.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. KYRSTEN SINEMA,
U.S. SENATOR FROM ARIZONA
Senator Sinema. Welcome to the Senate subcommittee on
Aviation Safety, Operations and Innovation. Thank you all for
joining us today to hear testimony from stakeholders regarding
innovative aviation technologies and new entrants to the
national airspace system. New entrants include innovations in
advanced air mobility, electric vertical takeoff and landing
aircraft, and uncrewed aerial systems commonly known as drones.
These technologies have a wide range of applications, from
inspecting critical infrastructure to delivering medicine in
remote areas, to improving mobility in urban areas. Along with
advancements in electric propulsion, these innovative
approaches offer opportunities to transport passengers and
cargo, or to provide other aviation services while reducing
carbon emissions.
As we begin the process of reauthorizing the Federal
Aviation Administration next year, Congress should incorporate
provisions to advance these important developing technologies.
And our hearing today is an opportunity to consider the
challenges ahead and the approaches Congress can take to
address those challenges.
Advanced air mobility is an exciting technology that has
the ability to completely reshape the future of aviation.
Analysts estimate that the AAM market in the United States
could reach $115 billion in the next 10 years, increase the
public's access to aviation, and strengthen national security
while contributing far less greenhouse gas emissions than
current aviation technologies.
Given these benefits, there is widespread global interest
from countries in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere to lead on AAM
technologies, and the United States needs to develop a plan to
be the global leader of this technology. There are similarities
between AAM, and the bipartisan work Congress did in the
recently enacted Chips and Science Act.
Working with many of my colleagues from this committee,
including Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Wicker, and Senator
Young, we helped support domestic manufacturing for
semiconductors and drastically improved Federal research and
development for innovative science and technologies.
As AAM continues to advance, Congress and the Federal
Government must position the United States to be the global
leader of this technology. We must have a regulatory framework
that ensures the safety of passengers and people on the ground,
while creating an inviting ecosystem for domestic AAM
manufacturing and operations here in the United States.
That is why I welcomed the opportunity to join my Commerce
committee colleague, Senator Moran, to introduce the Advanced
Air Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act. Our legislation
will develop an interagency working group to evaluate, plan,
and coordinate efforts regarding the safety, infrastructure,
and security of developing AAM in the United States.
The Department of Transportation will lead this working
group but given the technical complexity of this industry and
the many beneficial uses, we will incorporate expertise from
across the Federal Government to advance this effort on a
broader scale. Our legislation passed the Senate unanimously on
September 21 and will soon head to the President's desk.
I look forward to our legislation becoming law so DOT and
many other agencies can begin their work without delay. The
Moran, Sinema AAM leadership bill is just the first step. In
order to ensure safety, the FAA needs to provide clarity and
certainty to the entrepreneurs and innovators who are
developing this new technology.
Earlier this year, the FAA changed the path for
certification of these AAM aircraft, which created confusion
among stakeholders. Looking ahead in order to provide
certainty, the FAA needs to promulgate timely regulations to
ensure that commercial operations occur safely, that pilots are
trained appropriately, and that the aviation workforce will be
ready to fill the AAM jobs of the future.
The United States will also need additional infrastructure
in order to safely and effectively integrate AAM into our
national airspace. I was proud to lead negotiations on the
bipartisan infrastructure law known as the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act, which invested $25 billion in aviation
infrastructure over 5 years.
These investments will fund improvements at every airport
across the country, while rebuilding and modernizing air
traffic control infrastructure. As I visit airports across
Arizona, I am starting to see the benefits of these historic
investments.
This week, the FAA released vertiport design standards to
safely integrate AAM into airports. Today, our panelists will
provide their thoughts about the infrastructure, including
electric charging infrastructure needed for a robust AAM build
out. Today's hearing will also focus on drones and developing
the drone economy of the future.
Like AAM, this is another area where we need to maintain
American leadership and build upon previous successes. Interest
in drones from both the commercial and recreational perspective
remains strong. As of January 2022, over 860,000 drones have
been registered with the FAA, along with over 260,000 drone
pilots.
Drones are providing crucial services to Arizona and
throughout the Nation. They can deliver essential cargo such as
medicine to rural areas and tribal communities. Drones also
have the ability to monitor and inspect vital infrastructure,
including pipelines, electric transmission lines, and railroads
for routine maintenance and after natural disasters when
conditions may not be safe for human inspectors.
This is a promising track record, but again, there is more
work to do if the United States has to remain ahead of foreign
competitors. For example, Congress can work with aviation
stakeholders and the FAA to expedite regulations for safe drone
operations beyond visual line of sight, which may be still
years off.
Additionally, we will hear today from leaders in electric
propulsion, which presents an opportunity to reduce noise
levels of aircraft while simultaneously minimizing carbon
emissions from aircraft engines. Our committee will benefit
from learning more about electric aircraft and any barriers
developers face that hinder the growth of this technology.
We have an excellent panel today, with witnesses
representing industry and thought leaders across the AAM,
drone, and electric propulsion industries. Our witnesses will
advise us on Congress's role in boosting these sectors,
creating jobs, and securing American leadership in the aviation
advances of the 21st century.
Thank you all for joining us today. And now I would like to
turn it over to Ranking Member Cruz for his opening statement.
STATEMENT OF HON. TED CRUZ,
U.S. SENATOR FROM TEXAS
Senator Cruz. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I appreciate you
are holding this hearing today. This is a critically important
issue, and one that frankly I don't know that we have given
nearly enough attention to.
From drones to air taxis to new propulsion systems, the
aviation enterprise is filled with new and exciting
technologies that promise to transform how we live and how we
work. Whether it is delivery drones getting medications to
seniors in the most rural parts of the country, or industrial
drones doing long distance pipeline inspections to ensure the
safe transportation of oil and natural gas, new vertical
takeoff and landing vehicles enabling low cost short haul air
transportation and reducing congestion in cities, or new
propulsion technologies which will use less fuel or even new
fuels to go farther with less, it is an exciting time to be in
aviation.
But as I am sure our witnesses will discuss today, everyone
in this space is facing a similar problem, uncertainty. And
while the issues facing the FAA are numerous and many of them
are very complex, the inability of the agency to do its job and
to manage the national airspace system is threatening to cut
American innovation and global leadership off at the knees.
Whether that is on the certification front for new
platforms, rules for remote ID or operations beyond visual line
of sight, integration into the air traffic management
enterprise or any number of other issues, our regulatory system
too often is paralyzed with indecision.
They are exceedingly complex and would present a challenge
for even the smartest and most well-equipped. But some days the
FAA seems unable to do even the most basic parts of its job.
And I think especially more recently, this is in no small part
due to a lack of leadership both at FAA and at DOT, and a lack
of interest on the part of the White House. Just take a look at
the FAA's organizational chart.
Throughout the agency, there are more than a dozen
important roles being filled by acting officials, including the
very top spot. They are in places like the Aviation Safety
Office, the Air Traffic Organization, the Assistant
Administrator for NexGen, the International Affairs Office and
Air Traffic Safety Services.
Even when the Administration finally sends us a nominee for
FAA Administrator, they send someone with almost zero aviation
experience, a requisite for the job, and who has recent news as
highlighted, has more than a little bit of scandal surrounding
him.
It is more than a little rich watching the Transportation
Secretary beat up on the airlines when he seems to
simultaneously ignore the absolute hollowing out of the FAA and
the lack of confirmed permanent leadership over there.
Somehow, Secretary Buttigieg has the time and resources to
run around the country cutting ribbons on infrastructure
projects and to launch a new, ``airline customer service
dashboard,'' but can't find the time to fill critical vacancies
at the FAA.
The Secretary hasn't even responded to questions for the
record from his budget hearing in May of this year, 5 months
ago. And look, I get that you, the panel before us, you don't
represent the FAA. But I don't know how you look at what I just
outlined and think that anyone in this Administration is
placing aviation at the top of their priority list.
Even as we are meeting here today, there are still dozens
of rules and reports from the last FAA reauthorization, in
2018, that still haven't been done. One thing I authored, the
Commercial Balloon Pilots Safety Act, which simply requires the
FAA to require a medical certificate for commercial balloon
pilots, and which was the result of a horrific balloon crash in
Texas, and recommendations from the NTSB, still remains
incomplete years after we passed it in law.
In fact, it wasn't until November of last year that the FAA
even issued a notice of proposed rulemaking, 3 years after the
2018 reauthorization. If the FAA can't even get something like
this done, commercial air balloon safety how exactly are we
supposed to have faith that they can get the much more complex
tasks around integrating new entrants done, let alone done in a
timely and efficient way?
So I look forward to hearing from our witnesses what they
think about what needs to be done. If it is more resources for
the FAA, faster regulatory timelines, organizational shake ups,
we are all ears.
Congress has almost always taken a collaborative approach
in aviation regulation, directing the FAA to go through a
rulemakings to get stakeholder input in shaping and crafting
regulations based on feedback. But in this space, where
emerging technologies are meeting an old and entrenched
bureaucracy, we are very quickly getting to a point where
something has to give.
And I, for one, am determined that what gives will not be
continued American leadership in aviation. Thank you.
Senator Sinema. Thank you. I now recognize the Chair of the
Full Commerce Committee, Senator Cantwell, for an opening
statement.
STATEMENT OF HON. MARIA CANTWELL,
U.S. SENATOR FROM WASHINGTON
The Chair. Thank you, Chair Sinema. Thanks for sharing this
important hearing along with your colleague, Ranking Member
Cruz, and the important witnesses that we are having today. I
also want to thank you, you mentioned the Chips and Science
Act, and I want to thank you for your help and leadership in
the final days of our negotiations in getting that done.
Today, we are here to hear from a set of witnesses to talk
about the current issues of aviation and the fact that an FAA
bill is due for reauthorization next year. This is an
opportunity to talk about the prospects of that and what needs
to be addressed. Today's hearing will specifically examine how
Congress can help advance aerospace safety and innovation, and
what we need to do for the future, whether that is drones to
new air mobility concepts.
So I look forward to hearing from all of the witnesses. I
am especially happy to hear from Gregory Davis, President and
CEO of Eviation. I want to congratulate Eviation on yesterday's
first flight of Alice, the first time an all-electric consumer
aircraft built from the ground up took flight.
I wish we had time to show the video from it, because you
can hear a lot of cheers at Moses Lake from everybody there for
this historic occasion. This groundbreaking aircraft took
flight from a 13,000 foot runway at Moses Lake Flight Test
Center in the heart of Washington, along with local partner
companies like MagnetX and Aerotech. I can see why this project
has been so successful.
Electric aircraft like Alice, built using 95 percent
composite materials, represent an inspiring promise of American
built innovation and exciting future of sustainable aviation.
Locations like Moses Lake show how a combination of public
infrastructure and private sector ingenuity create a hotbed for
developing next generation aerospace technology.
Eviation and Advance Air Mobility Concept provide an
opportunity to expand connectivity to regionally and
underserved communities and airports. We know that all--I am
sorry, we know that half of all flights in the U.S. are less
than 50--sorry, 500 miles in range.
So yesterday's successful integration test flights prove
the concept, that we have sustainable aviation technology and
that it can transport people to these short and middle mile
regional routes. This significantly can reduce the aviation
industry's environmental impacts in terms of carbon emission
and noise pollution, and achieving the technical milestones
enables companies like Eviation to focus on commercialization
of aircraft like Alice, in line with the evolution of battery
technology, something that was a very key part of the Chips and
Science Act.
And the FAA certification process will also have to be
there to move forward on the all-electric flight if it is to
become an industry standard. But for me, I think the CEO has
said it best, that these new opportunities for places like
Seattle to Walla Walla, or maybe Spokane to Missoula, or Moses
Lake to parts of Oregon or California, are now the kinds of
things that would be more economical with these kinds of
flights.
Electric planes can connect regional communities in ways
previously not possible. There are more than 2,000
underutilized airports in the United States, and noise
restrictions that cover more than 200 airports in the United
States alone. So Congress has made significant progress to
empower this kind of innovation and dynamics, and we need to
continue to work to help those opportunities move forward.
The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act provided a grant program
to develop sustainable aviation fuel and also to incent other
types of manufacturing like electric. Because of our success in
passing the Chips and Science Act, $280 billion is authorized
to bolster innovation, create new regional tech hubs, and make
historic investments in basic research and translational
science.
So we know that investing in innovation will help us for
tomorrow. Another innovation are the new entrants in aviation.
For example, drones, one of the fastest growing segments of
aviation in the United States. Over 860,000 drones have been
registered with the FAA. And as of January, over 260,000 remote
pilots have been certified.
The FAA expects this number of registered drones to grow as
high as 2.3 million by 2024. The use case for drones continues
to grow well beyond the package delivery to include surveying,
infrastructure inspection, precision agriculture, weather
monitoring, and even disaster response.
The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International
forecasts that between 2015 and 2025, civilian drones will add
$82 billion to the U.S. economy, along with 103,000 new, high
paying jobs that do require a technical degree. So
additionally, U.S. based manufacturers are busy designing and
building electric vehicle aircraft with vertical takeoff and
landing capability.
These operations can take off like a helicopter, my
colleagues before me have mentioned this, and then fly to a
fixed wing airplane. According to Deloitte, the AAM market in
the United States is estimated to reach $115 billion by 2035,
0.5 percent of the country's current GDP, and create more than
280,000 paying jobs by 2035.
Importantly, AAM and alternative propulsion technologies
are environmentally friendly and have--and a must have for the
industry's future. Aviation contributes 12.5 percent of U.S.
transportation emissions and accounts for 3 percent of the
Nation's total greenhouse gas production. So dealing with these
issues is going to be vitally important for the future.
So I look forward to hearing from my colleagues and
thinking about the future of aviation. But as my colleagues
have pointed out, it does require strong leadership from the
FAA. The bill that Senator Wicker and I passed, that we expect
and will continue to have oversight over the FAA to get the
right policies in place, get the right people in place, and
continue to focus on security as well as competitiveness.
Security will--security will help us be the leaders in
aviation, and I hope that we can talk about how to continue to
maintain that as we move forward with the reauthorization. I
thank the Chair.
Senator Sinema. Thank you, Chair. I now recognize the
Ranking Member of the Full Committee, Senator Wicker, for his
opening statement.
STATEMENT OF HON. ROGER WICKER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MISSISSIPPI
Senator Wicker. Thank you, Madam Chairman. And I say to the
members of the panel, surely you must realize eventually you
are going to get a chance to talk at this hearing. But I do
want to thank Senators Sinema, Cruz, and Cantwell for convening
this hearing of the subcommittee and beginning work on
reauthorizing the FAA for next year.
Today, there are 900,000 registered drones and--used for
recreational and commercial purposes. These drones perform a
wide range of valuable tasks: cargo delivery, aerial
photography, information gathering, and geographic mapping.
During the recent pandemic, emergency waivers granted by the
FAA provided a positive indication of the potential of drones.
Operating safely outside the normal rules, we witnessed
fleets of drones delivering food and medicine to those
quarantined at home, giving us a window into the future. Drone
use during the pandemic also highlighted the importance of R&D
for improving safety and performance.
In partnership with the FAA, universities and industry are
now helping to enhance the drone traffic management systems,
air traffic control, interoperability, safety, and pilot
training. I am proud that my home State of Mississippi and the
Mississippi State University lead a consortium called Assure to
carry out much of this critical R&D.
In 2015, the FAA designated Assure as the agency's Center
of Excellence for drone R&D and recently agreed to extend that
role through May 2025. I want to recognize Assure's Executive
Director, retired Air Force Colonel Steve Luxion, who is one of
our witnesses today. I hope Colonel Luxion will touch on some
of the important research carried out by Assure and how it will
help integrate drones into our airspace in a safe manner.
Just as drones are becoming commonplace, another suite of
aviation technology known as Air--Advanced Air Mobility, or
AAM, is emerging. AAM is not a single technology, but rather a
collection of technologies applied to the aviation system. AAM
vehicles have many potential uses, such as transporting
passengers, as Senator Cantwell has alluded, moving cargo,
assisting firefighters, and connecting rural communities to
larger cities.
Electric powered aircraft or air taxis, for example, may
someday be able to airlift people like me across town or to the
airport in a matter of minutes. Much of the basic technology
for AAM aircraft is already developed. The FAA should begin
certifying AAM vehicles as early as 2024. The industry has now
shifted its focus to infrastructure and workforce development
and the regulatory process.
The last FAA Reauthorization Act helped pave the way for
expanded drone use. I hope next year's bill will do the same
for AAM. In that vein, the Committee would benefit from our
witnesses' perspective on regulatory and policy questions we
should tackle in the next reauthorization bill.
As we gather inputs for reauthorization, we should be
mindful of the safety, efficiency, and security of new
technologies while at the same time continuing to promote
innovation in this vital sector. Thank you, Senator Sinema, and
I yield back 1 minute and 21 seconds.
Senator Sinema. Greatly appreciated there, Senator Wicker.
Thank you so much. Now I will introduce our witnesses for
today's hearing. Our first witness is Lisa Ellman.
Ms. Ellman is the Executive Director of the Commercial
Drone Alliance and is a widely recognized authority on drone
policy and law. Ms. Ellman, thank you for joining us today, and
you are now recognized for your opening statement.
STATEMENT OF LISA ELLMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COMMERCIAL DRONE
ALLIANCE
Ms. Ellman. Chairwoman Sinema, Ranking Member Cruz, and
members of the subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations and
Innovation, thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts
at this important hearing today on how we can promote aviation
innovation safely for the benefit of the American public.
My name is Lisa Ellman, and I am the Executive Director of
the Commercial Drone Alliance and a chair of the Uncrewed
Aircraft Systems Practice at Hogan Lovells, at the global law
firm of Hogan Lovells. I am honored to provide remarks on
behalf of the CDA to inform your work on the upcoming FAA
reauthorization.
The CDA is an independent, nonprofit organization made up
of leaders in the commercial drone and advanced air mobility
industries. We work with all levels of Government to
collaborate on policies for safe and secure commercial drone
integration. The commercial drone industry is delivering
significant lifesaving societal and economic benefits for all
Americans.
As just a few examples, drones are enhancing worker safety.
In 2020, there were 54 accidents, resulting in 13 deaths in the
aerial agricultural industry, including accidents in Texas,
Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, South Dakota, Missouri,
and Kansas. Use of drones for these operations can prevent such
fatalities.
Drones are promoting infrastructure resilience, providing
early detection of oil and gas leaks, and inspecting our
Nation's railways, bridges, and electrical grid. Drones are
protecting the environment and enhancing sustainability,
offering a substitute for ground vehicles and reducing carbon
emissions associated with traditional inspection methods.
Drones are expanding access to medicines and critical
supplies, and democratizing aviation by opening the industry to
a broader aviation workforce. Drones are enhancing public
safety, fighting wildfires, and assisting with disaster
response.
In Florida today, Florida Power and Light Company is
deploying and flying drones in response to Hurricane Ian.
Advancing this industry will ensure America's global
competitiveness, our national security, and our leadership in
global aviation, but these benefits will be fully realized only
if Congress takes action.
Congress led the way in 2012 by mandating UAS integration.
In the decades since, that mandate remains unfulfilled, and
drones are often subject to application of incongruous
regulations designed for crewed aircraft.
Despite the best efforts of the FAA's UAS Integration
Office and other supporters, the FAA continues to view UAS
integration as in its own words, a long road ahead and a
significant challenge. Progress toward safe, scalable drone
integration has been exceedingly slow, and America is falling
behind other countries.
Bold and decisive Congressional leadership is necessary
once again to spur progress for scalable UAS operations for the
benefit of the American public. While there is much that can be
done in the interim, the FAA reauthorization provides an
excellent opportunity for Congress to demonstrate that
leadership.
I have included many legislative proposals in our written
testimony. I will highlight just a few of them here. First,
Congress should reorganize the FAA to better align
responsibility for UAS integration with authority over UAS
approvals. The court challenges with UAS integration do not
relate to safety.
Rather, they are process based, featuring a well-meaning
Government bureaucracy designed for regulating crewed aviation,
struggling to regulate an evolving environment. Common sense
changes to the current organization would assist the agency to
fulfill its mission safely and efficiently.
Second, Congress should promote UAS competitiveness by
enabling safe, scaled, commercial drone operations in the
United States, including by directing timely implementation of
the beyond visual line of sight aviation rulemaking committee's
excellent recommendations. Third, Congress should invest in the
future.
Congress should support workforce development training for
careers in drones, along with the use of drones to inspect
local infrastructure, by enacting the DIG Act. We applaud
Senators Blumenthal and Rosen for introducing this legislation,
which recently passed the House.
Congress should also enable research and development by
streamlining and improving approval processes. We include many
more proposals and details within our written testimony, and I
am happy to answer follow up questions. The opportunity cost of
inaction continues to grow as the gap between technology and
policy in the United States continues to widen.
Congress has the opportunity in the next FAA
reauthorization to close this gap and bring the benefits of
commercial drones to the American public. The Commercial Drone
Alliance appreciates the opportunity to appear before you.
We look forward to continuing to collaborate with you to
ensure America's global leadership in advanced aviation. Thank
you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Ellman follows:]
Prepared Statement of Lisa Ellman, Executive Director,
Commercial Drone Alliance
Chairwoman Sinema, Ranking Member Cruz, and other members of the
Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations and Innovation:
Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you at this
important hearing today on how we can promote aviation innovation
safely, for the benefit of the American public. My name is Lisa Ellman,
and I am the Executive Director of the Commercial Drone Alliance (CDA)
and Chair of the Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS, or Drone) Practice at
the global law firm Hogan Lovells. I am honored to provide remarks on
behalf of the CDA and help inform your work on the upcoming Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization and integrating new
entrants into the National Airspace System (NAS).
The CDA is an independent non-profit organization made up of
leaders in the commercial drone and advanced air mobility industries.
Our Board is comprised of Wing, Skydio, Zipline, NUAIR, Choctaw Nation,
Amazon Prime Air, Aloft, Percepto, SkySafe, Dedrone, Florida Power &
Light, American Robotics, and Southern Company. The CDA works with all
levels of government to collaborate on policies for industry growth and
the safe and secure integration of UAS into the NAS. The CDA also seeks
to educate the public on the safe and responsible use of commercial
drones to achieve economic benefits and humanitarian gains.\1\
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\1\ 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. Learn
more about the CDA at www.commercialdrone
alliance.org.
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Commercial drones offer significant life-saving, economic and
societal benefits--from creating jobs and enhancing worker safety, to
protecting the environment and revolutionizing inspections of critical
infrastructure, to expanding equitable and efficient access to
medicines, to generating tremendous economic value and facilitating
commercial deliveries, to enhancing public safety and fighting
wildfires. Additional details about these benefits are included in
Section IV below.
There are exciting efforts underway around the country to bring the
benefits of UAS to the American people. For example:
In Texas, BNSF Railway is working with Skydio to inspect our
Nation's railroads while Wing and Amazon Prime Air are bringing
the benefits of commercial drone deliveries to the Dallas
region and College Station community, respectively.
In Arizona, the Navajo Nation is exploring using drones to
deliver medicine and critical supplies to rural homes.
In Kansas, the state Department of Transportation is working
to demonstrate the capabilities of drones for infrastructure
inspections and disaster response.
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is using drone technology to
bridge the inequities between rural and urban communities, and
is working with the University of North Texas to plan a next
generation Advanced Regional Mobility Corridor to provide new
opportunities and improve the quality of life for rural tribal
communities.
In New York, NUAIR is seeking to enable advanced research
and development along a unique fifty mile corridor to enable
our Nation's continued leadership in aviation.
Although these and other efforts are promising, the vast benefits
of UAS cannot yet be truly realized here in the United States. That is
because regulatory paralysis and undue regulatory burdens have
prevented scalable UAS operations and limited the integration of UAS
into the NAS.
Congress led the way in 2012 with a legislative mandate for UAS
integration. But in the decade since, that mandate has remained
unfulfilled. Despite the best efforts of the FAA's UAS Integration
Office and other supporters, the FAA continues to view civil UAS
integration into the NAS as, in its own words, a ``long road ahead''
and a ``significant challenge.'' \2\ The National Academy of Sciences,
the Department of Transportation's Office of the Inspector General, and
the Government Accountability Office have all criticized the FAA's
progress in UAS integration, describing it as ``indefensible,'' \3\ and
have highlighted how the UAS industry continues to be held back by the
application of incongruous approaches designed for crewed aircraft.\4\
This mismatch results in disjointed regulation that suppresses the
industry's progress by making it too slow and too difficult to secure
the necessary approvals.
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\2\ FAA, Integration of Civil Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in
the National Airspace System (NAS) Roadmap, 3rd Edition (2020) at 4, 5.
\3\ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine,
2018. Assessing the Risks of Integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems
(UAS) into the National Airspace System. Washington, DC: The National
Academies Press. Found at https://doi.org/10.17226/25143; GAO, FAA
Could Strengthen Its Implementation of a Drone Traffic Management
System by Improving Communication and Measuring Performance (2021); DOT
OIG, Opportunities Exist for FAA To Strengthen Its Review and Oversight
Processes for Unmanned Aircraft System Waivers (2018). See also Letter
from Chair of House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO), Chair of the
Subcommittee on Aviation Rick Larsen (D-WA), and Subcommittee Ranking
Member Garret Graves (R-LA) to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, Feb.
24, 2021 (noting concern that ``[T]he FAA faces a range of challenges
to successful and timely integration'') (found at https://
transportation.house.gov/news/press-releases/committee-leaders-call-on-
gao-to-review-status-of-faas-efforts-to-integrate-drones-into-the-
nations-airspace).
\4\ As the GAO noted, one test site's waiver request took three
years for the FAA to approve. See GAO, FAA Could Better Leverage Test
Site Program to Advance Drone Integration (2020) at 24. Similarly, it
took one CDA member company five years of sustained R&D and
interactions with the FAA to receive an experimental approval to
operate on three rural sites. From the time of formal application, it
took two years to receive this limited approval.
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In the meantime, many countries around the world are progressing
ahead of the United States in achieving scalable UAS operations and
bringing the economic and societal benefits to their citizens and
communities. As a result, the United States is at significant risk of
losing its global leadership in this new era of aviation.
Bold and innovative congressional leadership is therefore necessary
once again to spur progress for scalable UAS operations and their
integration into the NAS for the benefit of the American public. While
there is much that can be done in the interim to advance policy and
enable scaled commercial operations, the FAA Reauthorization provides
an excellent opportunity for Congress to demonstrate that leadership.
The CDA urges the Congress to take decisive action to drive the full
integration of commercial drones into the NAS. Congress should not
allow the budding American UAS industry to continue languishing in a
regulatory limbo that prevents the industry from scaling and deprives
our country of massive economic and societal benefits.
I. THE NEED FOR DECISIVE CONGRESSIONAL ACTION
The use of zero-emission UAS to save lives, provide rural medical
access, and maintain our Nation's aging infrastructure has been a
bipartisan policy priority since 2012. Policy has lagged behind
technology, and integration efforts have lagged behind the pace of
innovation in America. For example, drone operations continue to be
almost exclusively limited to line of sight, meaning that drone
operators must follow every drone flight with a human on the ground
watching the aircraft at all times. Approvals to fly beyond visual line
of sight (BVLOS) are limited and rare. Just as crewed aviation
operations would be hamstrung if airplanes were unable to leave sight
of the control tower, such restrictions severely limit the utility of
UAS. Notwithstanding the valiant efforts of certain staff at the FAA,
progress toward safe and scalable UAS operations integrated into the
NAS has been slow and halting, and America is being left behind.
Congressional action is necessary to secure U.S. leadership in a
new era of aviation. The United States dominated the first century of
flight, from Kitty Hawk to the Moon and beyond, to the great benefit of
our society and economy. But U.S. leadership in the second century of
flight--defined not by crewed operations, but by uncrewed and,
increasingly, autonomy-enabled operations--is in jeopardy. Other
nations are working hard to establish leading roles in a new era of
flight. Democratic peer nations--such as Australia, Canada, Japan, the
United Kingdom and the European Union--have taken significant steps to
enable advanced drone operations and capture the societal and national
security benefits associated with aviation leadership. Many U.S.
companies have invested heavily to pursue opportunities in those
markets, even if they would prefer to invest here at home. This trend
will only accelerate so long as there remains skepticism regarding the
U.S. Government's ability to deliver on its promise to integrate UAS
into the NAS and enable scalable UAS operations. At the same time,
competitors like China have invested extraordinary resources in an
attempt to surpass the United States.
The White House has recognized the benefits of UAS, as evidenced by
its August 2022 Summit on advanced air mobility. While that attention
is welcomed, Congress needs to ensure that it translates to concrete
action. Without strong and timely congressional action, U.S. leadership
in aviation hangs in the balance, as does the future of the commercial
drone industry.
II. SUMMARY OF CDA PRIORITIES FOR THE 2023 FAA REAUTHORIZATION
The CDA firmly believes that Congress can help ensure American
leadership in the next century of aviation, relieve the regulatory
paralysis and undue burdens that have so far constrained UAS operations
in the United States, and reinvigorate efforts toward scalable UAS
operations and integration into the NAS. To achieve those objectives,
the CDA strongly urges Congress to take the following decisive actions
as part of the 2023 FAA Reauthorization.
A. Policy and Resourcing. Congress should reorganize the FAA to
better align responsibility for UAS integration with authority
over UAS approvals, which is a critical weakness in the FAA's
current UAS framework. In addition, Congress should require the
FAA to consider the positive aggregate safety gains and
environmental impact of UAS use, as compared to other
transportation options, in conducting safety and environmental
analyses.
B. Enabling Expanded UAS Operations and Promoting Safety and U.S.
Competitiveness. Congress should direct the FAA to issue a
notice of proposed rulemaking enabling BVLOS operations in
alignment with the recommendations of the BVLOS Aviation
Rulemaking Committee (BVLOS ARC) within 180 days of enactment.
C. Helping America Win the 21st Century by Enabling Research and
Development at Home. Congress should streamline research and
development processes to enable test sites and public-private
partnerships to move UAS integration forward and promote U.S.
leadership in aviation.
D. Supporting UAS Manufacturing Capabilities and the Supply Chain
System. Congress should take action to support the growth of
UAS/AAM manufacturing in the United States. Among other
measures, Congress should enhance and expand the successful
Blue UAS program, and require a report on the extent to which
DOD and other agencies can replicate the Army's experience of
rapidly procuring UAS systems in large numbers. The best way to
ensure U.S. leadership in the second century of aviation is to
build the future in the United States, creating domestic jobs
and boosting U.S. competitiveness.
E. Delivering on Infrastructure Investment. Congress should promote
infrastructure resilience, including by appropriating funds to
the FAA and by requiring the DOT and the FAA to promote the use
of drones for infrastructure applications, as well as working
with state, local, and tribal governments to advance
infrastructure inspection operations applications at scale. In
particular, Congress should enact the DIIG Act, which recently
passed the House. We applaud Senators Rosen, Blumenthal, and
Bozeman for introducing the DIIG Act in the Senate and urge its
swift passage.
III. DISCUSSION OF SPECIFIC CDA PROPOSALS
A. Policy And Resourcing
Aligning UAS Responsibilities and Authorities. Congress should
reorganize the FAA to better align responsibility for UAS integration
with authority over UAS approvals, which is a critical weakness in the
FAA's current UAS framework. Today, the FAA's UAS Integration Office
has no authority to actually integrate UAS. Instead, responsibility for
UAS integration is diffused and splintered across many different
offices, each with its own existing set of traditional aviation
responsibilities and mandates. To address this systematic misalignment,
Congress should:
Create a position of Associate Administrator to oversee UAS
integration and thereby empower the FAA's UAS Integration
Office with the resources and authorities to fulfill the
mandate of UAS integration into the NAS. This office should
have the dual mandate of ensuring the safe integration of UAS
into the NAS and encouraging and promoting a commercially
viable UAS industry and American leadership in UAS.
Provide the Associate Administrator with the authority to
approve UAS rulemaking, certification and operational approvals
for specific categories of UAS that:
Have 25k ft/lbs. or less of transferred kinetic
energy, consistent with the recommendations of the BVLOS
ARC, and
Operate at an altitude of 400 feet above ground level
(AGL) or less and at least three miles from airports.
Require the FAA to consider the positive aggregate safety
gains and environmental impact of UAS use on other modes of
transportation and methods of inspection/operation in
conducting safety and environmental analyses.
Enabling Expanded UAS Operations And Promoting Safety And U.S.
Competitiveness
Implement BVLOS Rulemaking Expeditiously. Broadly enabling UAS
flights BVLOS in a safe and secure manner is critical to unlocking the
aggregate safety, security, equity, and sustainability benefits of
using drones for many commercial and public safety tasks. Congress
should direct the FAA to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking enabling
BVLOS operations in alignment with the recommendations of the BVLOS ARC
within 180 days of enactment. In accordance with BVLOS ARC
recommendations, Congress should include language in the 2023 FAA
Reauthorization that:
Adopts an Acceptable Level of Risk: Require the FAA to adopt
a quantified acceptable level of risk for UAS operations that
is modeled upon and consistent with existing accepted general
aviation risks.
Encourages and Incentivizes Equipage: Encourage and
incentivize the very small number of crewed aircraft that
routinely operate below 500 feet AGL to equip with Automatic
Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) or TABS technology to
provide conspicuity, enhance the overall safety of the NAS, and
ensure that UAS can avoid them;
Enables New Technology Solutions: Direct the FAA to explore
the authorization and use of non-technical standard order (TSO)
devices where risk analysis deems them to be sufficient, such
as for installation and use in non-certified aircraft.
Establishes a Risk-Based Framework for UAS Airworthiness:
Direct the FAA to adopt industry-based standardized
airworthiness compliance standards, modeled after the FAA's
light-sport aircraft certification process, to provide
manufacturers with clear guidance on how to obtain FAA
airworthiness approval. Consistent with the recommendations of
the BVLOS ARC, compliance should be declared by U.S.
manufacturers, with the FAA retaining ultimate oversight over
the safety of each submission. In addition, Congress should
require the FAA to work with the European Union Aviation Safety
Agency (EASA) to harmonize UAS/Vertical Take-Off and Landing
(VTOL) aircraft certification criteria and report back to
Congress on progress.
Implement Tailored and Risk-Appropriate Qualification
Criteria for UAS Pilots and Certificated Operators: Require the
FAA to enact streamlined, risk-appropriate certification
criteria tailored specifically for commercial drone operators
and air carriers. These criteria should recognize the
substantial improvements in automation, safety and risk-
reduction of drone operations when compared to traditional
aviation. For UAS BVLOS pilots, direct the FAA to create and
implement knowledge-based crew qualification/training standards
to add a BVLOS rating for UAS pilots.
Enables Shielded Operations: Direct FAA to immediately
implement BVLOS ARC recommendations that do not require
rulemaking, including enabling low-altitude ``shielded''
operations that permit drones to fly above and within very
close proximity to structures and terrain where crewed aircraft
are unlikely to operate. Shielded operations provide high
levels of value--enabling more efficient inspection of critical
infrastructure like long linear infrastructure and power
plants, in addition to public safety missions such as search
and rescue--with low levels of risk, given the low altitude and
close proximity to structures and the ground. Other countries,
including the European Union and Australia, have already
established frameworks to enable shielded operations at scale.
Congress should direct the FAA to issue guidance, such as
standard scenarios or pre-defined risk assessments common with
other civil aviation authorities, providing accelerated
pathways to enable low-altitude operations under the current
rules, within 90 days of enactment. That guidance can and
should be issued before a rulemaking on BVLOS is issued, as
noted by the BVLOS ARC.
Advances Network Remote Identification: Require that the FAA
accept internet-based network identification as an acceptable
means of compliance with rules requiring UAS to be equipped
with technology to allow for remote identification.
Improve the Airworthiness Process for UAS. Congress should direct
the DOT and the FAA to improve and expedite the airworthiness approval
process for UAS technologies. For several years, the FAA has tried and
failed to adapt the existing and burdensome airworthiness process to
UAS. The FAA recently issued a UAS standard airworthiness certificate
to Matternet, and that was a positive step forward.\5\ Now that the FAA
has done this successfully once, the agency should expeditiously
process additional approvals, and incorporate lessons learned and
streamline and improve the process for the agency and the broader
industry. UAS are the safest form of aviation today in terms of serious
injuries or fatalities. Improving these critical processes will promote
UAS innovation while ensuring that technological, safety and security
advances are implemented efficiently. Congress should also provide
adequate resources to implement advanced aviation certification
programs. In particular, Congress should provide additional funding for
FAA's ``Operations'' appropriation, specifically designated for the
Aircraft Certification Service's review and certification of UAS.
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\5\ https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/matternet-m2-drone-
delivery-system-first-to-achieve-faa-type-certification-301619827.html.
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To facilitate the timely issuance of airworthiness approvals for
small UAS in the near-term, Congress should exempt low-risk small UAS
from noise certification requirements. Under the current regulatory
process, the FAA may only issue an original type certificate for an
aircraft after the FAA determines that the aircraft meets prescribed
noise standards. There are no prescribed noise standards for small UAS,
which means the FAA needs to undertake a lengthy (years-long) and
resource-intensive rulemaking process for every individual small UAS
going through the type certification process to establish custom noise
standards on a case-by-case basis. Rather than requiring the FAA to
establish unique noise standards for every single different type of
small UAS going through the certification process, Congress should
direct the FAA to gather data necessary to establish generally
applicable noise standards for small UAS. This represents a straight-
forward and immediate opportunity to streamline and modernize our
regulatory system in a manner that can yield significant short-term
gains for society. For the longer term, Congress should require the FAA
to implement the recommendations of the BVLOS ARC.
Reauthorize and Expand Section 44807. To cover the near-term gap
between current authorizations and a streamlined airworthiness approval
process, Congress should immediately extend the timeline for Section
44807 authorities. Such an effort would be even more impactful if
Congress opted to also expand and re-imagine this authority. In
particular, the FAA has interpreted Section 44807 very narrowly,
contrary to Congress's original intent to provide a pathway to enable
advanced operations that can be conducted safely, even when those
operations do not fit neatly within an existing rule. By reinforcing
the original intent to implement this rule, Congress will provide a
pathway to advance innovation while ensuring safety and address those
interpretations that have to date substantially limited the utility of
this provision. Finally, until the FAA publishes a BVLOS rule, Congress
should require the FAA to a) develop and publish within 180 days of
enactment clear guidelines for commercial BVLOS operations and b) to
use the 44807 special authority to enable such operations.
Support UAS Traffic Management and LAANC Modernization. Congress
has recognized the importance of Uncrewed Traffic Management (UTM),
including most recently in Section 342 of the 2018 FAA Modernization
Act. UTM is important for the safe and secure expansion of UAS
operations and integration of UAS into the NAS--both of which are
congressional objectives. Without UTM, the countless benefits of
expanded, scalable, and complex UAS operations (e.g., long-range BVLOS
flights to deliver packages and medical supplies) for Americans and
American businesses may be more difficult to reach. As a precursor to a
UTM system, Congress should direct the FAA to permit approved UAS
Service Suppliers (USSs) to utilize application program interfaces
(APIs) and deep linking with the software products of third parties.
This modernization of the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification
Capability (LAANC) system will enhance safety by increasing compliance
among airspace users, and avoid a chilling effect on innovation in the
U.S.
Enable Expanded Use of Drones for First Responders. Congress should
direct the FAA to establish a streamlined approval process for ``Public
Safety Drone as a First Responder'' BVLOS Waivers. Such waivers allow
public safety agencies and First Responders to have ``eyes on the
scene'' in a timely manner when emergency strikes. For this reason,
drones serve as one of the best de-escalation tools for police
departments and have been demonstrated to save lives and protect both
First Responders and the public.
Promote Pathways for Increasingly Automated and Autonomous
Operations Safely. Maintaining U.S. global leadership in aviation
hinges on our collective ability to design and deploy safe, effective
automated and autonomous systems in a way that protects the safety of
the NAS. In order to lead the way, the U.S. must create streamlined
pathways for increasingly autonomous operations--first for smaller
drones inspecting infrastructure or delivering packages in relatively
close proximity to the ground, and then for larger vehicles delivering
cargo and transporting people at higher altitudes and over greater
distances. To achieve that objective, Congress should direct the DOT
and the FAA to develop and report to Congress within 270 days of
enactment on pathways to enable UAS and advanced air mobility (AAM)
operations with increasing levels of automation. As discussed below,
Congress should also codify and expand the FAA's BEYOND program,
tasking it to test safe and scalable frameworks for automated and
ultimately autonomous operations, among other forms of operations.
Modernize the DOT Hazardous Materials Framework. The existing DOT
hazardous materials (HAZMAT) framework was designed for large, crewed,
commercial operations at high altitudes. Congress should direct the DOT
to modernize the existing framework by promulgating rules tailored to
the movement of HAZMAT by UAS. These regulations should be more aligned
with the HAZMAT regulations for ground transportation than those for
air transportation given UAS delivery will occur at low altitudes.
Streamline Operational Approval Processes. As described below, UAS
can offer environmental benefits and emissions reductions far beyond
any other transportation mode yet developed. Unfortunately, to date,
environmental review processes related to UAS have lacked resourcing
and regulatory clarity, hindering industry's ability to scale and,
paradoxically, impeding the realization of environmental benefits. To
aid the scaling of new technologies, Congress should direct the FAA to
develop National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Implementation
Procedures for UAS operational approvals, including programmatic
approaches to enable scaled operations where operating parameters are
similar. Clear, right-sized procedures will help both communities and
operators assess the potential environmental resource impacts within
different operating contexts (whether a limited scale operation within
a small community or a broader network of drone delivery or other AAM
services across a region or operations over industrial sites closed to
the public with high levels of ambient noise). Congress should also
consider what additional staffing and/or resources are needed to move
processes forward in a streamlined way.
Modernize DOT Economic Authority Requirements. Congress should
reform aviation citizenship laws applicable to UAS operators to
minimize barriers to entry and promote investment in U.S. companies.
Laws defining aviation citizenship were defined for a different
industry and different era. Due to how aviation citizenship laws are
currently drafted, certain BVLOS operators (air carriers) will require
``economic'' authority from the DOT to operate, including a requirement
that the operator meet a narrowly tailored definition of ``citizen of
the United States.'' Foreign civil aircraft operators conducting
operations other than air carrier operations in the U.S. will also need
DOT authorization. The application of these aviation citizenship laws
to the UAS industry often leads to absurd results where American
companies are not able to prove U.S. citizenship. Aviation citizenship
laws should be updated to facilitate, rather than hinder, this emerging
industry in the modern era.
C. Helping America Win The 21st Century By Enabling Research And
Development At Home
Empowering UAS Test Sites to Promote R&D. UAS R&D activities help
support the safe and efficient integration of UAS into the NAS.
However, current R&D processes do not enable broad testing in the U.S.
in a timely way. The FAA-designated UAS Test Sites were established for
the purpose of facilitating valuable UAS R&D necessary to fully
integrate UAS into the NAS, but achieving this objective has been
limited by a recent change in the FAA's interpretation of R&D
activities that qualify for public aircraft operation (PAO) status.
While FAA-designated UAS Test Sites are most acutely affected by this
change in the ability to conduct UAS research and development as PAO,
the change also affects other public entities, including, but not
limited to, public agencies and public universities that conduct
crucial UAS research and development activities. To assist the FAA in
carrying out the objectives of the UAS Test Site program, Congress
should clarify that UAS operated for R&D purposes at UAS Test Sites
meet the definition of ``public aircraft'' in 49 U.S.C.
Sec. 40102(a)(41) and qualify for PAO status under 49 U.S.C.
Sec. 40125. Additionally, Congress should direct the FAA to encourage
the continued use and expansion of technology innovation zones and
support communities that are eager to embrace new technologies such as
UAS. Congress also should renew or extend the test site mandate from
the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. And Congress should
request a timeline for immediate implementation of 49 U.S.C.
Sec. 44803.
Leveraging Public-Private Partnerships to Accelerate Advanced
Operations. The CDA supports strong Federal preemption to enhance
safety and avoid a patchwork quilt of regulations. However, the CDA
also believes that states, localities and tribes play an important role
in the UAS ecosystem. CDA therefore urges Congress to leverage and
expand existing public-private partnerships to advance safe and
effective advanced drone operations. In order to remain competitive in
a tight global marketplace, the U.S. must have accelerated pathways to
conduct advanced operations. The BEYOND program, and the Integration
Pilot Program (IPP) before it, were designed to play that critical
role. Congress earlier codified and funded the IPP. In the next FAA
Reauthorization, Congress should rebrand, codify, and expand the BEYOND
program for five years to include the full spectrum of uncrewed
aircraft. This expanded program could include collecting data that
would accelerate rulemakings, developing model policy, and requiring
regulatory enabling actions to flow from these partnerships. Congress
can bring together UAS Test Sites and BEYOND sites under a common
umbrella to support safe scaling of emerging aviation technologies. In
addition to enabling the FAA and industry to conduct and learn from
advanced operations in the real world, the program enables state,
local, Tribal, and territorial governments to play an important role,
working in partnership with the Federal government and industry to use
technology to solve pressing local needs. In its next iteration, the
re-imagined BEYOND program should focus on the central challenge
confronting the U.S. and the industry: enabling and refining
operational and regulatory constructs for highly automated and
autonomous UAS operations.
D. Supporting UAS Manufacturing Capabilities And The Supply Chain
System
Congress should take action to support the growth of UAS/AAM
manufacturing in the United States. The best way to ensure U.S.
leadership in the second century of aviation is to build the future in
the United States, creating domestic jobs and boosting U.S.
competitiveness. Among other measures, Congress should enhance and
expand the successful Blue UAS program.
Enhance and Expand the Blue UAS Program. The conflict in Ukraine
has demonstrated the strategic national security importance of small
civilian drone technology. In the U.S., the Defense Innovation Unit's
Blue UAS program has been a valuable tool designed to identify, test,
and publish a consolidated list of UAS suitable for use by the
Department of Defense. Given the importance of supporting the growth of
a strong and competitive domestic manufacturing base, and the
Congressional requirements outlined in Section 848 of the FY20 NDAA,
the Blue UAS list must remain current, relevant, and inclusive. The
Blue UAS list provides a platform on which to expand the use of drone
technology by the Federal government.
The Army's Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) program helped to
generate the initial Blue UAS list. The SRR program provides a model of
efficient and dynamic procurement and demonstrates how the list can
benefit government end users and industry alike. In its first tranche,
the SRR program identified and procured a Blue UAS system UAS using
Other Transaction Authority, rapidly transitioning a capability from
the prototype phase to program of record in a short period of time.
That is a model other military services and other Federal departments
could follow when procuring small UAS (and larger UAS and AAM systems).
Congress should commend the work of the Blue UAS program and encourage
continued evaluation of UAS for inclusion on the Blue UAS list.
Further, Congress should require a report on the extent to which DOD
and other agencies can work together to expand the Blue UAS program and
replicate the Army's experience of rapidly procuring UAS systems in
large numbers--providing the government with a critical tool on a rapid
timetable while creating domestic jobs and boosting U.S.
competitiveness. In addition to supporting the Blue UAS program,
Congress should consider additional measures to support domestic drone
manufacturing in a market historically dominated by companies based in
countries of concern.
E. Delivering On Infrastructure Investment
Promoting Infrastructure Resilience. With the passage of the
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Congress provided $550
billion in new funding to address infrastructure needs across the
country, including $40 billion over five years to repair, replace, and
rehabilitate our crumbling bridges. Inspections of our aging
infrastructure are key to successful implementation of the investments
Congress has already made. Drones can play a critical role in ensuring
safe, accurate inspections are carried out to ensure responsible use of
taxpayer dollars. The use of drones for infrastructure inspections has
several benefits when compared to traditional inspection protocol.
Drones are easier and safer to operate--protecting workers from large
equipment and from entering dangerous areas when inspecting assets.
Moreover, drones can capture automated data and aerial insights, and
stakeholders can perform inspections more regularly, quickly, and
efficiently, which increases the safety of our infrastructure and
supports higher levels of worker safety. Given the major influx of
Federal dollars for investment in our crumbling infrastructure, the FAA
and the DOT should work expeditiously to ensure the use of drones to
increase the efficiency of those investments. To capture and expand on
these benefits, Congress should include language within the 2023 FAA
Reauthorization appropriating $5 million to the FAA and requiring the
DOT and the FAA to promote the use of drones for infrastructure
applications and work with state, local, and tribal governments--as
well as private sector critical infrastructure and utility
stakeholders--to advance infrastructure inspection operations
applications at scale. Congress should also direct the FAA to encourage
interagency collaboration to promote the use of drones for
infrastructure inspections across all modes of transportation.
Enacting the Bipartisan Drone Infrastructure Inspection Grant
(DIIG) Act, H.R. 5315. To the extent the bipartisan DIIG Act, which was
recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives (and was
introduced in the Senate last month by Senators Rosen, Blumenthal, and
Bozeman), is not enacted in 2022, we encourage Congress to ensure this
critical program is enacted in the 2023 FAA Reauthorization. This
Program would have two fundamental pillars, each administered by the
DOT:
(1) $100 million to enable States, cities, and tribal governments to
inspect America's aging infrastructure with drone technology
(including by funding program management capacity or drones),
thereby making workers safer, inspections more efficient, and
infrastructure more resilient, while supporting high-paying
jobs in inspection and U.S. drone manufacturing; and
(2) $100 million for grants to community colleges and universities
to train new and existing workers on drone technology and to
prepare them for careers in aviation and STEAM, building on
unfunded programs established in the 2018 FAA Reauthorization
Act.
Providing Necessary Congressional Oversight. The Congress should
also require that the FAA follow through on previous legislative
directives which remain unfulfilled. For example, the FAA Extension,
Safety, and Security Act of 2016 required the FAA to designate fixed
site facilities to promote security and innovation; several deadlines
have come and gone, and six years later Section 2209 has not yet been
implemented. As another example, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018
(at 49 USC Sec. 44803) required the FAA to issue broad waivers to
designated FAA UAS Test Sites in a streamlined way; as research and
development efforts struggle to take off in the U.S. due to regulatory
barriers, the FAA has simply failed to implement this important
initiative. These are just a few examples of regulatory failures that
merit appropriate scrutiny to ensure the intent of Congress is
implemented. Accordingly, the CDA urges Congress to exercise its
essential oversight function to require relevant agencies to defend
their continued inaction to implement previous congressional mandates
and request a timeline from the FAA for immediate implementation of
these provisions.
IV. EXPANDING AND ENABLING THE UAS INDUSTRY UNLOCKS SIGNIFICANT
BENEFITS FOR ALL AMERICANS
The UAS industry can deliver significant societal and economic
benefits for all Americans, but only if Congress takes action needed to
overcome regulatory and policy hurdles that prevent scalable commercial
drone operations in the United States. A few examples of these
significant benefits will demonstrate why enabling UAS operations and
eliminating regulatory paralysis and undue burdens is so critically
important.
Boosting Safety for Workers and the Public. A major benefit of UAS
is the immediate and aggregate safety enhancement that can be achieved
in comparison to the traditional alternatives. For example, tower
inspections traditionally have subjected workers to the hazards and
risks of climbing a tower (with an average height across the country of
about 280 feet). UAS operations, by contrast, can allow the inspector
to remain on the ground, improving worker safety and reducing injury
and death. Similarly, many types of safety inspections require crewed
helicopters that involve extra risk, in addition to serious
environmental consequences.\6\ UAS operations can reduce helicopter
flight hours by 44,000 hours per year, which can statistically
eliminate 1.6 helicopter accidents.\7\ Another sobering example of the
potential for UAS to save lives is the aerial agricultural industry.
Analysis of National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reports shows
that, in 2020 alone, there were 54 aircraft accidents involving
agricultural operations, including 12 fatal accidents resulting in 13
deaths.\8\ The use of UAS to perform these potentially hazardous
aircraft operations will significantly reduce the number of pilot
fatalities that occur each year in the aerial agricultural industry. On
the ground, expanded UAS delivery operations can lead to 1.5 billion
fewer road mile deliveries by freight in 2025, and 29 billion fewer
road miles by 2030, reducing road accidents.\9\ Modeling by Virginia
Tech suggests that at scale, UAS delivery could help to avoid 580 road
accidents per year in a single U.S. city such as Austin, TX, or
Columbus, OH.\10\ Furthermore, due to their ease of use compared with
traditional means of inspection, UAS can significantly increase the
frequency and depth of inspections, boosting and aggregating the total
benefits to safety.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ https://rotormedia.com/unmanned-systems-save-lives-in-high-
risk-manned-operations/. See ``Identifying How UAS OPA Can Reduce Fatal
Accidents in High Risk Manned Helicopter Operations'' prepared by Mark
Colborn, Scott Burgess, Ph.D., and Wayne M. Keeton--H-SE 90 SME Team,
United States Helicopter Safety Team (USHST), Feb. 2, 2019.
\7\ Levitate Capital White Paper, Enterprise Market 2020, at 19,
available at https://levitatecap.com/levitate/wp-content/uploads/2020/
12/Levitate-Capital-White-Paper.pdf.
\8\ https://agairupdate.com/2021/02/23/ntsb-final-report-2020/.
Among other state data, the report included documentation of three
accidents each in Texas and Colorado, two accidents in Georgia, and one
accident in Illinois, Nevada, South Dakota, Missouri and Kansas.
\9\ Levitate Capital White Paper, Enterprise Market 2020 at 19.
\10\ https://wing.com/resource-hub/articles/why-do-we-need-drone-
delivery/.
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Supporting the Economy and Putting Americans Back to Work. If the
regulatory framework can keep pace with this rapidly evolving industry,
UAS will unlock billions of dollars in economic growth over the next
few years. There are many varying estimates of market potential, but
the numbers are all large. The size of the commercial drone market--the
fastest growing segment--is expected to reach $16 billion by 2025 and
$29 billion by 2030.\11\ Those figures represent only baseline
estimates; other figures estimate a market size of $21 billion and $36
billion by 2025 and 2030, respectively. There also is significant
potential for broad economic savings as a result of enterprise UAS
operations. For example, the U.S. economy could save up to $920 million
annually using drones to inspect energy utility infrastructure.\12\
Economic benefits also can flow to local small businesses participating
in UAS delivery programs. One study of UAS local delivery programs
found that local participating retailers could each experience more
than $200,000 a year in increased business opportunities, and local
restaurants could generate up to $284,000 in additional sales, by
expanding the footprint of serviceable customers.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ Levitate Capital White Paper, Enterprise Market 2020 at 28.
\12\ Levitate Capital White Paper, Enterprise Market 2020, at 6.
\13\ Sarah Lyon-Hill, et. al., Measuring the Effects of Drone
Delivery in the United States, Virginia Tech Office of Economic
Development and the Grado Department of Industrial & Systems
Engineering (Sept. 2020), https://www.newswise.com/pdf_docs/
160018187481745_Virginia%20
Tech%20%20Measuring%20the%20Effects%20of%20Drone%20Delivery%20in%20the%2
0United%
20States_September%202020.pdf (hereafter, Virginia Tech Drone Delivery
Study).
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Relatedly, to ensure adequate food supply and equitable food prices
for Americans, drones can enable the next generation of precision
agriculture. With fewer entrants into the agricultural labor force each
year, the agriculture industry is looking to increase its use of
technology and automation to keep pace with a growing population's
demand for food. There are over 900 million acres of farmland in the
United States, and UAS operation is the most efficient way to routinely
monitor this land.
Enhancing Sustainability. Promoting innovative aviation
technologies such as UAS furthers sustainability and environmental
priorities. A wide variety of industries are counting on UAS to help
decarbonize their operations, particularly those that currently rely on
larger, louder gas-powered vehicles (whether aerial or surface-based)
to inspect infrastructure or deliver goods or services.
Existing commercial drone deployments have already demonstrated a
net positive impact on the environment--including reductions in overall
noise levels and CO2 greenhouse gas emissions. For example,
two 2021 studies found that drone-based delivery reduced delivery
carbon emissions and energy usage by 96-98 percent compared to cars, a
significantly larger reduction than switching to EVs.\14\ The Virginia
Tech Drone Delivery Study indicated that enabling drone delivery in a
single U.S. metropolitan area could avoid up to 294 million miles per
year in road use; that is equivalent to taking 25,000 cars off the
road, and reducing carbon emissions by up to 113,900 tons per year.
This reduction of carbon emissions is the equivalent of planting 46,000
acres per year of new forest.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\14\ Rodrigues et al, ``Drone flight data reveal energy and
greenhouse gas emissions savings for small package delivery'' (Cornell
Univ. arXiv.org, Nov. 2021); Zipline, ``A First-Ever Look at the
Sustainability of Autonomous Aerial Logistics'' (Zipline Blog, Nov.
2021).
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The use of UAS as a substitute for ground vehicle trips leads to a
sustainability impact orders of magnitude greater than what can be
achieved through any other method. Light electric drones generate only
2-3 percent of the carbon emissions compared to an electric vehicle,
meaning that substituting UAS trips for ground vehicle trips has an
unrivaled decarbonization impact. In particular, UAS often substitute
for the least efficient and most carbon-intensive transportation tasks.
For example, state departments of transportation have begun to use
drones to inspect bridges. In some cases, inspection crews can use
electric drones instead of sending large semi-trucks known as snooper
trucks, which often have a gas mileage lower than 5 mpg.\15\
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\15\ Last year, for example, North Carolina DOT and CDA member
Skydio worked together to secure a first-of-a-kind statewide waiver
from the FAA enabling the use of drones BVLOS to inspect bridges. See
https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2020/2020-10-05-drone-
bridge-inspection-waiver.aspx. If North Carolina DOT could use drones
to inspect 5,000 of its approximately 14,000 bridges, the environmental
impact would be equivalent to taking 1,000 cars off the road. See also
Brendan Groves, How Drones Can Unlock Greener Infrastructure
Inspection, World Economic Forum, August 10, 2021, https://
www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/08/how-drones-unlock-greener-
infrastructure-inspection/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additionally, UAS play a key role in supporting and encouraging the
transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. UAS enable increased
efficiencies in both the construction and operation phases of renewable
energy plants--such as solar, wind, nuclear, and hydro. In short, UAS
make renewable energy projects more economically viable and cost-
effective by facilitating less-costly inspections of such
infrastructure.
Commercial UAS also are used to reduce GHG emissions in the oil &
gas industry through early detection of loss of containment (e.g., oil
leaks) and fugitive emissions (e.g., methane gas leaks). UAS also
reduce the carbon footprint associated with in-field time dedicated to
historical monitoring, inspection and maintenance operations in
industrial markets. There are over 900,000 well pads and 500,000 miles
of pipeline in the United States. Every inch of those assets needs to
be continually monitored for defects and leaks to properly assure
safety and reduce GHG emissions.
Industries are counting on UAS to help decarbonize their
operations, and integrating UAS into the supply chain and the American
economy can play a central role in helping achieve climate and
sustainability goals.
Promoting Equity. Supporting the UAS industry provides Congress
with a unique opportunity to advance equity initiatives and ensure
expanded access for underserved or remote communities. Drones have the
potential to play a key role in delivering essential goods and medical
supplies to difficult-to-reach populations \16\ and to vulnerable
populations that are mobility challenged or lack access to a
vehicle.\17\ For example, an American company recently received the
State Department's Award for Corporate Excellence for using drones to
provide COVID-19 vaccines to rural and remote communities in foreign
countries.\18\ There is no reason such benefits cannot be brought to
American communities as well. An appropriately tailored regulatory
framework would enable the delivery of medical, lifesaving and other
critical supplies to remote, rural and tribal areas, and the millions
of Americans living in so-called ``pharmacy deserts'' or struggling to
get health care in the face of mounting rural hospital closures.
Similarly, use of UAS to inspect critical infrastructure across the
country offers economically hard-hit localities with limited budgets
the opportunity to enhance safety at a fraction of the cost.
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\16\ Recently, Ghana began using drones to provide COVID-19 vaccine
delivery to rural hospitals nationwide, ensuring that rural doctors and
nurses have equal access to these lifesaving vaccines as their urban
counterparts. See https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/covax-vaccines-
take-air-drone.
\17\ Virginia Tech Drone Delivery Study, at vi (noting that drone
delivery could benefit up to 66,000 people in a single metropolitan
area who lack access to a vehicle).
\18\ U.S. Department of State, Secretary of State's Award for
Corporate Excellence--United States Department of State (2021).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Drones also democratize aviation, providing a gateway to aviation
in a manner far less expensive and far easier to access than
traditional aviation, which has high barriers in the form of aircraft
rentals, traditional pilot certification, and access to airports.
Drones are helping to inspire a new and more diverse generation of
Americans to study STEM and embark on careers that span the spectrum in
aviation, from engineering and design, to maintenance and operations.
Promoting Infrastructure Resilience. As our country makes massive
investments in infrastructure, UAS can play a critical role in making
those investments go farther. In terms of scale, the current number one
commercial use case for UAS is the inspection of critical
infrastructure. UAS promote infrastructure resilience by enabling
unprecedented awareness of infrastructure health, including the
creation of digital twins to track changes and damage over time. Due to
their ease of use compared with traditional means of inspection, UAS
can significantly increase the frequency and efficiency inspections--
helping to preserve existing infrastructure and expedite construction
times on new infrastructure. For example, drones help to reduce the
odds of a train derailment and increase the uptime of train systems
across the Nation's 140,000 miles of rail track.\19\
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\19\ https://www.skydio.com/blog/BVLOS-for-remote-drone-
operations/.
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Ensuring Global Competitiveness. American competitiveness in the
global economy and U.S. leadership in global aviation is at risk due to
a lack of regulatory certainty and risk-appropriate oversight for UAS.
Global competitors--including countries like China--are determined to
win the next century of aviation and capture the jobs and societal
benefits that accompanied America's leadership in the first century of
flight. Due in part to the regulatory barriers here in the U.S. and
Chinese-state subsidized companies, roughly 70-90 percent of the drone
market is controlled by non-U.S. companies. The Civil Aviation
Administration of China has just published a detailed plan outlining
how China will enable the use of drones for use cases such as inner-
city logistics and long-haul goods transport to be a ``global civil
aviation power.'' \20\ The plan also buttresses China's continued
commitment to lead the world in the development of small drones for
inspection and situational awareness--a sector in which Chinese state-
subsidized companies already control the vast majority of the U.S. and
global markets.\21\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\20\ ``China drafts roadmap to boost its civilian drone industry,''
August 23, 2022, found at https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/
2022/08/china-drafts-roadmap-to-boost-its-civilian-drone-industry/.
\21\ Cate Cadell, Drone Company DJI Obscured Ties to Chinese State
Funding, Documents Show, Washington Post, February 1, 2022, available
at https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/02/01/china-
funding-drones-dji-us-regulators/.
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Many U.S.-based companies have invested heavily in, and in some
cases moved, operations to allied countries (including to Australia,
Japan, Africa, Europe and the United Kingdom) as foreign regulatory
bodies have taken proactive steps to enable the UAS marketplace, such
as the comprehensive operational and Uncrewed Traffic Management (U-
SPACE) regulations implemented by the European Union. For example,
Zipline and Wing have each performed hundreds of thousands of BVLOS
deliveries around the world, flying tens of millions of miles
autonomously. Not only do those operations provide significant
immediate benefits to those countries, but by providing a clear pathway
from drone companies to scale and achieve commercial viability, those
countries are able to attract investment and jobs in this emerging
sector. By contrast, regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. has forced many
American UAS companies to shut down. If companies can iterate new
models of aircraft and operations and scale their businesses in other
countries, the U.S. will continue to experience a loss of UAS
investment, innovation, and competition. Once a company is operating
abroad, it is unlikely to shift its investments back to the U.S.
without regulatory certainty, and the American UAS industry falls
behind.
Enhancing Homeland Security and Emergency Response. UAS can provide
significant homeland security and emergency response benefits. They are
frequently utilized in emergency situations, including helping
communities recover after hurricanes and other natural disasters by
providing Internet connectivity and providing data that assists with
cleanup efforts. UAS are frequently employed for public safety to
assist first responders with situational awareness in the context of
criminal investigations, firefighting, and more.
Supporting National Security. A thriving domestic UAS industry that
stays at the forefront of innovation is important for economic
security, driving investment and creating jobs. It also is important
for national security. In recent years, U.S. Federal agencies have
issued warnings about systems made by companies connected to countries
of concern and expressed a need to deploy secure, domestically produced
drones. Congress has also taken action, banning the Defense Department
from buying certain foreign-made drones.\22\ As UAS technology
increasingly revolves around network-connected operations, data
security is important, especially for use cases involving sensitive
data. Maintaining a strong and secure domestic UAS industry promotes
competitiveness and protects national security.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\22\ National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020,
Section 848 (P.L. 116-92).
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Upgrading Our U.S. Agricultural Supply Chain. The benefits of
drones can be leveraged to enhance the U.S. supply chain particularly
in the context of precision agriculture and bulk materials. As the
world population grows from 7 billion to an estimated 9 billion by
2050, agricultural consumption is predicted to increase by 69 percent.
Drones can play a vital role in helping the agriculture industry meet
this growing demand.
V. CONCLUSION
The opportunity cost of inaction continues to grow as the gap
between technology and policy in the United States continues to widen.
Congress has the opportunity in the next FAA Reauthorization to close
this gap and bring the benefits of commercial drones to the American
public. The CDA appreciates the opportunity to appear before you today
to provide our perspective in support of your work. We look forward to
continuing to collaborate with you and your staffs to ensure that
America is able to maintain and enhance our global leadership in
advanced aviation in years to come.
Senator Sinema. Thank you. Our next witness is Gregory
Davis, President and Interim Chief Executive Officer of
Eviation, a developer and manufacturer of electric aircraft.
Mr. Davis is also a licensed commercial pilot and has over 15
years in leadership roles at aerospace companies. Mr. Davis,
thank you for joining us remotely today. You are recognized for
your opening statement.
Mr. Davis. Thanks very much for having me today. As you
said, my name is Gregory Davis, and I am the--CEO of Eviation--
manufacture electric aircraft--[technical problems]--coming to
Washington. We are manufacturing the world's first all electric
commuter aircraft, integrating----
[Technical problems.]
Senator Sinema. Mr. Davis, we are having a little bit of
trouble hearing you. You are cutting in and out. If it is OK
with you, I am going to have our tech folks work on that for a
second and we will move on and then come back. Is that OK with
everyone? Great.
So we will move to our next witness, retired Colonel Steven
Luxion, who prefers to go by Lux--I like it. Lux is the
Executive Director of the Alliance for System Safety of UAS
through Research Excellence at Mississippi State University's
Stennis Space Center campus.
He previously served in the U.S. Air Force for more than 30
years, where he led the Air Force's first armed UAV squadron.
Lux, thanks for joining us today, and you are recognized for
your opening statement.
STATEMENT OF COLONEL [RET.] STEPHEN P. LUXION,
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FAA CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR
UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS [ASSURE]
Mr. Luxion. Thank you. Thank you, Chair Sinema, Ranking
Member Cruz, and members of the subcommittee. Thanks for the
opportunity to testify today about uncrewed aircraft systems or
UAS.
I will speak today for my 7 years' experience as the
Executive Director of Assure, a Mississippi State University
led alliance of 26 leading research universities and over 100
industry and Government partners that serve as the FAA Center
of Excellence. I also served 30 years in the Air Force, where I
was fortunate to play a leadership role in the integration of
UAS.
From this perspective, I have to say, it is mostly a good
news story of innovation, growth, development, and safety. In
2014, Congress called on the FAA to establish a UAS Center of
Excellence to provide the academic research, data, and support
necessary to inform the FAA and its regulatory responsibilities
to integrate uncrewed aircraft safely and efficiently into the
national airspace system.
In 2015, the FAA awarded Assure that responsibility through
a competitive process. A lot has happened in the 7-years since
Assure was established. With the tremendous support of
Congress, Assure has grown from a half a million appropriation
to $14 million in matched funding annually.
To date, congressional support for the FAA through Assure
is approximately $91 million. These funds have supported more
than 60 projects, including advanced air mobility,
cybersecurity, and the integration of UAS for disaster
response, just to name a few.
Assure research has supported FAA rulemaking and the
development of industry consensus standards. Additionally,
Assure continues to develop a network of worldwide affiliations
to harmonize rulemaking and standards globally.
Canada, the United Kingdom, Israel, and Singapore now have
affiliate universities in the Assure consortium. Currently,
Assure is in discussions with Australia and New Zealand to
develop affiliations there.
The COE's work supporting the FAA has led to other
developments. We are engaged in nine studies for NASA, which
investigate the technologies to support uncrewed aircraft
traffic management so critical to beyond visual line of sight
operations, multi-UAS control, and improved aviation weather
forecasting below 500 feet.
Congress has also supported Assure through FEMA and NIST in
the integration of UAS technology into public safety and
disaster response. Assure is leading the development of Assured
Safe, a federated ecosystem that will provide standards,
education, training, testing, certification, and credentialing
of first responders' use of UAS in the systems themselves.
Although progress is being made on integration, there are
two areas that I believe need attention. First, there is a need
for a national UAS road map. From the COE perspective, I see
the FAA waiting on signals and investment from industry to tell
it where to focus its regulatory efforts. But industry is
waiting on the FAA to develop pathways to certification and
operations to help reduce their regulatory risk.
The FAA should produce a detailed regulatory roadmap that
includes identification of specific regulations and standards
to support industry and public safety, an office of primary
responsibility for each, and the research necessary to inform
their development. It is critical that this road map have
milestones and actual dates.
The FAA should involve key stakeholders, including
industry, academia, and standard committee leadership in the
development of this plan. A detailed roadmap would help all
stakeholders, including Congress, to provide appropriate
resources, measure success, and make adjustments as required.
Second, Assure requests that Congress suspend its policy on
cost share to help improve diversity and inclusion and also
increase the amount of research that is so needed to speed
rulemaking in standards development.
As we look to grow our capability--as we looked to grow our
capability and capacity, and include more partners, we found
that cost share requirements are an obstacle to participation
for minority serving institutions.
Moreover, during the pandemic, Assure and the FAA
demonstrated that cost share--reduced cost share requirements
led to actually greater participation in research. A trial
period of relief would increase participation of minority
serving institutions in research and eliminate the financial
burden and risk across all COE universities.
Increased regulatory progress would also incentivize
industry to stay actively engaged. Thank you for your recent
efforts to help secure the FAA's extension of Assure as its UAS
Center of Excellence through May 2025. I look forward to your
questions and collaborating with you and your staffs in the
future.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Luxion follows:]
Prepared Statement of Colonel [Ret.] Stephen P. Luxion,
Executive Director, FAA Center of Excellence for
Unmanned Aircraft Systems [ASSURE]
Chair Sinema, Ranking Member Cruz, and members of the subcommittee,
thank you for this opportunity to testify today about uncrewed aircraft
systems (UAS).
I will speak today from my seven years' experience, as the
Executive Director of ASSURE, a Mississippi State University led
alliance of 26 research universities and over 100 industry and
government partners that serve as the FAA's Center of Excellence. I
also served 30 years in the U.S. Air Force, where I was fortunate to
play a leadership role in the integration of UAS. From this
perspective, I have to say it is mostly a good news story of
innovation, growth, development, and safety.
In 2014, Congress called on the FAA to establish a UAS Center of
Excellence to provide the academic research, data, and support
necessary to inform the FAA in its regulatory responsibilities to
integrate uncrewed aircraft safely and efficiently into the National
Airspace System. In 2015, the FAA awarded ASSURE that responsibility
through a competitive process.
A lot has happened in the seven years since ASSURE was established.
With the tremendous support of Congress, ASSURE has grown from the
original half a million appropriation to $14 million in matched funding
annually. To date, congressional support for the FAA through ASSURE is
approximately $91 million. These funds have supported more than 60
projects, including advanced air mobility, cyber security, and the
integration of UAS for disaster response, just to name a few. ASSURE's
research has supported FAA rulemaking, and the development of industry
consensus standards.
Additionally, ASSURE continues to develop a network of worldwide
affiliations to harmonize rulemaking and standards globally. Canada,
the United Kingdom, Israel, and Singapore now have affiliate
universities in the ASSURE consortium. Currently, ASSURE is in
discussions with Australia and New Zealand to develop affiliations
there.
The COE's work supporting the FAA has led to other developments. We
are engaged in nine studies for NASA, which investigate the
technologies to support uncrewed aircraft traffic management critical
to beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations, multi-UAS control, and
improved aviation weather forecasting below 500 feet.
Congress has also supported ASSURE (through FEMA and NIST) in the
integration of UAS technology into public safety and disaster response.
ASSURE is leading the development of ``ASSUREd Safe,'' a federated
ecosystem that will provide standards, education, training, testing,
certification, and credentialing of first responders' use of UAS and
the systems themselves.
Although progress is being made on integration, there are two
areas, that, I believe, need attention. First, there is need for a
National UAS Roadmap. From the COE perspective, I see the FAA waiting
on signals and investment from industry to tell it where to focus
regulatory efforts. But industry is waiting for the FAA to develop
pathways to certification and operations to help reduce their
regulatory risk. The FAA should produce a detailed regulatory roadmap
that includes identification of specific regulations and standards to
support industry and public safety, an office of primary responsibility
for each, and the research necessary to inform their development. It is
critical that this roadmap have milestones and actual dates. The FAA
should involve key stakeholders including industry, academia, and
standard committee leadership, in the development of this plan. A
detailed roadmap would help all stakeholders, including Congress, to
provide appropriate resources, measure success, and make adjustments,
as required.
Second, ASSURE requests that Congress suspend the cost-share policy
to help improve diversity and inclusion, and also increase the amount
of research needed to speed rulemaking and standards development. As we
have looked to grow our capability and capacity, and include more
partners, we have found that cost-share requirements are an obstacle to
participation for Minority Serving Institutions. Moreover, during the
pandemic, ASSURE and the FAA demonstrated that reduced cost-share
requirements led to greater participation and research. A trial period
of relief would increase participation of Minority Serving Institutions
in research, and eliminate the financial burden and risk across all COE
universities. Increased regulatory progress would also incentivize
industry to stay actively engaged.
Thank you for your recent efforts to help secure the FAA's
extension of ASSURE as its UAS COE though May 2025. I look forward to
your questions and collaborating with you and your staffs in the
future.
Senator Sinema. Thank you. We are still working through
some of the technical difficulties with Mr. Davis, so we will
move on to our next witness. Welcome to an Arizonan, Stephane
Fymat, Vice President and General Manager for Honeywell
Aerospace's Unmanned Aerial Systems and Urban Air Mobility
Business Unit.
He has led Honeywell's Aerospace UAS, UAM business unit
since its creation in March 2020. Mr. Fymat, thank you for
traveling from Phoenix to Washington D.C. to testify today, and
you are recognized for your opening statement.
STATEMENT OF STEPHANE FYMAT, VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL
MANAGER, URBAN AIR MOBILITY AND UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEMS,
HONEYWELL AEROSPACE
Mr. Fymat. Chair Sinema, Ranking Member Cruz, members of
the Subcommittee, thank you for the invitation to today's
hearing to discuss Honeywell's perspective on the upcoming FAA
Reauthorization Act, with respect to integrating new entrants
into the national airspace system.
My name is Stephane Fymat. I am the Vice President and
General Manager of Honeywell's Urban Air Mobility and Unmanned
Aerial Systems Business Unit. Honeywell Aerospace is proudly
based in Arizona, a leader in the aerospace industry, and home
to 19 of our facilities and nearly 7,000 employees.
Honeywell invented the autopilot over 100 years ago and
continues to innovate to this day. We are in a great position
to help shape the future of advanced aerial mobility. Our Urban
Aerial Mobility Lab in Phoenix is where we are pioneering
technologies without which these aircraft just are not
possible.
Examples include automated flight control and actuation
systems, electric propulsion systems that enable ultra-quiet
and emission free aircraft, detect and avoid systems to prevent
collisions with other aircraft and obstacles.
In particular, Honeywell invests a large portion of our R&D
into technology that makes flight more sustainable, such as
electric power generation, hydrogen fuel cells, and sustainable
aviation fuel. These new aircraft are set to be the most
profound change in the aerospace industry and in people's lives
since the invention of the jet engine.
They will take off and land vertically, just like a
helicopter, and fly on their wings just like an airplane.
During takeoff and landing, they are no louder than a modern
dishwasher, enabling them to pick you up and drop you off right
in your neighborhood. They can do the same for cargo, enabling
companies to fly goods directly from warehouse to warehouse and
streamline the supply chain.
Small drones can drop off small parcels directly to your
home and emergency supplies to disaster areas. However, the
lack of a clear pathway to the certification of these aircraft
and an absence of regulation to enable long distance,
commercial drone operations challenge this industry.
Countries that lead in the development of new modes of
transportation establish or reaffirm their global leadership.
We have seen this before in the auto industry, the rocket
industry, and the airline industry. But developing is not
enough. We must also lead in implementation as well.
Like the U.S. has done in the past with the interstate
highway system and like Europe has done with high speed rail,
this is the next new mode of transportation, and it is playing
out today. The pace of technology innovation is accelerating,
which means that the pace of regulation must also accelerate,
or the United States will be left behind. It is time to come
together to remove the regulatory gaps and make this a reality.
We recommend that Congress mandate the FAA to have AAM
aircraft certification regulations enacted by 2024. Validate
AAM aircraft certified in Europe using our existing bilateral
aviation safety agreements. Ensure its regulations are
harmonized with these countries by 2024.
Develop certification standards for autonomous aircraft,
including unpiloted and reduced crew cargo and passenger
carrying vehicles. And complete the rulemaking to enable
regular beyond visual line of sight operations for drones of
all sizes by 2024. At Honeywell, our single minded mission is
to co-create, together with leading aircraft designers, the
advanced aerial mobility industry.
I commend Chair Sinema, Senator Moran, and the committee
for the recent passage of the bipartisan Advanced Air Mobility
Coordination and Leadership Act. I also applaud the efforts of
the FAA, particularly in the Beyond Visual Line of Sight
Rulemaking Committee, for working more closely with industry
and stakeholders.
Next year's FAA Reauthorization Act presents an important
opportunity for Congress to make U.S. global leadership in AAM
and drones a top national priority and address the remaining
regulatory gaps. Thank you for the opportunity to be here, and
I look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Fymat follows:]
Prepared Statement of Stephane Fymat, Vice President and
General Manager, Urban Air Mobility and Unmanned Aerial Systems,
Honeywell Aerospace
Chair Sinema, Ranking Member Cruz, and members of the subcommittee,
Thank you for the invitation to join today's hearing to discuss
Honeywell's perspective on the upcoming FAA Reauthorization Act with
respect to integrating new entrants into the National Airspace System.
My name is Stephane Fymat, I am the Vice President and General
Manager of Honeywell's Urban Air Mobility and Unmanned Aerial Systems
business unit. Honeywell Aerospace is proudly based in Arizona, a
leader in the aerospace industry and home to 19 of our facilities and
nearly 7,000 employees.
Like the aviation industry we thrive on today, Honeywell Aerospace
started its aerospace journey over 100 years ago by inventing the
autopilot and continues to do so to this day. We are therefore uniquely
positioned to help shape the future of Advanced Aerial Mobility.
Honeywell's Deer Valley facility in Phoenix, Arizona is home to our
Urban Aerial Mobility lab--here we are innovating and pioneering many
of the critical technologies without which these aircraft are just not
possible, such as:
Automated flight control and actuation systems that enable
these vehicles to take off like a helicopter and fly like an
airplane,
Electric, hybrid-electric and hydrogen-powered propulsion
systems that enable ultra-quiet and emissions-free vehicles,
and
Detect-and-avoid systems to prevent collisions with aircraft
and other objects.
In particular, Honeywell invests a large portion of our R&D into
next-generation technology that makes flight more sustainable, such as
electric power generation, hydrogen fuel cells, sustainable aviation
fuel, and more. Our commitment to sustainability is an integral aspect
of our design of products, processes, and services, and of the
lifecycle management of our products.
The introduction of Uncrewed Aerial Systems (aka drones or UAS) and
Advanced Aerial Mobility vehicles (AAM) is set to be the most profound
change in the aerospace industry and in people's lives since the
invention of the jet engine.
These new aircraft take-off and land vertically, just like a
helicopter, and fly on their wings, just like an airplane. During
takeoff and landing, they are no louder than a modern dishwasher,
enabling them to pick you up and drop you off right in your
neighborhood. They can do the same for mid-sized cargo, enabling
organizations to skip the airports and ship goods directly from
warehouse to warehouse to streamline the supply chain. Small drones can
drop off small parcels directly at your home, emergency supplies to
disaster areas, and urgent and vital medical packages to paramedics and
hospitals.
However, there are challenges that threaten to delay the emergence
and development of this industry, including the lack of a clear pathway
to the certification of these aircraft and an absence of necessary
regulations to enable long-distance commercial drone operations.
Countries that lead in the development of new modes of
transportation establish or reaffirm their global leadership. We have
seen this before--in the automobile industry, the rocket industry and
the jet airliner industry.
Countries that lead in the implementation of new modes of
transportation within their borders also establish or reaffirm their
global leadership. We have also seen this before--in the U.S. with the
interstate highway system, and in Europe with high-speed rail. Advanced
Aerial Mobility is the next new mode of transportation, and it is
playing out today.
The pace of technology innovation is accelerating, which means that
the pace of regulation must also accelerate--or the United States will
be left behind.
At Honeywell, our single-minded mission is to co-create, together
with leading aircraft designers, the advanced aerial mobility industry.
We see a world where:
Urban and regional air travel is safe, accessible and
ubiquitous,
100-mile trips are made in less than 45 minutes door-to-
door,
Cargo can be delivered autonomously to both rural and urban
areas--from the warehouse to your door,
Same day delivery is possible even in remote locations,
Challenging but essential missions like border patrol and
pipeline inspections can be done at scale, autonomously,
And all the above can be done without major infrastructure
expansion (e.g., roads, airports)
It's time to come together--as policymakers, regulators, and
technology leaders--to address aerial mobility and remove regulatory
gaps remaining on the path to success.
Congressional and White House leadership is critical to:
a. First, prioritize the regulatory urgency required to achieve U.S.
global leadership in UAS and UAM, this must become a national
priority to succeed; for all regulatory priorities the timeline
to achieve them is a critical factor to industry success and
U.S. leadership, there must be an ambitious expedited timeline
set out by Congress to ensure regulatory urgency and drive
integration;
b. Second, to ensure a whole-of-government coordinated approach
across Federal agencies and collaboration with industry, state
and local governments, and stakeholders;
c. Last, to ensure the Federal government invests the resources
necessary to accomplish these goals.
In order for the United States to maintain its global leadership
position and to enable industry, we recommend Congress directs the FAA
to address the following regulatory gaps:
Aircraft Certification
1. Mandate the FAA to have certification regulations for piloted
VTOL aircraft enacted by 2024. Without regulation by 2024, U.S.
AAM manufacturers will be left behind their global
counterparts, the public will not reap the benefits of flying
on these aircraft, and the United States will miss a crucial
opportunity to lead the future of aviation.
2. Mandate the FAA to validate AAM aircraft certified by the
European Union Aviation Safety Agency (``EASA''), the United
Kingdom's Civil Aviation Authority (``UK CAA'') and other
similar authorities using our existing bilateral aviation
safety agreements and associated technical implementation
procedures. The United States already has the regulatory
frameworks in place to accept foreign aircraft certifications.
Reaffirming this fact with a mandate provides a clear pathway
for any foreign manufacturer to have their aircraft certified
in the United States and ensure that the United States public
is at the front of the line to receive the benefits of all
these aircraft--wherever they may have originated from.
3. Mandate the FAA to ensure that its aircraft certification
regulations are harmonized with EASA and UK CAA by 2024. FAA
global leadership is needed to harmonize AAM certification with
EASA and other countries to ensure that AAM can grow as a
global industry and that American aircraft manufacturers and
operators can access vital international markets for AAM.
4. The FAA should prioritize the development of certification
standards for autonomous aircraft, including unpiloted and
reduced-crew cargo and passenger-carrying vehicles. This will
enable the United States to lead in autonomous aviation, and to
accelerate the introduction of safe autonomy and automation
technologies into aircraft.
Operations Regulation
5. The FAA should complete rulemaking to enable regular Beyond
Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations for all UAS vehicles by
2024. BVLOS regulations are critical to the UAS industry, not
just for small drones, but for drones of all sizes. Without
them the industry cannot scale, innovation will be stifled and
drone-related services in the United States will be severely
limited.
6. The FAA should complete certification rules for the operation of
both piloted AAM aircraft and drones in the United States by
2024. The current set of rules apply to small drones but leave
a gap for larger ones that are more practical for missions such
as transporting cargo and supplies.
I commend Chair Sinema, Senator Moran, and the Members on this
Committee, for supporting the success of this industry through
legislation like the recent passage of the bi-partisan Advanced Air
Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act.
I also applaud the efforts of the Federal Aviation Administration,
particularly over the last several years including the BVLOS Aviation
Rulemaking Committee (ARC), to work more closely in partnership with
industry and stakeholders to drive regulatory progress.
Next year's FAA Reauthorization Act comes at a critical time and
presents an important opportunity for Congress to take decisive action
to prioritize U.S. global leadership and address the regulatory gaps
that inhibit UAS and UAM industry growth.
If we as a country miss this opportunity, we will likely see
another country replace the United States as the new global leader in
aviation technology in the coming decade.
Success will require a more coherent whole-of-government
coordination and partnership with state and local governments,
industry, and stakeholders. Working together, I am confident we can
achieve this outcome.
Thank you for the opportunity to be here today and I look forward
to your questions.
Senator Sinema. Thank you. Next, we have Ed Bolen, the
President and CEO--President and CEO of the National Business
Aviation Association. Mr. Bolen has led NBAA since 2004 and
previously served in senior leadership roles at the General
Aviation Manufacturers Association.
He was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on
the Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry.
Mr. Bolen, thank you for joining us today, and you are
recognized for your opening statement.
STATEMENT OF EDWARD M. BOLEN,
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER,
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION
Mr. Bolen. Well, thank you, Chair Sinema, Ranking Member
Cruz, members of the Subcommittee. It is a great honor to be
here today talking about an important milestone in the
evolution of on demand air mobility. You know, for decades, the
National Business Aviation Association has represented
companies that rely on general aviation aircraft to get people
and products where they need to be, when they need to be there.
Over the decades, that has been evidenced in a variety of
technologies. Companies have used biplanes and monoplanes,
fixed wing aircraft, and rotor wing aircraft. They have used
propulsion systems, including radios and pistons and turbines.
And the aircraft themselves have been built with wood and
fabric, aluminum, and composites. Today, the United States is
fortunate to have the world's largest, safest, most efficient,
and most diverse air transportation system in the world, and
our work--country has benefited enormously from that.
But today, we have an opportunity to talk about
technologies that can do even more. In your opening remarks,
several of you mentioned the importance of predictability and
certainty. And let me say this, we are all certain that
advanced air mobility has the potential to bring enormous
benefits to our country, to our citizens, to our communities.
It has the potential to bring societal benefits, and
economic benefits, and national security benefits. As the
ability to make on-demand air mobility more sustainable, more
accessible, more affordable, we want, and we need advanced air
mobility. Here are some of the things that we as a country need
to do.
As Stephane said we need to make it a national priority. We
need a coordinated national strategy. We also need
transparency, communication, and certainty in our regulations
and our process. We need to have concurrent collaborative work
being done. Like the others, I want to thank Senators Sinema
and Moran for the AAM Coordination and Leadership Act.
That is important because it brings together different
departments within the U.S. Government to make sure we are
working together not at cross-purposes. I also want to focus on
what we need to do in terms of coordination and communication
within the FAA. And that is we need to be concurrent and
collaborative across all of the various lines of business.
In order for AAM to come to the forefront, companies will
need to get type certificates. They will need to get production
certificates. The operators will need operation specifications.
And we are going to need an infrastructure that facilitates
those operations. We need to work collaboratively and
concurrently for all of those eventualities, not sequentially,
one after another.
This is an important opportunity. And I have already
mentioned the infrastructure and it is an infrastructure that
is forward looking. Today, the United States is blessed to have
an amazing network of general aviation airports, 5,000 public
use airports. They are in every Congressional District. They
are in some of our tribal areas.
They provide access to our air transportation system, to
the world economy. In order for us to move forward, we need to
recognize that the infrastructure of the future will require
electrification. It may require hydrogen.
We have an opportunity to build for the future now. Here
again, I want to thank Senator Moran, who worked with Senator
Padilla to introduce, and this committee has passed, the
Advanced Aviation Infrastructure Modernization Act, an
important opportunity to plan--to provide grants for the
planning and construction of the infrastructure of tomorrow.
We need to be about that today. We also need to focus on
the workforce of tomorrow. We are talking about technologies
that are relying on electric propulsion, things that we don't
necessarily have expertise within the FAA and within some of
the communities.
We need to focus on how we bring the best and the brightest
into our community as we go forward. As I said before, this is
an important milestone in the evolution of transportation. It
has the opportunity to benefit American citizens, communities,
and our country.
We look forward to working closely with every member of
this committee, every Member of Congress, everyone in the
executive branch, and people all over the country to realize
the benefits of advanced air mobility. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Bolen follows:]
Prepared Statement of Edward M. Bolen, President and CEO,
National Business Aviation Association
Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Wicker, Subcommittee Chair Sinema,
Subcommittee Ranking Member Cruz and members of the Subcommittee on
Aviation Safety, Operations, and Innovation, thank you for holding this
hearing to address the integration of new entrants into the national
airspace system (NAS). On behalf of the National Business Aviation
Association's (NBAA's) 11,000-member companies and our Advanced Air
Mobility Roundtable, I am honored to testify at this hearing.
NBAA's members, many of which are small businesses, rely on general
aviation aircraft to meet some portion of their transportation needs.
These aircraft provide connectivity to communities in every state and
nearly every congressional district, many of which do not receive
airline service. While those airlines serve only around 500 airports,
business aviation can reach 5,000 airports, located in places some
people have never heard of. This unique American idea of connecting
each other-no matter where we live and work-doesn't make headlines, but
it supports 1.2 million American jobs and $247 billion in economic
output.
As the Subcommittee knows, general aviation is an essential
American industry that has long led the way in innovations that
generate new technologies and new ways of thinking. We led the way with
GPS, a transformative navigation and safety technology. We led the way
with winglets and other technologies that drive safety and efficiency.
We are leading the way in the next revolution in aviation, Advanced Air
Mobility (AAM). These and other advancements make aviation safer, more
secure and sustainable, and ensure that our country will remain the
world's leader in aviation five, 10 and 25 years from now.
With the current authorization of the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) expiring a little more than a year from today,
this hearing comes at a crucial time, when the United States is on the
cusp of a new and exciting era of aviation. We appreciate the work this
Subcommittee is already doing to engage with all stakeholders on
priorities for a long-term FAA reauthorization bill in 2023, and we
look forward to a robust discussion about new entrants into the NAS.
As this committee knows, the U.S. has been at the forefront of
aviation leadership and innovation for decades. Modern aviation was
born on America's shores with the first powered flight in Kitty Hawk,
North Carolina. We led the transition from piston engines to the jet
age. We pioneered air traffic control technology and airspace policies
that created the safest, most efficient and most diverse air traffic
system in the world. Our robust aviation infrastructure is unparalleled
and our workforce, while greatly affected by the COVID pandemic,
remains the most agile, innovative and sought-after in the world.
We have the potential to continue to lead the next phase in the
evolution in aviation with AAM, but competition with other nations is
fierce and rapidly advancing. Among other considerations, this means
the FAA will need to keep pace with its promised regulatory schedule,
so that the first AAM commercial operations can occur as soon as 2024.
This is a critical milestone if we are to fully scale this promising
new technology.
In short, we stand at a critical juncture-the investments and
policy decisions we make today will determine whether we harness the
full economic, environmental and national security potential of AAM and
maintain our position as a global leader in aerospace.
Advanced Air Mobility: A Pioneering Promise for Communities and
Commerce
Advanced Air Mobility is an emerging form of on-demand air
transportation powered by electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL)
technology. It can safely, securely, and successfully deliver people
and cargo between locations, making connections that are not easily
achievable by existing aviation technologies, such as delivering
healthcare in remote rugged terrain, providing affordable
transportation options within a congested metropolitan area, offering
relief in the aftermath of a natural disaster, increasing access to
rural or mid-sized communities, or linking the remote spokes of a cargo
distribution network to shorten the supply chain.
AAM has the potential to make aviation more accessible, more
environmentally sustainable and more economically beneficial than at
any time in history. According to a recent study by Deloitte, the AAM
market in the United States is estimated to reach $115 billion annually
by 2035, creating more than 280,000 high-paying jobs.\1\
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\1\ https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/aerospace-
defense/advanced-air-mobility.html
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The development, certification and use of AAM promises to deliver a
host of benefits, including:
Job Creation and Economic Growth. Analysts predict the AAM
sector will generate hundreds of thousands of high-skilled jobs
in manufacturing, design and infrastructure by 2040, centering
around the 5,000 existing and underutilized airports in towns
and cities across the country. AAM will also deliver huge
commercial and economic benefits by increasing productivity and
making it easier to move key employees and goods and provide
services in locations across the country.
Accessibility. AAM technologies provide passengers with a
safe, affordable, flexible and efficient form of mobility,
making AAM a valuable solution for cities struggling with road
congestion. It offers the potential to close the gap between
urban and rural communities by facilitating connections between
areas separated by limited public transportation and difficult
terrain. And it offers a critical solution for health care
challenges such as time-critical organ transportation.
Sustainability. AAM is part of business aviation's many
efforts to become more sustainable year over year. The aircraft
are powered by hybrid electric systems, batteries and hydrogen
fuel cells, making them a highly sustainable, carbon neutral
form of air transport. The aircraft are also quiet, and less
disruptive.
National Security. AAM will benefit America's defense and
national security interests. AAM vehicles are short range,
runway independent and automated. These innovations have real
national security applications, including enabling militaries
to more easily pursue complex missions that are currently
conducted using traditional modes of transport like ground
vehicles and helicopters. AAM technologies also have the
potential to elevate military use of unmanned aircraft systems
for national defense.
In addition to the incredible opportunities contemplated by the
introduction of AAM, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), often called
drones, continue to demonstrate tremendous value and public acceptance
in areas such as search and rescue, public safety and security, life-
saving medical supply transport, package and cargo delivery and other
innovative transportation needs. With the FAA's first UAS certification
recently taking place, we're excited to see additional certificated UAS
finding their way into U.S. operations.
Needed: A Coordinated Strategy to Propel the Next Generation of U.S.
Aviation Leadership
The support of Congress and the administration, along with
collaboration among industry leaders under a coordinated, transparent
and predictable national strategy is essential to support the emergence
of AAM and ensure all Americans can benefit from the economic,
environmental, national security and connectivity benefits it can
provide. Several analysts have looked at the best way to foster this
coordination. Among them comes guidance from McKinsey, which has
conducted a helpful study, highlighting the ways to address the new
challenges related to technology, regulation, cost and customer
acceptance to achieve higher adoption rates, and unlocking a market
that could grow to $600 billion annually \2\.
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\2\ Are Flying Taxis in Our Future? https://www.mckinsey.com/
industries/travel-logistics-and-infrastructure/our-insights/taxiing-
for-takeoff-the-f lying-cab-in-your-future
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Unlocking this potential is the idea behind the Advanced Air
Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act. Thanks to the leadership of
Subcommittee Chair Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Senator Jerry
Moran (R-KS) in the Senate, as well as Vice-Chair Sharice Davids (D-KS)
and Ranking Member Garret Graves (R-LA) in the House, the bill is on
its way to the President's desk to be signed into law.
For AAM to succeed, we need coordination at the federal, state and
local levels, and that's what the Advanced Air Mobility Coordination
and Leadership Act calls for, requiring collaboration through a working
group of stakeholders at all levels. This first-of-its-kind working
group will review policies and programs to help advance the maturation
of AAM aircraft operations and create recommendations regarding the
safety, security and Federal investments necessary for the development
of AAM.
As a stakeholder organization, NBAA supports the work of
congressional leaders to foster the growth of this promising
technology. That's why last year, NBAA established the Advanced Air
Mobility Roundtable, which serves as a forum for high-level policy
planning with sector leaders to chart a course for the integration of
AAM technologies into the Nation's airspace system. This group provides
a voice for original equipment manufacturers and others who are
developing electric vertical takeoff and landing transport (eVTOL)
vehicles and other systems, with regard to airport access, airspace
management, local community engagement and other critical priorities.
NBAA also collaborates closely with the Congressional Advanced Air
Mobility (AAM) Caucus, established in June of this year, which will be
critical in helping to educate Members of Congress about this
revolutionary emerging technology. Caucus members will work to identify
policies that will stimulate the industry, promote safety, address
infrastructure needs, and engage in advanced air mobility's
modernization of existing transportation networks.
We encourage Congress to continue to fund essential programs that
create partnerships between government agencies, the military and
stakeholders to bring AAM to fruition. In particular, the U.S. Air
Force's AFWERX/Agility Prime and NASA's AAM National Campaign greatly
aid in expediting the certification process and testing of AAM
operations, traffic management systems, infrastructure, and
capabilities as validating system-level concepts and solutions. NBAA's
AAM Roundtable members including Archer Aviation, Beta Technologies,
Joby Aviation, Supernal, and Wisk are successfully utilizing these
programs.
Joby Aviation and NASA collaborated with the FAA to develop five
use cases for operations in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) region. The
report demonstrated AAM aircraft could navigate in the current National
Airspace System between vertiports through high-volume conventional air
traffic, and that more work should be done to develop ways to scale
operations. In March, Beta Technologies' aircraft, Alia, became the
first manned electric aircraft flown by U.S. Air Force pilots as part
of its Agility Prime technology acceleration program. This paved the
way for Alia's groundbreaking journey from New York to Arkansas, which
covered 1,403 miles, made seven stops and spanned six states. And, most
recently, Wisk released its Concept of Operation, citing years of
collaboration with Boeing, the FAA and NASA.
Congress and agency leaders understand the importance of
government-industry partnerships to foster the development of AAM.
Earlier this year, the FAA amended the charter for the Drone Advisory
Committee to include AAM integration and renamed it the Advanced
Aviation Advisory Committee (AAAC). The AAAC will serve as a valuable
forum to advance AAM policy and advise the FAA; however, the committee
must bring on board more AAM members to honor equal representation
reflected in the charter, and be most effective in charting the future
for this emerging sector.
In Focus: Certification Challenges for Emerging Aircraft Technologies
With the electrification of aviation leading to the introduction of
new entrants, long-established safety oversight concepts will need
updates that reflect the latest technology, design and operations on
the horizon. And while the pace of technological change often outruns
the ability of regulatory standards for compliance to adjust, the
safety of the traveling public must always remain our North Star.
The FAA's rigorous processes for aircraft certification have long
been a model for international acceptance of U.S. aviation products.
Additionally, regulations set forth by the Department of Transportation
(DOT) and FAA ensure that companies seeking to provide air
transportation to the public comply with comprehensive operational
safety standards. Together, these aircraft and operational approvals
create a framework for the safe introduction of new aircraft and new
operations. That said, regulators will need to think in new ways about
the certification of new technologies with implications for aviation
safety.
That evolving shift in perspective appears to be underway: As this
committee knows, the FAA recently changed the certification process for
AAM aircraft. As part of that decision, the agency committed to
introduce a Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) by 2024 to
coincide with the planned introduction of the first advanced air
mobility (AAM) commercial operations. This is a critical step in the
path to enable commercial AAM operations and pilot licensing, and we
welcome the agency's declaration that this change preserves consistency
in certification for safety without introducing cumbersome delays to
the necessary processes for marketplace introduction.
We ask that this Subcommittee closely monitor the agency's stated
goal of completing the process for AAM introduction into the NAS by
2024. Transparency and certainty from the FAA are important. For
example, the first aircraft type certification for an AAM aircraft is
expected shortly, and companies are progressing toward operational
certification, so the timely completion of an SFAR with engagement from
industry stakeholders is crucial for the successful launch of
commercial service.
Adherence to the FAA's stated timetables must be viewed as a top
agency imperative. Although operators of AAM aircraft have not yet
sought FAA commercial operational certification, the moment is at hand
to begin testing operational approval concepts now with FAA safety
leaders. New aircraft and new operations frequently take a significant
amount of time to safely evaluate, and we cannot wait until 2024 to
begin evaluating AAM operational safety needs.
While aircraft and operational certification are a major priority,
we must also acknowledge the significant work happening in parallel to
address other critical components of this new entrant capability,
including air traffic operations and heliport and vertiport design
considerations. Each of these work streams must integrate seamlessly if
we hope to realize the potential benefits of our efforts.
For example, in addition to AAM operations that focus on passenger-
carrying operations, UAS aircraft continue to demonstrate growing value
in critical areas such as search and rescue, public safety and
security, package and cargo delivery, life-saving medical supply
delivery and other innovative transportation models. Proof-of-concept
projects in the U.S. have shown public acceptance and desire for these
services. We strongly believe these projects should set the stage for
more predictable aircraft and operational certifications.
As part of the upcoming FAA Reauthorization, we look forward to a
continued dialogue on how the agency can utilize the existing
regulatory structure and innovative operational and aircraft
certification concepts to facilitate the safe introduction of these
technologies. Providing general aviation with certainty for
certification, airspace integration, operational approvals, airport
investment and infrastructure standards development will all be
critical for the United States to remain a global leader in aviation.
A Top Priority: New Ways of Thinking About Safe, Efficient Airspace
Management
With the evolution of multiple transformative technologies,
ensuring the NAS is ready and able to facilitate the safe integration
of operations is critical to maintaining America's global leadership in
safe, efficient air traffic management.
This exciting future is one that we fully embrace. Emerging
entrants are planning to operate within the existing airspace
infrastructure and environment to the greatest extent possible, without
placing an additional burden on the air traffic control system. As we
have with all operations, over many decades, we will readily integrate
these entrants into the NAS, under the fundamental principle that the
public airspace welcomes all users. That said, it must be understood
that, as operations scale, we will need regulatory changes to
facilitate growth and above all, safety.
For example, UAS have paved a new regulatory path for ``beyond
visual line of sight'' (BVLOS) operations. We welcome the changes the
agency is making to allow this segment of the industry to integrate
safely, and we know it will speed our progress across the board in
realizing the safety and operational benefits of emerging technologies,
so we can bring them online.
We can learn some lessons from the safe integration of UAS into the
NAS. Over the past several years, initiatives, including the UAS
Integration Pilot Program and several other test sites around the
country, have allowed the industry and the FAA to collect data
regarding BVLOS operations and demonstrated these operations can
operate safely.
Successful public-private partnerships involving new entrants are
coming together every day. Hillwood's Alliance Texas planned community
is centered around the world's first industrial airport, which hosts a
Mobility Innovation Zone (MIZ). The MIZ brings together public and
private stakeholders in suburban and urban settings to safely integrate
UAS technologies and autonomous freight solutions. Bell Textron and
NASA's Systems Integration have utilized the MIZ to demonstrate
breakthroughs in ``Detect and Avoid'' and ``Command and Control''
flight capabilities, two components needed to safely scale and
commercialize Advanced Air Mobility vehicles.
It's now time to do the same with AAM through the establishment of
local, state, tribal and government partnerships to advance the data
collection and collaboration needed to facilitate initial and scaled
AAM operations across the country.
That dialogue has begun through the FAA's AAAC, but it will take
additional representation from the AAM community on the AAAC, and some
very specific AAM pilot programs established between the FAA, state and
local entities, working collaboratively, to ensure continued and shared
outcomes.
AAM's Promise in Building the Workforce of the Future
The important dialogue about AAM integration into our Nation's
aviation system should not overlook the technology's role in supporting
a major industry priority: the development and support of a world-
leading workforce. By some estimates, we're looking at an astonishing
280,000 new jobs coming online, in twenty-first century positions,
meaning those in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
The subcommittee is aware that we need these jobs because we face
significant workforce challenges, including the shortage of qualified
pilots and technicians. According to the Boeing company, more than
600,000 new pilots and technicians are needed to address projected
growth in the next 20 years \3\. Meeting this projected demand is
dependent upon the investment in a steady pipeline of newly qualified
personnel to replace those who have left, or will soon leave the
industry.
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\3\ Pilot and Technician Outlook 2022-2041: https://www.boeing.com/
commercial/market/pilot-technician-outlook/
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The growth of the AAM sector will offer the high-skill, high paying
jobs people want--and the FAA will need the support of Congress in
making that happen, through workforce initiatives to focus on hiring
people with the right technical skills to ensure the safety of these
evolving technologies.
The industry is ready to do its part as well. We recognize these
new opportunities provided by UAS and AAM will require us to bridge the
gap between technical aviation skills and technology. New types of
training will remove significant barriers to entry into aviation,
making it affordable and scalable, and opening doors for individuals
who previously were unable to get started in aviation because of the
expense of education, flight training, and certification. This new
technology offers different ways to think about UAS and AAM flight
operations, including unique pathways to employment and education that
have not been seen before.
This is the imagination behind the Promoting Service in
Transportation Act, passed into law through the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), within DOT. We appreciate Chair
Sinema's leadership on the legislation and the support of this
Subcommittee for this measure.
Moving toward the upcoming FAA Reauthorization, we look forward to
building on programs from the 2018 FAA bill, including grant programs
to support the education of future pilots, the recruitment of much-
needed aviation technicians and the introduction of other much-needed
professionals into our sector. The careful review and adoption of the
recommendations of the Youth Access to American Jobs in Aviation Task
Force, and the Women in Aviation Advisory Board, will provide excellent
starting points along these lines.
Effective Planning from Congress Has Laid the Groundwork for the Next
Phase in Aviation's Evolution
More than 70 percent of passengers utilize only 30 of the Nation's
airports. The nearly 5,000 local and regional airports will be the
launching pad for AAM. A number of airports are collaborating with
electric aircraft manufacturers to install AAM charging infrastructure,
and many airports are actively planning for the arrival of electric
aircraft, understanding the importance of supporting these new
entrants. Airports are looking for innovative ways to adapt their
business model and take advantage of their geographic location to
provide the most value to leverage this fast-growing segment of the
aviation industry. We encourage Congress to continue to find ways to
support airports in this mission, so we can ensure regulations and lack
of funding are not impediments to the critically needed growth of the
sector at this crucial time.
As the result of our already robust network of general aviation
airports, which are located in urban centers as well as suburban and
rural areas, many communities are ready to benefit from AAM and reap
the benefits of decades-long federal, state, and local investment that
has been made in this vital infrastructure. Nearly 90 percent of the
population lives within 30 minutes of a regional airport. Due to lower
projected travel costs, AAM will enable many more people to utilize
their local airport for air transportation, significantly growing the
advantages of having an airport in proximity to them.
However, a number of communities are being shortsighted about the
value of their airport, seeking to limit access and in some cases vying
to shutter what is unarguably their most valuable community asset. As
we stand on the brink of Advanced Air Mobility taking flight, with
quieter, zero emissions electric aircraft, cities should be encouraged
to preserve and invest in infrastructure that could be the cornerstone
of economic revitalization and community accessibility. We urge
Congress to continue to protect and invest in the Federal aviation
infrastructure that is the foundation of our Nation's air
transportation system.
We applaud Congress for supporting the Airport Improvement Program
(AIP) and numerous airport relief and investment packages it has
recently championed, and we encourage future investment. Without
Congressional support and leadership, many local municipalities would
not be able to maintain the infrastructure that links their community
to the rest of the country and to the world.
Along these lines, we commend this committee for favorably
reporting S. 4246, The Advanced Aviation Infrastructure Modernization
(AAIM) Act sponsored by Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Senator Jerry
Moran (R-KS). The AAIM Act authorizes funding to plan for new AAM
infrastructure by leveraging existing public transportation facilities
to support AAM operations and fostering engagement programs to
introduce the latest technologies to diverse communities. This
legislation will position the United States to maintain its global
leadership in aviation while providing the tools to create thousands of
new green jobs for our skilled aviation workforce. We applaud House
Aviation Subcommittee Chair Rep. Rick Larsen, and House Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Rep. Sam Graves for
moving the companion bill H.R. 6270, through the House of
Representatives. We look forward to collaborating with this committee
to advance the AAIM Act through the Senate.
Expanded aviation charging infrastructure will be another crucial
element to achieve the benefits AAM can bring to diverse communities.
Without the necessary charging infrastructure in place, it is difficult
for private businesses and individuals to be confident enough to switch
to cleaner, electric aviation. We have seen a similar dynamic with the
transition to electric vehicles (E.V.) in automobiles, and policymakers
have responded appropriately by providing tax incentives for businesses
and individuals and grants and formula funding for state and local
governments to install E.V. charging stations.
The Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Tax Credit (section
30C of the Internal Revenue Code) allows for a 30 percent tax credit
for the cost of any qualified alternative fuel vehicle refueling
property, which includes electric vehicle charging stations and
hydrogen refueling stations. Recognizing the challenges posed by
climate change and the need to accelerate the transition to a
decarbonized future, the Administration and Congress have released
proposals to enhance and extend the section 30C tax credit for E.V.
charging stations.
NBAA and our AAM Roundtable support a simple technical change to
modernize the section 30C tax credit to ensure that the critical
investments necessary for AAM, or electric aviation, charging
infrastructure are similarly covered and deployed. Leveraging private
investment with an expanded Sec. 30C tax credit is key to the
successful rollout of charging stations for electric aviation across
our network of more than 5,000 public-use airports.
Earlier, I mentioned that this committee hearing comes at an
appropriate moment, given the imminent consideration of the next FAA
reauthorization. For NBAA, another milestone is at hand: our
association's annual Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition will
occur in Orlando, Florida, next month where we will have on display the
latest advancements in AAM technology. Just a few miles away from the
event, the community of Lake Nona has partnered with our AAM Roundtable
member, Lilium, to create the first hub location for a high-speed
electric air mobility network in America to be launched by 2026.
Described as the ``Future of Cities'' by Fortune Magazine, Lake Nona
provides an ideal location contiguous to the Orlando International
Airport, the origination site of more than half of the region's 75
million annual visitors, with a robust economy and infrastructure ready
to support the launch of electric air mobility.
We commend the FAA Office of Airports for its recent efforts in
developing interim guidance and standards for vertiports and updating
the standards for heliports. The FAA has released Engineering Brief
(EB) 105 titled ``Vertiport Design'' targeted to specifically support
Advanced Air Mobility vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft
with the goal to ultimately develop a future Advisory Circular on the
subject, to be released in 2024-2025 timeframe. The agency plays an
important role in the process of developing this new type of
infrastructure that will be critical to connecting more cities, towns,
and small communities by air with the ability to leverage eVTOL
aircraft.
While much work in this area remains ahead, the aviation industry
looks forward to continued partnership and collaboration with the FAA,
Congress and other branches of the federal, state, local and tribal
governments, and remains optimistic that together we continue to move
aviation infrastructure forward at a pace that keeps up with developing
technologies and community needs.
The Flight Plan for AAM as Part of America's Aviation Leadership
In conclusion, as Congress prepares to reauthorize the Federal
Aviation Administration, the NBAA recommends the following priorities
to ensure the safe integration of AAM and help scale the new
technology:
Provide transparency and certainty in the regulatory
process, including a commitment to deliver the powered lift
Special Federal Aviation Regulation by 2024.
Develop a national strategy to coordinate AAM integration at
the federal, state and local levels to include AAM
demonstration cities modeled after the UAS Pilot Program.
Continue to invest in the infrastructure and other assets
that will promote the manufacture, availability and use of
these world-leading technologies. We applaud Congress for the
work done in this area, but more will need to be done. We urge
passage of S. 4246, or HR 6270, The Advanced Aviation
Infrastructure Modernization (AAIM) Act.
Preserve congressional oversight of the Nation's aviation
system. Having Congress serve as the board of directors for the
NAS has always ensured that all stakeholders are represented;
as we introduce new technologies, oversight from Congress will
remain critical to ensuring America's aviation leadership
across the world.
This hearing and similar discussions with policymakers in the
coming months will serve as the building blocks for successfully
integrating new entrants into the NAS. Our industry looks forward to
continued engagement as we develop policy solutions that safely embrace
new aviation technologies and maintain the role of the United States as
the world leader in aerospace. General aviation is witnessing historic
technological advancements that will connect communities to sustainable
transportation options. NBAA, our AAM Roundtable, and our members
appreciate this Subcommittee's continued leadership, and we welcome the
opportunity to testify at this critical hearing.
Senator Sinema. Thank you. Now we will go back to Gregory
Davis, the President and Interim Chief Executive Officer of
Eviation. And Mr. Davis, thank you so much for joining us
today, and you are recognized for your opening statement.
STATEMENT OF GREGORY DAVIS, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE
OFFICER, EVIATION
Mr. Davis. Thank you very much. And if I may, to confirm
that the audio is now working.
Senator Sinema. It is. Thank you.
Mr. Davis. Lovely. Thank you very much. Well, good
afternoon. My name is Gregory Davis, and I am the President and
CEO of Eviation Aircraft. We are a manufacturer of all electric
aircraft based in Arlington, Washington. And we are currently
in the process of developing the world's first all-electric
commuter aircraft with fully integrated battery technology and
electrical propulsion.
Chair Sinema, Ranking Member Cruz, Chair Cantwell, and
Ranking Member Wicker, and members of the Subcommittee on
Aviation Safety, Operations and Innovation, thank you for the
opportunity to testify on the policies and regulations needed
to usher in the new era of sustainable aviation.
Yesterday, and I should thank you again for the very warm
welcome, yesterday we successfully completed the first flight
of our zero emission aircraft, Alice. It was an historic day
for aviation history and a major milestone in electric
aviation. It is the first time that an aircraft of this scale
has successfully completed a flight.
And there was a moment of great pride for, I would say, all
of us at Eviation and for the aviation community in general. We
were able to show people what affordable, clean, and
sustainable aviation looks like and sounds like for the first
time in a fixed wing, all electric aircraft.
It has taken collaboration across the aviation ecosystem to
reach this groundbreaking moment. It is my hope that 1 day this
type of travel will be so prevalent in our society we will not
need to use the word electric to describe it. Electric aviation
has the power to transform communities across this country.
Specifically, it can restore or provide essential air
services to rural communities that are often underserved.
Today, only about 500 of the 5,000 airports are served by any
commercial flight, despite 60 percent of the population being
within ten miles of an airport, active or not, and 95 percent
being within 25 miles.
We have already seen early market traction from forward
thinking operators, including Cape Air and Global Crossing for
passenger travel and global cargo company DHL for e-cargo.
Today, I am here to share my insights on the key areas that
must be prioritized in order to make electric aviation the
standard for regional travel in the United States and beyond.
My comments will be addressed around e-CTOL, the electric
conventional takeoff and landing aircraft market, while
acknowledging my greater support for the advancement of all
aspects of urban air mobility and sustainable aviation. e-CTOL,
like Eviation's Alice, are part of the advanced air mobility
market and will allow us to leverage the existing airport and
airspace infrastructure in the United States by increasing
flights without increasing pollution or our carbon footprint.
First, we strongly encourage the FAA to look beyond the
borders of the United States and to work with global regulators
such as the EASA, the European Union, the Aviation Safety
Agency, and Transport Canada across the border on the path
toward certifying electric aircraft.
To make significant advancements and positive impact on the
environment, electric aviation and sustainable aviation must be
supported and adopted globally and quickly. Today's aviation--
today, pardon me, aviation's fastest growing source--is the
fastest growing source of greenhouse emissions worldwide.
By 2050, our share of climate impact is expected to be 25
to 50 percent if nothing is done. The sustainability challenges
is not only one country's challenge. It is a global challenge,
and the United States has the immediate opportunity to take the
leadership role.
We must act with a sense of urgency to drive environmental
progress, but also to push on global competitiveness and to
remain out in front and attract economic opportunity and
prosperity in terms of manufacturing and jobs here in the
United States.
Second, it is important that the FAA focus on clear
requirements for certification of battery technology, whether
it pertains to an all electric or hybrid aircraft. Standard
need to be applied the same internationally, but we can focus
on mass adoption of electric aviation.
Global standard for battery technology will ensure that we
stay focused on the greater task of reducing the environmental
impact of aviation, while also increasing the commercial
availability and economic and social benefits of aviation
globally.
Third, we encourage the FAA to work with agencies from
other departments, such as the Department of Energy, on the
development of charging infrastructure and battery technology.
The DOE is already leading ground, leading the world in terms
of ground vehicle battery infrastructure with battery policies
and initiatives.
The same approach could be applied to the aviation industry
to ensure that technology development is aligned with
certification requirements for all electric aircraft. Further,
there is an opportunity to tie in the Department of Energy on
the expansion of aircraft charging networks to service rural
and urban airports across the country.
With the recent passing of bill S. 516, we believe there is
clear direction to facilitate this engagement, and we look
forward to working with this committee as you consider
initiatives for the FAA reauthorization in 2023. Thank you very
much for giving me this opportunity to testify today.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Davis follows:]
Prepared Statement of Gregory Davis, President and CEO, Eviation
Aircraft
My name is Gregory Davis and I am the President and CEO of Eviation
Aircraft, a manufacturer of all-electric aircraft based in Arlington,
Washington. We are manufacturing the world's first all-electric
aircraft, integrating battery technology with electric propulsion.
Chair Sinema, Ranking Member Cruz, Chair Cantwell and Ranking
Member Wicker, and members of the Subcommittee on Aviation Safety,
Operations and Innovation, thank you for the opportunity to testify on
the policies and regulations needed to usher in the new era of
sustainable aviation.
We are currently working towards the first flight of our zero-
emission Alice commuter aircraft which will be a historic day and major
milestone in electric aviation. Our goal is to show people what
affordable, clean and sustainable aviation looks and sounds like for
the first time in a fixed-wing, all-electric aircraft. It has taken
deep collaboration across the aviation ecosystem to reach this point.
It is my hope that one day this type of travel will be so prevalent in
our society that we will not need to use the word ``electric'' to
describe it.
Electric aviation has the power to transform communities across the
country. Specifically, it can restore or provide essential air service
to rural communities that are often underserved. Today, only 500 out of
5,000 airports are served by any commercial flights, despite 60 percent
of the population being within 10 miles of an airport (active or not)
and 95 percent being within 25 miles. We have already seen early market
traction from forward thinking operators including Cape Air and GlobalX
for passenger travel, and DHL for cargo.
Today, I am here to share my insights on key areas that must be
prioritized in order to make electric aviation the standard for
regional travel in the U.S and beyond. My comments will be addressed
around the eCTOL--electric conventional takeoff and landing--market,
while acknowledging my greater support for the advancement of all
aspects of the sustainable aviation industry. eCTOLs, like Eviation's
Alice, are part of the Advanced Air Mobility market and will allow us
to leverage the existing airport and airspace infrastructure in the
United States by increasing flights without increasing our carbon
footprint.
First, we strongly encourage the FAA to look beyond the borders of
the U.S. and work with global regulators, such as the European Union
Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), on the path towards certifying electric
aircraft. To make a significant impact on the environment, electric
aviation must be supported and adopted globally. Today, aviation is the
fastest-growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. By 2050, its share
of climate impact is expected to be 25-50 percent if nothing is done.
The sustainability challenge is not one country's challenge. It's a
global challenge and the United States has an immediate opportunity to
take a leadership role. We must act with a sense of urgency to drive
environmental progress but also global competitiveness and economic
opportunity and jobs in the United States.
Second, it's important that the FAA focus on clear requirements for
certification of battery technology whether it pertains to all-electric
or hybrid aircraft. Standards need to be applied the same
internationally so that we can focus on mass adoption of electric
aviation. Global standards for battery technology will ensure we stay
focused on the greater task of reducing the environmental impact of
aviation while also increasing the commercial availability and the
economic and social benefits of aviation globally.
Third, we encourage the FAA to work with agencies from other
Departments, such as the Department of Energy, on the development of
charging infrastructure and battery technology. The DOE is already
leading ground vehicle battery infrastructure with battery policies and
incentives. The same approach could be applied to the aviation industry
to ensure that technology development is aligned with certification
requirements for all-electric aircraft.
Further there is an opportunity to tie in the DOE on the expansion
of aircraft charging networks to service rural and urban airports
across the country. With the recent passing of Bill S516, we believe
there is clear direction to facilitate this engagement and we look
forward to working with this Committee as you consider initiatives for
FAA reauthorization in 2023.
I look forward to working with the Subcommittee in the areas I
outlined today and our shared goals of making all-electric flight a
reality in the U.S and beyond. Thank you for the opportunity to testify
today.
Senator Sinema. Well, thank you so much for joining us. And
thank you all for your opening statements. Your written
statements will be entered for the record. And now we will
begin a round of questions for our witnesses.
I will first recognize myself for 5 minutes. Mr. Fymat,
thank you again for being here today. Arizona is proud to be
the home of Honeywell Aerospace, one of the world's leading
organizations in the AAM and UAS industry. Honeywell employs
thousands of Arizonans in its locations throughout the state.
I had the privilege of visiting Honeywell's Deer Valley
site in North Phoenix earlier this year and participating in a
town hall with Honeywell employees to answer their questions
about the state of our Nation's aviation sector.
Honeywell hosted a summit here in Washington last week on
AAM and UAS issues where many industry leaders participated.
What key findings and recommendations from that summit can you
share with Congress as we reauthorize the FAA?
Mr. Fymat. Thank you, Chair Sinema. So yes, indeed, we did
host an Advanced Aero Mobility Summit last week. We had over
250 people that attended, including Government regulators,
industry trade associations, vehicle manufacturers, including
companies like Lilium, Textron, Vertical Aerospace, and Archer.
And indeed, there were insights, takeaways, and findings that
came out of that.
I think that it is not just Honeywell saying this, we have
all heard it here today, and we heard it at our summit loud and
clear, that we have a choice here to make. Great countries have
great transportation systems. And the feeling that came out of
that was that, you know, we may need so far as to have a
mandate from the very top of Government that we will be a
leader here, you know, much like in the 60s where we chose to
go to the Moon.
Number two, this will need a whole of Government approach.
There are many stakeholders here. It is not just the FAA. It is
local Governments, State Government, associations, industry,
and communities, and it requires a whole Government approach in
order for this to succeed for our communities.
Number three, U.S. leadership does not mean going it alone.
We had a lot of international representation at our summit last
week, and so the FAA should reach out and work with the other
agencies on different countries, you know, in Europe,
Australia, Japan, and South Korea. All of them are also
tackling the same issues that we are.
And by working together, we can come up with a set of
regulations and frameworks that work not just in the United
States, but that work across the world. This is important for
everyone. It is especially important for the U.S. companies
that are working in this area to ensure that they have global
access into global markets.
Number four, there is a lot of low hanging fruit in AAM,
and we have heard about it today, whether it is things like
transportation to offshore energy platforms or over sparsely
populated areas, delivering critical supplies to disaster
areas, wildfire fighting, pipeline inspections, drone
inspection of critical structure in general.
All of these are sparsely populated environments with a
very--where you can still have very high benefits. There is no
reason we can't do immediate action in these areas. And then
last, we industry also have our job to do. We have to continue
to educate consumers, citizens, Government, and industry so
that people really know what it is and what it isn't.
There was a phrase last week, you know, the void will be
filled, let it be filled with the correct information so that
we make the right decisions. These are the sorts of things that
came out of our summit last week. Thank you.
Senator Sinema. Thank you. And Mr. Bolen, the House and the
Senate have passed my and Senator Moran's AAM bill, the
Advanced Air Mobility Coordination Leadership Act, which will
establish an interagency working group to review policies and
develop programs to aid in the development--in the deployment
of AAM technology and identify the safety, security, and
infrastructure investments required for the development of AAM.
I appreciate NBAA support for our AAM leadership
legislation. Could you talk about why NBAA supports the
legislation and why it is so important to harness the expertise
from across the Federal Government to safely and effectively
deploy AAM technology?
Mr. Bolen. Well, thank you, Chair Sinema, and thank you for
your leadership on the bill itself. This is--should be a
national priority, something worthy of galvanizing our
Government to move forward. As we said before, the benefits are
enormous. But what we have seen is as a country, we do best
when we have clear goals.
This is what we want to achieve. So bringing together, as
it was touched on, the Department of Energy, the Department of
Transportation, finding ways to tap into some of the things
that we are committed to.
When we passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill, we
talked about the importance of electrification of vehicles,
will we be able to use that same type of approach when we are
making changes to our grid to also make that available to
airports and make sure that aviation is able to tap into it.
Those are some of the examples of how we need to
collectively come together to recognize that what we are trying
to do here can enhance sustainability, accessibility,
affordability of air mobility and give us a chance to do some
of those things we are talking about. You know, a lot of the
things we have talked about, we have used numbers, we have used
facts. Just to put a face behind some of this.
When we had Katrina hit New Orleans, we relied on our
general aviation community, used those airports when Louis
Armstrong was flooded to bring to stage relief efforts. We can
do the same with advanced air mobility, particularly as we are
thinking about Hurricane Ian today. We can move organs for
transplant.
We even have one of the AAM companies that was specifically
designed to move organ transplants. The benefits are very real,
but it takes a collective effort, and that is why this needs to
be a national imperative and worthy of collaboration and
communication across all of our various agencies and across all
sides and aisles of Capitol Hill.
Senator Sinema. Thank you. I now recognize Ranking Member
Cruz for 5 minutes of questions.
Senator Cruz. Thank you, Madam Chair. As I said in my
opening statement, I have serious concerns that U.S. leadership
is falling behind in aviation.
As we continue to move forward with emerging technologies
like unmanned aircraft systems and other advanced air mobility
systems, I have serious doubts about how long it will take the
FAA to provide the regulatory certainty that these companies
need. You all represent the regulated industry, and you all
have to deal with the FAA in some way, shape, or form. So I
want to get a better understanding as a practical matter from
each of you.
From each of your perspectives, what seems to be the
problems, and why aren't we moving faster on fostering the
growth of these new entrants, on integrating them into the
national airspace, and is it a lack of resources or funds at
the FAA? Is it a leadership problem? Is it--what is causing the
uncertainty? And I would like each of you to address this. Ms.
Ellman.
Ms. Ellman. Sure. Thank you for that very important
question, Senator Cruz. In our experience--first, let me start
like, so the technology is moving much more quickly than the
policy. The challenges that the FAA is facing are systemic.
I will say the folks, the individuals that I have worked
with at the FAA are hardworking, you know, well-intentioned
individual staffers that are trying to do what they can to
integrate UAS into national airspace.
The reality is it is like fitting a square peg into a round
hole. It just doesn't fit. They are using, you know,
incongruous regulations designed for a crewed aircraft and
trying to fit UAS commercial drones into this regulatory
framework that simply doesn't fit.
From our perspective, you know, there have been lots of--
there have been some proposals out there about--even the FAA
has recognized that there is a lack of organization or a lack
of leadership on this topic. And we have seen some proposals
coming from the Administration.
We appreciate that we agree that the status quo is broken.
From our perspective, we need to see responsibility and
authority aligned. We need to have a leadership office. We have
been talking, several of our witnesses have talked about the
need for a national vision and a national strategy.
Certainly China and other countries are developing their
own national strategies and moving ahead with this tech--in
this technology. We need to do the same here at home. It is
critical for our global competitiveness. And the way to do that
is by actually aligning responsibility with authority within
the agency so that one office has the authority to actually
sign off on waivers, exemptions, approvals.
Right now, if you want to do research and development, it
can take 2 years to get a one site specific approval to just to
do R&D here in the U.S. It is simply not sustainable. So we
need the certainty, we need the transparency, but above all, we
really need the leadership.
And I am happy--we have our own proposal on this, and I am
happy to follow up with you and your staff about it as well.
Senator Cruz. Yes, I would welcome it and that is helpful.
I have heard similar concerns from other stakeholders that it
is hard to know to whom you go to even get an answer.
Ms. Ellman. Exactly.
Senator Cruz. Colonel Luxion.
Mr. Luxion. Yes, Senator--I am going to almost restate some
of what was just said. You are right on the, when we work with
industry to try to identify what requirements and what needs to
be done within FAA, many times they do not know who has the
responsibility and the authority across the whole gamut of what
that industry is trying to do to get it accomplished.
So there is a structural issue that needs to be addressed.
And it can't be put in very low levels of the FAA, it has to be
raised to a priority level that can drive across the FAA some
level of, hey, let's get on board and move this thing forward.
The--and what the other issue, the other thing I brought up in
my opening statement is, OK, once we get the structural place
in some place with responsibility, what is the path forward?
What is the regulatory gaps? What is missing in regulation?
And lay it out from all aspects of what industry and first
responders, public safety is trying to accomplish. Without
that, we are just going to continue to--everything is going to
be a one off.
And as my colleague Lisa, good friend said, the folks
inside the FAA that we work with day in and day out are trying
and they are working very, very hard but they run into these
barriers throughout the whole process.
Senator Cruz. Mr. Fymat.
Mr. Fymat. So I will add two points to your question here.
Number one is deadlines. Nothing gets done without a schedule,
goals, and deadlines. And some of what happens here happens
without deadlines. And so will we have a AAM certification act
in 2024--or regulation until 2024? Will we have it later? If we
put in deadlines and hold an organization accountable to those
deadlines, things tend to get done. So that is the first thing
I would say.
The second thing that I would say is mindset, mindset of
safety mandate versus innovation. There seems to be sometimes a
well, in order to fulfill our safety mandate, we have to take
our time to make sure we get this right, as if somehow
innovation is a threat to safety. But in fact, what we have
seen time and again is that innovation leads to safety.
Historically, we have seen this with synthetic vision
systems, terrain warning systems, weather radar, all of which
were innovations that led to increased safety. And in fact, we
don't have to do safety or innovation. It can be safety and
innovation, innovation that drives safety.
So, for example, as we are sitting here today, there is a
hurricane going on in Florida and drones could have a lot to do
with improving the safety and the recovery from that hurricane.
So those are the two things.
Deadlines and accountings of deadlines. And number two is
safety mindset, and innovation can lead to safety and is not a
threat to safety. Thank you.
Senator Cruz. Mr. Bolen.
Mr. Bolen. Yes. Coordination and communication is key. As
you know, the FAA has different lines of business, air traffic
organization, airports, certification, safety. All of these
need to be coordinated and communicating with each other. That
doesn't happen without direction and purpose. They need to be
very intentional.
I also want to underscore what has just been said about
deadlines. It was brought up earlier that the FAA will now use
an approach that requires a special--a special Federal aviation
rule, regulation in order to move forward. The expectation is
that that will be done in 2 years. It is important that we
stick to that time-frame and that we work backward trying to
determine what needs to be done.
We also need to recognize that the FAA's approach, and one
that the industry largely supports, is a crawl, walk, run
approach. We are going to start with what we know, and we are
going to iterate, we are going to evolve, we are going to adapt
as new technologies and new operations come forward.
We have got to make sure that it is, in fact, an iterative
process. Just this week, we had a new design, engineering brief
for vertiports, really critical as we are moving forward to a
new vertiports AC hopefully within 2 years. But we have got to
start conservative but build out, iterate, and get to the
promise of advanced air mobility.
Senator Cruz. And Mr. Davis.
Mr. Davis. The air mobility market--[technical problems]--
subset of the advanced air mobility market. A common
certification standards for aircraft battery technology that
allows us to commercialize our product and bring it to market
around the world is a key thing that we would need from the
FAA.
Senator Cruz. OK. Thank you.
Ms. Ellman. Thank you. I now recognize Senator Rosen, who
is joining from her office. Senator Rosen. Oh, Senator Rosen,
we are not able to hear you. We still aren't able to hear you,
Senator Rosen. Senator Rosen, do you have a few minutes to have
someone help you technically? OK. I am going to go to Senator
Moran and then we will be right back to you, Senator Rosen.
Thanks.
STATEMENT OF HON. JERRY MORAN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM KANSAS
Senator Moran. Madam Chairwoman, thank you very much. And I
thank our panelists here, and by technology, for their presence
today on a very significant and important topic for the future
of our country's well-being. Let me start with--just I have a
couple of questions is all but let me start with Ms. Ellman.
During your testimony, you mentioned the future role that
this technology could play in supporting the agricultural
sector. Can you further comment on the importance of merging
these two industries, businesses?
Ms. Ellman. Absolutely. So there are so many use cases,
including precision agriculture, where the UAS industry is just
bringing so many efficiencies to enterprise. And agriculture is
one, we are seeing so much growth in that specific vertical
market sector. So drones can be used for everything, from what
are traditionally very dangerous crops spraying aerial
agricultural, spraying jobs.
As I noted in my testimony just in 2020, there were 13
aerial agricultural deaths, including in your home State of
Kansas, and 54 accidents. And this is something that drones--
you know, these deaths don't have to happen.
Drones can do the job just as well, as well as inspecting
crops and performing other, you know, critical precision
agriculture as our population continues to grow and, you know,
farmers are under increasing pressures to be efficient. Drones
add efficiencies, add safety, and make agriculture so much more
efficient and safe.
Senator Moran. I thank you for that answer. And as a state,
Kansas is a significant aviation and aerospace component of our
economy, and it is certainly not the same when it comes to
agriculture, and I love the opportunity to see the
opportunities we have in our state to advance both really in
the same effort, same timeframe.
So, thank you. Mr. Bolen, on Monday, the FAA released new
design guidelines for a vertiports infrastructure that will
support advanced air mobility aircraft. Could you give the
Subcommittee some insight into what the NBAA and industry
leaders are doing to focus on the infrastructure side to
support these new aviation entrants going forward?
Mr. Bolen. I would be happy to. And again, thank you,
Senator, for your leadership on the Advanced Infrastructure
Modernization Act. That is a very important part of moving
forward. Obviously, we have, as we have discussed, an
incredible airport infrastructure in the United States, 5,000
public use airports.
But when we look at the potential for advanced air
mobility, we see the opportunity to move to vertiports starting
at airports, but also moving to parking lots, city buildings,
and other types of operations. We have looked to the FAA for an
engineering brief to allow us to begin moving forward with the
vertiport standards.
We did have an opportunity as a community to provide
comments on that. What we saw on the engineering brief that was
released on Monday is many of those comments were recognized.
But the FAA is taking a very conservative approach with the
idea that as we move to the Altman vertiport advisory circular,
we will iterate, we will begin understanding operations and
technologies and we will be able to ultimately have a vertiport
infrastructure that is able to adapt and evolve with
technologies and operations.
We now have a place to start, and it is a great beginning,
but we have to evolve it and adapt it. So we are looking at
this as the first step in an important iteration and that is a
key part of the infrastructure as we go forward.
Senator Moran. Thank you, Mr. Bolen. And Senator Sinema,
thank you for your assistance, our working together on this
piece of legislation, and particularly your help in making sure
that it received time on the Senate floor. Thank you to both
you and Senator Cruz for today's hearing.
Senator Sinema. Thank you, Senator Moran. Senator Rosen
let's give it another shot.
STATEMENT OF HON. JACKY ROSEN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEVADA
Senator Rosen. Well, can you hear me now, as the famous
line goes?
Senator Sinema. Yes, Senator Rosen, we can hear you and you
are now recognized for 5 minutes.
Senator Rosen. Thank you. I appreciate it, Chairwoman
Sinema Thank you, Ranking Member Cruz. This hearing is really
important. I appreciate witnesses being here today.
One of the things I have been worried about is protecting
stadiums from drones because Nevada, you know, we are at the
forefront of the UAS technologies and our state, our UAS test
site at the University of Nevada Reno is leading the way in
autonomous vehicle testing and robotics research, and we have
been designated by the FAA to serve as a center for the
development and testing of unmanned autonomous vehicles
operating beyond vision--visual line of sight, excuse me.
We are also, of course, home to the entertainment capital
of the world, Las Vegas, which is quickly emerging as the
sports capital of the world as well. I am going to give a shout
out to the WNBA champions, Aces, this past few weeks, and of
course, Formula One racing coming next year. And according to
the Las Vegas Review-Journal, we are also the first city to
have secured the NFL draft, Pro Bowl, and the Super Bowl at our
new Allegiant Stadium, home to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Unfortunately, this stadium, like so many others across the
country, is a potential target for drone attacks by bad actors.
So, Ms. Ellman, as we make UAS policy decisions, how can we
promote continued innovation and advancement in drones while
protecting critical infrastructure like stadiums from evolving
threats?
And Mr. Fymat, I understand your company has some
experience in the area, so perhaps you might answer after Ms.
Ellman, please.
Ms. Ellman. Sure. Thank you very much, Senator Rosen, for
that very important question. And thanks for your--Nevada's
leadership on all things sports. Absolutely. It is a critical
issue. Let me just start by saying, you know, obviously, most
drone operators are compliant, responsible, abiding by the
laws. But of course, all technologies can be used for good and
for bad and drones are no different.
Drones can also be used for harm. Just like the UAS use set
of regulations has really lagged behind the evolvement--the
emerging technologies, so have the current drone, or drone
security set of laws and regulations.
And because of that, we have been, the Commercial Drone
Alliance is on the record supporting Senator Peters'
legislation on counter UAS. We support the extension of the
Preventing Emerging Threats Act, which expires next week,
October 5th.
It would also enhance detection authorities. It would also
set up a limited counter UAS pilot program with strong Federal
oversight and training. We really see innovation and security
as two sides of the same coin. You can't have one without the
other. So we, you know, and I know stadiums as well are looking
to incorporate drones into their own operations. So we 100
percent agree that it is a very important issue.
And, you know, look forward to working with you and your
staff on the legislation that is out there and other good ideas
as well.
Senator Rosen. And Mr. Fymat, if you quickly answer. Then I
have some other questions on drones and infrastructure to go
back to both of you as well.
Mr. Fymat. Right. Thank you. And I think to add to my
colleague Lisa's answers, I think that in the world of drones,
all drones are identified, whether it is remote ID or other
technologies like that that make them conspicuous. So I think
that is very important to do. Most cybersecurity issues always
fall down into the areas of either technology or the people
using the technology.
On the technology side, we need to ensure that drones--you
know, the cybersecurity is built into the technology that goes
onto the drones, much as what we do when we build cybersecurity
and everything into the avionics systems and others that we
make for larger aircraft. I think that those principles have to
continue all the way through. Thank you.
Senator Rosen. Thank you. And I want to move on and
continue to talk about drones as they relate to infrastructure,
because whether we have--getting drones to do our deliveries,
photography and everything in between, drones have really
proven helpful across a range of industries, including
infrastructure, construction, and inspections because drones
offer contractors and engineers a really efficient and agile
way to use this technology to gather data.
They can go in and around bridges, in and around small
places in infrastructure. This can help minimize accidents and
find issues early.
And Ms. Ellman, I really thank you for recognizing my
recently introduced bill, the Drone Infrastructure Inspection
Grant Act, and it is bipartisan legislation creating grants for
local, State, tribal Governments to use drone technology to be
their eyes and visually inspect infrastructure and train
employees how to properly, excuse me, use them.
So we have invested significantly with the bipartisan
infrastructure law to repair and update our Nation's
infrastructure. So, Ms. Ellman and then Colonel Lux, with the
backlog of inspections, we know drones can speed up the
process. What do you think we need to do to get the workforce
and the drone force, if you will, up to speed?
I know I am just about the end of my time, but it is
critically important we can use this, and we can save lives, I
believe, by doing that maintenance faster. Ms. Ellman, you can
go first, then Colonel Lux.
Ms. Ellman. Yes. Sure. Absolutely. And thank you, Senator
Rosen. And thank you for your leadership and Senator Blumenthal
and Senator Boozman for introducing the DIG Act in the Senate.
It is bipartisan legislation. We are strongly supporting it. As
you mentioned, there is a backlog of critical infrastructure
inspection. Drones can certainly help clear that backlog more
efficiently and more safely.
The DIG Act, I think, is a first start in terms of how do
you move all this forward by investing funds in moving, you
know, both in the workforce of tomorrow and as well as in the
enabling states and localities to actually invest in the
technology themselves.
So we are strongly supportive of it. I think the next--we
also need to look at the rules, however, because many of these
long linear infrastructures require flights beyond visual line
of sight, for example, and there is still no broad rulemaking
that enables that here in the United States.
So really, in order to move this forward long term and to
be able to scale these operations, we also need to implement
the beyond visual line of sight aviation rulemaking committee
recommendations as well.
Senator Rosen. Thank you.
Mr. Luxion. Senator Rosen, thank you. Thank you for the
support on that bill. So the regulation needs study on how to
get these things in place. And the good news story is we are
already working on, the FAA has tasked Assure to look at areas
of--called shielding and right away rules to support beyond
visual line of sight operations in these types of inspections
in the future. So already efforts are moving forward at least
within the FAA to start getting this to happen.
Senator Rosen. Thank you. I appreciate it. I am going to
take just 1 second of personal preference. My late father in
law, who I loved dearly, was a bridge inspector for the City of
Los Angeles for over 50 years. He would have been so excited to
use these drones as he would have done his work. So I think
about him today and the technology that we are going to use to
continue to work on this. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Senator Sinema. Thank you, Senator Rosen. Senator Thune,
you are recognized for your 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN THUNE,
U.S. SENATOR FROM SOUTH DAKOTA
Senator Thune. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I will just say
that the title came to the Las Vegas Aces after they hired a
South Dakota native, Becky Hammon, to be their coach, so.
Senator Rosen. Oh, well, we appreciate it. Thank you. Thank
you for bringing her to--thank you for letting us have her. But
we are going to keep her, if you don't mind, Senator Thune.
[Laughter.]
Senator Thune. It is OK. Yes, I don't blame you. During my
time as Chairman of this Committee, we considered and enacted
the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, which included substantial
new authorities for the FAA to modernize the national airspace
system and better accommodate new entrants.
And since that time, the agency has moved forward with
several significant actions, including rules governing remote
identification and operations at night or over people for
unmanned aircraft systems.
However, significant work remains to ensure that the UAS
and other entrants are fully integrated into the NAS, including
a generalized process for type certification of UAS and
advanced air mobility aircraft, a consistent regulatory
framework for beyond visual line of sight operations for UAS,
and clear rules to ensure the safe interaction of these new
entrants with manned aircraft.
As this committee begins consideration of the next FAA
reauthorization, I look forward to these conversations and
appreciate hearing from you all today. Ms. Ellman, in April of
this year, I sent a letter with Senator Warner to Acting
Administrator Nolan requesting information on the FAA's
progress in establishing generalized standards for UAS type
certification.
I believe the development of these standards will ensure
that UAS conducting complex operations in the NAS will deliver
clear commercial and societal benefits and keep the United
States at the forefront of safety innovation. Do you believe
that developing generalized standards for UAS type
certification is an important component of advancing UAS
integration?
Ms. Ellman. Senator, Senator Thune, thank you so much for
that question. Absolutely. We very much agree. The type
certification process--as we have been talking all about the
benefits of commercial drones, but really to take advantage of
those benefits of commercial drones, we need to be able to
scale expanded drone operations. And one path to do that is
through type certification.
And to date, we have had, you know, we have had several
drone manufacturers working for several years, hand-in-hand
closely with the FAA trying to get type certification. We have
had in some good news a few weeks ago, Matternet was the first
company to actually get their type certification approved by
the FAA.
Now that there has been one company that has been approved,
we very much hope to see many others, who have been working
with the FAA for several years on this process, approvals come
quickly. But we also believe that now is a good time to think
about how to streamline and improve this process, which the
durability and reliability process was meant to take 6 months.
It is not well designed.
You know, 4 years and 4 months later, I believe, is how
long it took Matternet to get their type certification. By that
time, how many new iterations of the vehicle. The technology is
moving so quickly forward. We need a process that is designed
and tailored for this new industry, which is designed
differently.
And so we very much appreciate your leadership on that. We
have our own reform proposals and ideas that we would be very
excited to sit down with you and your staff and discuss.
Senator Thune. OK. Mr. Bolen, in your testimony, you also
described challenges with the current type certification
process for AAM aircraft. Do you believe the development of
generalized standards would also be useful in fostering the
integration of AAM aircraft into NAS?
Mr. Bolen. Yes, absolutely as well. You know, we talked
about the importance of predictability and certainty, and there
is an enormous amount of investment being made to try to bring
these products to the market.
Understanding a clear pathway to a type certificate,
production certificate, op-specs, being able to begin the
operations. It is very important for us to know what to expect
as we prepare. So the clearer the path, the better opportunity
we have to arrive at our destination.
Senator Thune. Thank you. Colonel Luxion, I remain very
interested in ways to improve automated aspects of air traffic
management, especially as the NAS becomes more crowded. This
includes a bill, the Dynamic Airspace Pilot Program Act, which
I have introduced along with the Chair, Senator Sinema, to
improve dynamic management of the NAS.
What can this committee do to build on the work that FAA is
doing to improve these automation tools and reduce the burden
of increased traffic on controllers, and adopt concepts such as
adaptive airspace or dynamic airspace?
Mr. Luxion. Thank you, Senator Thune, for that question.
The FAA--NASA has really done groundbreaking effort and work in
this area to move it forward. We need to create a bridge from
that NASA work into the actual regulatory requirements. How do
you change all the technologies and all the questions or
answers that NASA has provided into a regulatory structure at
least below 500 feet to provide that?
This--UTM is critical. Absolutely going to be the backbone
to deal with all the increased activity and small UAS. They are
going to operate beyond visual line of sight below that 500
feet or 400 feet and below. I would say that needs to be part
of the reauthorization act to establish the regulatory
framework to support UTM going forward.
Senator Thune. Yes. And hopefully it will be part of the
reauthorization act. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Senator Sinema. Thank you, Senator Thune. I recognize
Senator, Chair Cantwell for 5 minutes next.
The Chair. Thank you. Mr. Davis, I want to congratulate you
again on yesterday and the flight of Alice. It is very exciting
news in the aviation model as you made comment to earlier. This
was no small achievement, and I know that the work has been
ongoing by you and many others.
So, again, congratulations on your efforts to decarbonize
aviation and have electric planes. I wanted to follow up on
your comments and maybe tie in Mr. Bolen as well. When we look
at essential air service and we look at some of our challenges
in transportation, I understand your current plans, or the idea
was originally for a 2027 date.
And that is you already have commitments from Cape Air, a
regional carrier, and DHL for cargo. What steps does Congress
need to take to continue to look at this issue you brought up
of coordination between the FAA and DOE on battery
standardization?
Mr. Davis. Well, thank you very much, Chair Cantwell. And,
again, thank you for the kind welcome. It was a very exciting
day. I am actually here at our flight test facility--the air
tech flight test facility in Moses Lake right now, not very far
from where we flew. There are many aspects to what we are doing
here with the electric aircraft that play into the broader
discussion, as well as the specific infrastructure
requirements.
We talked about the walk, fall, crawl, run methodology that
we have generally accepted in aviation. It certainly doesn't
feel like a crawl or a walk with what we are doing right now.
But what we are doing is an important steppingstone to actually
bringing electrified aviation to the marketplace.
We are choosing the path of taking an electric conventional
takeoff and landing airplane and developing that for electric
propulsion and battery power. What that allows us to do is to
leverage the existing airspace requirement. So we take off from
an airport, we fly in airspace, and we land at an airport. It
allows us to focus on the technology development.
The FAA discussion we had before about, you know, aiding in
the certification of batteries, making sure that we are using
advanced technology as quickly and as safely as possible to
enable the emission profiles that we are looking for. Those--
right now essentially air service routes that are typically
less than 250 nautical miles, you know, or less than 300
statute miles.
And then also adopting the advanced operating technology
for the aircraft to allow for single pilot operations, which is
again on the pathway to full autonomous operation for cargo and
eventually passenger operations. With respect to the DOE and
potentially DOT and FAA, what we need to do is to look at the
establishment of the charging infrastructure.
The good news, compared to say the broader automotive
charging infrastructure, is whether it is the 2,000 airports
that have had some service or very near large urban centers or
the broader 5,000 airports. In aviation, unlike in a car--in a
car, you want to be able to go wherever you want to go, when
you want to go there.
In aviation, we tend to want to take off exactly when we
meant to, go exactly where we wanted to, and land exactly where
we wanted to, all on schedule. So it becomes much easier,
especially in the central air service map, to develop that
infrastructure.
What we are looking at doing and with those customers that
you have identified, in particular with Cape Air, is building
out a proof network showing that we can actually operate in a
subset and then scaling it from there.
And that is where certainly interaction between the FAA on
the airport side and on the aircraft charging interface, and
DOE in terms of overall battery technology will benefit the
industry.
The Chair. And what about DHL, though, when you are talking
about cargo, because obviously you are talking about a
marketplace of whatever, 9 passengers or something like that.
What--when you are talking about cargo, what is the profile
there?
Mr. Davis. So thank you for that. The cargo missions are
going to be very similar. So again, it is that last 100 miles
of delivery. It is taking out, you know, two or 3 hours of
delivery time for the packages that we want to see arriving.
Again, though, it is going to be point to point for the initial
deployment of the aircraft.
We will know where the aircraft are intended to go. I mean,
we as an industry will know specifically which airports they
will be operating from. So we need to start there and then help
buildup the infrastructure.
The Chair. Well, this to me, it seems like a game changer
when I think about some of our problems, you know, with--
particularly with the airlines and, you know, even with the
expansion of Paine Field, you know, and people are happy to
have, you know, flights to Palm Springs and Hawaii and various
places.
I have heard a lot of people wanted flights to Spokane. So
the notion that Walla Walla, that is constantly short changed,
you know, very big and growing wine region of our country, but
one flight a day or two flights a day, and you could change
that. And you could have people going, you know, five or six
flights a day.
Now it is all economical. So you are changing the dynamics
of a rural economy and that could be very interesting solution
for driving efficiencies into the marketplace.
Mr. Davis. Yes. Thank you for that. That is certainly with
the aircraft that we are developing and this being the first
entrance into the sector, you will immediately be able to
actually produce less emissions on that same duration of trip
than you would in a car. There is literally no tailpipe on the
aircraft.
So the emissions that we produce are during the production
of the aircraft, and then from the power that is derived from
the energy grid, wherever you are operating the aircraft. There
is plenty of opportunity to make that better. One of the--
again, I thank you very much for your words about the changing
the industry, changing the world.
That is exactly how we see it. It is a very easy game to
play, to think, you know, where are you right now? And could
you find nine people or eight other people who wanted to go,
you know, 200 or 300 miles away right now?
And, you know, from Moses Lake to Walla Walla or to Paine
Field, as you have just said, those are routes that we will be
able to do as the aircraft enters into service. So certainly--
the application and the capability of the technology that goes
into the aircraft will allow those routes to expand and only
further improve our capability to transform regional air
travel.
The Chair. And I see my time is expired, Madam Chair, but
one--your testimony references the fastest growing emission
increase. Is that because of the global demand in aviation? Is
that what--where you are getting that?
Mr. Davis. Yes, thank you for that. So absolutely. It is
very important for us to recognize aviation in particular is a
global business. You know, it is well said that airplanes tend
to get around.
So again, this actually does present the commercial
opportunity that we have to take the leadership role again in
driving standardization of certification requirements. Right
now, again speaking for aviation, we truly feel that we are in
a leadership position, that we are ahead of certifying and
bringing in aircraft to market that can fulfill these mission
roles. And so this is a global problem.
Those emissions are global emission projections. No one
country can do this on its own. That needs to be done by
everybody. And so by working together and establishing common
standards that will remove barriers to bringing product to
market, which will further our ability to impact positively
change sooner.
The Chair. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Senator Sinema. Thank you. Chair Cantwell. Senator Lee, you
recognized for 5 minutes of questions.
STATEMENT OF HON. MIKE LEE,
U.S. SENATOR FROM UTAH
Senator Lee. Thank you, Madam Chair. Ms. Ellman, I would
like to start with you, if that is OK. I have long been
concerned about the FAA's regulatory processes and the fact
that they are not keeping pace with modern technology. From
supersonic aircraft to launch and reentry for space vehicles,
it is a slow process that is hindering technology, or it is not
allowing technology to proceed.
But your testimony highlighted how this isn't limited to
space vehicles and supersonics. It covers areas, other areas as
well, like drone regulations are also being held back by the
FAA's current processes. Now, you noted that the GAO and the
DOT Inspector General, as well as the National Academy of
Sciences, have chimed--they have weighed in on this, and they
have referred to the FAA's lack of progress in this area, as I
think the word they used was indefensible.
Now, I completely agree. I would call it and I do call it
indefensible. And I think Congress should address this in next
year's FAA legislation. The part 135 process to me seems
expensive and something that probably wasn't intended for
drones. Absolutely, certainly wasn't intended for drones. Not
designed for drones, not well-suited for drones.
What do you think about this? Do you think the part 135 and
the process that is involved in it, do you think that makes
sense for drone carriage, and should we consider a drone
specific carriage process that reflects drone realities?
Ms. Ellman. Thank you for that very important question,
Senator Lee. I would--yes, absolutely. There is, I remarked
earlier, part of the challenge here, the technology has moved
so much more quickly than the policies. And we are, you know,
essentially the FAA is attempting to fit a square peg into a
round hole.
Regulations that were designed for the crewed aviation
industry directly to drone use, which don't have people on
board very, very, very different in some ways, you know, closer
to kind of like, you know, what looks like a cell phone versus
a 737. So, absolutely, we need new rules that are drone
specific.
The beyond visual line of sight aviation rulemaking
committee considered exactly this and looked at from a
regulatory perspective, provided recommendations to the FAA on
how in a risk based, performance based way, the FAA could
broadly enable scaled commercial delivery operations.
And I think that provides a framework and--for the FAA to
use that we would like to see implemented expeditiously. It
touches on airworthiness, it touches on airspace, it touches on
crew and operator qualifications.
It gives, essentially provides a road map to the FAA on how
bringing all, you know, relevant stakeholders together,
industry working together with academia and States, localities,
and others to craft these recommendations, how we can do that
in a way that enables us to take advantage of the benefits of
commercial drones.
Senator Lee. No, I think that is right. And it is sad that
the one thing holding us back, because all the players you have
mentioned are ready, willing, eager, able to do this, is the
regulatory chokehold and the fact that they are stuck in this
Byzantine labyrinth of the 135 process, that makes absolutely
no sense here. It drives me crazy.
There are quality of life issues. There are public safety
issues. There are environmental issues that could all be
addressed favorably, relieved significantly by drone delivery.
And yet the FAA leaves us stuck in the stone age on this, and
that is unacceptable. I am also concerned that we risk further
delays to the effective integration of drones if we don't
answer some of the outstanding key questions regarding the
scope of Federal preemption and the role of State and local
Governments.
For example, the National Conference of State Legislatures,
NCSL, has raised some of these questions specifically, and I am
quoting here, ``does the FAA have the authority to regulate all
drone operations, including low altitude operations? How will
property rights and nuisance claims in area of law
traditionally within State local police powers be impacted by
drones, low altitude operations?
And what is the scope of civil and criminal trespass
authority in low altitude airspace? The GAO, addressing some of
these topics in a 2020 report, concluded as follows, ``the
legal uncertainty surrounding these, and other issues is
presenting challenges to integration of UAS into the national
airspace system.
Successful integration may involve balancing the social and
economic benefits anticipated from U.S. operations with
Constitutionally protected property and privacy rights. It may
also involve balancing the Federal Government's Constitutional
rights and responsibilities to regulate interstate commerce
with the State's Constitutionally reserved police powers and
principles of federalism.''
Ms. Ellman, do you agree with the GAO's assessment here
that the successful integration will likely require balancing
of these State and local interests?
Ms. Ellman. Absolutely. I mean, I so, yes, and thank you
for that question, Senator Lee. States and localities have an
incredibly important role to play in UAS integration. And I
would point to successful programs such as the Integration
Pilot Program and the Beyond Program as examples where industry
works closely--has been and is continuing to work closely with
States and localities to move innovation forward together with
the Federal Government.
From our perspective, it is important that safety remains
kind of--the FAA speaks with one voice there. If there is a
patchwork quilt of regulations, it would be very difficult for
companies to scale. And we are, you know, we want to be able to
scale in a way that the industry grows and are able to take
advantage of all of these benefits.
But that said, of course, States and localities have a
critical role to play. I would also point to section 2209 of
the 2016 Extension Act for means not yet implemented by the
FAA. And that section would give--that provision would give--
gives the FAA the authority to establish fixed site facilities,
private entities to essentially declare themselves no drone
zones, limit or prohibit drone flights over their own property,
which would take care of a lot of those concerns.
So we would ask the FAA to expeditiously implement 2209,
and we would be very excited to work with you and your staff.
And, you know, many of our members are doing lots of outreach
in their communities. I would point, for example, one of our
board members, Zipline is working on, you know, back to school
and doing lots of stuff in their communities. And that is true
across the board.
It is absolutely critical that we have a great working
relationship in towns and communities where we operate.
Senator Lee. OK. So that--we still do need to know the
scope of preemption. We need to know the nature and extent of
the limits on Federal authority here.
A lot of these programs weren't designed with an
appreciation for on the ground realities that are specific to
drones that are very different--you know, we are not in the
realm of Unites States v. Cosby anymore, which contemplates
traditional aircraft, you know, airplanes, fixed wing,
sometimes rotary wing, aircraft involving the carrying of
humans in addition to any other cargo. This is very, very
different.
A drone, which can fly down to inches above the blades of
grass on somebody's lawn, can fly right up to and against, in
theory, into somebody's window, it presents some things that
are very obviously within the domain of State and local
authority.
Nuisance law, laws prohibiting voyeurism, things like that
are all necessarily within the police powers of a State or
locality. If we can't get this right, if we can't grasp what it
is that is the nature and extent of the FAA's authority, where
it preempts while acknowledging that it can't preempt all
things, if we don't get that ironed out quickly, we are going
to be in bad shape.
Ms. Ellman. We would welcome the opportunity to work with
you and your staff on this very complex topic, absolutely.
Senator Lee. You will help us get there? You would be
willing to help us delineate the--where those limits should be?
Ms. Ellman. We are happy to help, yes.
Senator Lee. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Senator Sinema. Thank you, Senator Lee. And with that, we
have reached the end of today's hearing. Thank you to all of
the witnesses for your time and testimony. The hearing record
will remain open for 4 weeks until October 26 of 2022.
Any Senators who would like to submit questions for the
record should do so two weeks from now, by October 12, 2022. I
ask that witness responses be returned to the Committee by
October 26 of 2022. That concludes today's hearing.
[Whereupon, at 4:04 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to
Lisa Ellman
Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) Rulemaking. The UAS industry is
well-positioned and evolving quickly to enable beyond the visual line-
of-sight (BVLOS) operations, but regulatory frameworks struggle to keep
pace. The FAA has accelerated efforts to integrate routine BVLOS
operations by convening the BVLOS Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC)
in 2021, and its final report and recommendations were published by the
FAA on March 10, 2022.
To make progress on efficiently and safely integrating UAS
operators into the NAS, the FAA will need to take action on the
recommendations developed and submitted by the ARC by issuing a
proposed rule. Congress included language in the FY 2022 appropriations
bill directing the FAA to finalize a rulemaking on BVLOS by September
2023. However, the process of developing a final rule can take months,
even years, to complete.
Question 1. In your view, what will be the impact to the U.S. drone
industry and its ability to compete with other drone manufacturers in
the global economy if the FAA does not meet the September 2023
deadline?
Answer. There are significant opportunity costs associated with
inaction on the BVLOS rulemaking. Broadly enabling UAS flights BVLOS in
a safe and secure manner is critical to unlocking the safety, security,
equity, and sustainability benefits of using drones for many commercial
and public safety tasks. The longer we wait to integrate advanced
operations, the more we miss out on those benefits--from saving lives
and avoiding workplace injuries to reducing traffic congestion and
curbing emissions. The BVLOS ARC recommended a common-sense risk-based
and performance-based approach to safely integrating BVLOS operations
into the NAS, and delays in the BVLOS rulemaking will undermine the
U.S. drone industry and American leadership in advanced aviation more
broadly.
The current regulatory framework in the United States prevents
scalable UAS operations and limits the integration of UAS into the NAS,
and many countries around the world have taken significant steps to
enable BVLOS operations beyond what is currently allowed in the U.S.
Many U.S. companies have invested heavily to pursue opportunities in
those markets, even if they would prefer to invest here at home. This
trend will continue to accelerate so long as there remains skepticism
regarding the U.S. Government's ability to deliver on its promise to
integrate UAS safely into the NAS and enable scalable UAS operations.
Timely implementation of a final BVLOS rule is essential to the U.S.
maintaining and enhancing its global leadership in advanced aviation
for years to come.
To this end, Congress should direct the FAA to issue a notice of
proposed rulemaking enabling BVLOS operations in alignment with the
recommendations of the BVLOS ARC within 180 days of enactment.
Question 2. What actions can the FAA take today--through policy
changes and other measures already within the FAA's existing
authority--to make progress on the ARC's recommendations while a more
comprehensive rulemaking process takes place?
Answer. As recommended by the BVLOS ARC, the FAA should develop an
interim, expedited pathway to small-scale BVLOS operations that do not
present significant impacts on the environment. Such a pathway would
enable UAS operations at a sufficiently meaningful scale to encourage
the industry's viability, provide significant benefits to the American
people, and ensure American competitiveness, while simultaneously
facilitating data collection to inform future rulemaking.
One of the most significant actions that the FAA can take right now
is to immediately implement the BVLOS ARC's recommendation for enabling
low-altitude ``shielded'' operations that permit drones to fly above
and within very close proximity to structures and terrain where crewed
aircraft are unlikely to operate. Shielded operations, sometimes
referred to as ``masked operations,'' can enable public safety missions
such as search and rescue, as well as more efficient inspection of
critical infrastructure like long range powerlines, pipelines, and
railroad tracks that require drones to fly at low altitude and in close
proximity to structures and the ground. Other jurisdictions, including
the European Union and Australia, have already established frameworks
to enable shielded operations at scale using standard scenarios or pre-
defined risk assessments. Congress should direct the FAA to issue
guidance similar to what other civil aviation authorities have done to
provide a near-term pathway to enabling shielded BVLOS operations
before the completion of a comprehensive BVLOS rulemaking.
The FAA should also look for opportunities to streamline current
processes and timelines for issuing waivers and exemptions that enable
BVLOS operations prior to completion of a comprehensive rulemaking, and
to provide more reliable and transparent visibility into the status and
anticipated time for completion of its work on individual applications
for such approvals. Congress should also require the FAA to provide
Congress with periodic tracking reports on the inventory of pending
applications, as well as supporting rationales when the FAA rejects
applications.
FAA Air Traffic Control Staffing and New Entrants. Earlier this
year, acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen said that the FAA is hiring
1,500 new air traffic controllers as part of an effort to combat the
increased number of delays and cancellations we have seen in the air
travel system this year. According to data from flight tracking site
FlightAware, between May 27, the Friday before Memorial Day, and August
14--48,000 or 2.3 percent of the flights scheduled were cancelled.
During that same period, nearly 483,000 U.S. flights were delayed, or
roughly 24 percent of flights.
Clearly airlines must do better. But it is also important that FAA
has enough air traffic controllers to handle current volumes of
traffic--and is prepared to coordinate future airspace operations that
will include drones, AAM aircraft, and a higher frequency of commercial
space flight launches.
Question 1. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association
(NATCA) has called for improvements to FAA's current Air Traffic
Controller Workforce plan to reflect the training and qualification
required for air traffic controllers. How can FAA better plan and
prepare the ATC workforce to handle the added workload of new entrants
entering the National Airspace System?
Answer. It is critical that the FAA, with the support of Congress,
invest in the workforce of tomorrow. The commercial drone marketplace
is creating new jobs that requires a unique set of engineering and
technical skill sets. A key component of planning for the integrated
airspace of tomorrow should include a workforce development plan,
including a focus and prioritization on science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education.
With regard to air traffic in particular, it first must be noted
that a large percentage of drone operations will occur at low altitudes
outside of ATC control, thereby not adding to the workload of the ATC
workforce. An important principle established by the International
Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) notes that, ``. . . an equitable
cost-recovery system could comprise charges based on the allocation of
total air navigation services costs incurred on behalf of users.'' \1\
Consistent with this principle, it is understood that many drone
operations will use UAS Traffic Management (UTM) systems to manage low
altitude air traffic, rather than rely on direct service from ATC
controllers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ ICAO Doc. 9082, ``ICAO's Policies on Charges for Airports and
Air Navigation Services'', Sec. III, p. 15.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In controlled airspace, the FAA's Low Altitude Authorization and
Notification Capability (LAANC) system supports UAS integration by
automating the application process for accessing controlled airspace
for the vast majority of UAS, rather than requiring direct interaction
between UAS operators and ATC personnel.
Industry stakeholders and the FAA both view LAANC as a precursor to
a future UTM system that will facilitate highly-automated traffic
management for high volume of UAS operations occurring in low altitude
airspace. While some unique UAS operations may still require
traditional ATC services, this should be the exception. Like the
current LAANC system, UTM technology will provide a system by which the
vast majority of UAS can access controlled airspace without added
burden on the ATC workforce.
As new entrants, including UAM and other aircraft beyond UAS,
become more prevalent, it is essential that the current airspace access
automation efforts continue and that appropriate operational rules and
infrastructure are in place to handle the expected increased demand.
A recent audit by the U.S. DOT Office of Inspector General (OIG)
found that, while the FAA has made initial progress in developing and
testing UTM frameworks, the FAA has not established milestones for
implementing the policies and processes necessary to allow for UTM
deployment and progress has generally been slow in implementing
Congressional mandates surrounding UTM.\2\ To help address the delay
concerns identified in the OIG audit report, Congress should direct the
FAA to develop a long-term roadmap with clear milestones for the
development and operationalization of a robust UTM system.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ FAA Faces Significant Barriers to Safely Integrate Unmanned
Aircraft Systems into the National Airspace System (OIG Report No.
AV2014061), June 26, 2014.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally, Congress should invest in the workforce of tomorrow. The
Senate should pass the Bipartisan Drone Infrastructure Inspection Grant
(DIIG) Act, recently passed by the House of Representatives, which
would provide grants to community colleges and universities to train
new and existing workers on drone technology and to prepare them for
careers in aviation and STEAM, building on unfunded programs
established in the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act.
Question 2. In conjunction with partners like NASA, FAA is in the
process of developing a UAS Traffic Management (UTM) implementation
plan to enable multiple beyond visual line-of-sight drone operations at
altitudes below 400 feet where FAA air traffic control services are not
provided. What actions should Congress take to ensure timely FAA
implementation of UTM capacity and integration of drone operations?
Answer. UTM will be critical to the safe and secure expansion of
UAS operations into the NAS. Without UTM, the countless benefits of
expanded, scalable, and complex UAS operations for Americans and
American businesses will be more difficult to achieve. As a precursor
to a UTM system, Congress should direct the FAA to enable and encourage
the modernization and evolution of the LAANC program. In particular,
the FAA should permit approved UAS Service Suppliers (USSs) to utilize
application program interfaces (APIs) and deep linking with the
software products of third parties, putting a more user-friendly and
cohesive interface at the UAS operator's fingertips to access an
ecosystem of services that support aviation safety and efficiency. This
modernization of the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification
Capability (LAANC) system will enhance safety by increasing compliance
among airspace users, and avoid a chilling effect on innovation in the
United States. Beyond enhancing safety, the implementation of UTM is
also critically important to operationalizing scaled UAS operations in
the United States. This fact has been recognized by other civil
aviation authorities around the world as they make progress
implementing comparable UTM systems, like the European Union's U-space
system and Australia's Flight Information Management System.\3\
Congress should direct the timely operationalizing of UTM and direct
the FAA to enhance transparency around UTM so industry can plan
accordingly.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Beechener, Jenny. ``Industry, Regulators Discuss Challenges of
Slowing UTM Deployment.'' Unmanned Airspace. https://
www.unmannedairspace.info/uncategorized/industry-regulators-discuss-
challenges-of-slowing-utm-deployment/. Accessed 31 October 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. John Hickenlooper to
Lisa Ellman
UAS Research and Development Investments. Ms. Ellman, as you are no
doubt aware, the recently passed CHIPS and Science Act (P.L. 117-167)
included significant investments in our Nation's high technology
research, development, and manufacturing capabilities.
Question. Are the investments we are making through CHIPS and
Science sufficient to support U.S. drone technology development and
manufacturing, or should more be done to specifically support this
sector of industry?
Answer. Investments are helpful, and enactment of the bipartisan
Drone Infrastructure Inspection Grant (DIIG) Act would be helpful as
well. To the extent the DIIG Act, which was recently passed by the U.S.
House of Representatives and introduced in the Senate by Senators
Rosen, Blumenthal, and Boozman is not enacted in 2022, we encourage
Congress to ensure this critical program is enacted in the 2023 FAA
Reauthorization. This Program would have two fundamental pillars, each
administered by the DOT:
(1) $100 million to enable States, cities, and tribal governments to
inspect America's aging infrastructure with drone technology
(including by funding program management capacity or drones),
thereby making workers safer, inspections more efficient, and
infrastructure more resilient, while supporting high-paying
jobs in inspection and U.S. drone manufacturing; and
(2) $100 million for grants to community colleges and universities
to train new and existing workers on drone technology and to
prepare them for careers in aviation and STEAM, building on
unfunded programs established in the 2018 FAA Reauthorization
Act.
Beyond the DIIG Act, Congress can also help support U.S. drone
technology development and manufacturing in the United States,
including the creation of domestic jobs, by providing funding necessary
to enhance and expand the successful Blue UAS program used by the
Department of Defense (DOD) Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to vet
commercial UAS technology for DOD use.
Congress should also require a report on the extent to which DOD
and other agencies can replicate the Army's experience of rapidly
procuring UAS systems in large numbers.
Additionally, Congress should consider other targeted funding
measures designed to support a more competitive playing field and
support the domestic manufacturing of green, clean, secure UAS
technology.
But alongside investment, we need policy--the regulatory frameworks
are holding back private investment into the U.S. drone marketplace and
jeopardizing America's longstanding leadership in aviation.
A key barrier to private investment in the U.S. drone marketplace
revolves around the process for authorizing UAS research and
development operations in the U.S. UAS R&D activities help support the
safe and efficient integration of UAS into the NAS. However, current
R&D processes do not enable broad testing in the U.S. in a timely way.
For R&D involving UA that weight 55 pounds or more, it can take several
years to obtain all of the operational and airworthiness approvals
necessary to conduct limited R&D operations in a controlled and safe
environment.
There are several important and concrete steps that Congress can
take to help address this situation. (1) Congress should direct the FAA
to streamline R&D processes through a risk-based regulatory framework.
(2) Congress should direct the FAA to utilize existing authorities to
enable test sites and public-private partnerships to move UAS
integration forward and promote U.S. leadership in aviation, including
requesting a timeline from the FAA for immediate implementation of 49
U.S.C. Sec. 44803. (3) In addition, to assist the FAA in carrying out
the objectives of the UAS Test Site program, Congress should clarify
that UAS operated for R&D purposes at UAS Test Sites meet the
definition of ``public aircraft'' in 49 U.S.C. Sec. 40102(a)(41) and
qualify for public aircraft operations (PAO) status under 49 U.S.C.
Sec. 40125. (4) Congress should direct the FAA to encourage the
continued use and expansion of technology innovation zones and support
communities that are eager to embrace new technologies such as UAS. (5)
Congress also should renew or extend the test site mandate from the FAA
Modernization and Reform Act of 2012.
Finally, there must be a viable path to commercialization for UAS
manufacturers and operators. Enabling R&D operations is critical, but
spurring private investment into the U.S. drone marketplace will only
occur if companies can operationalize at scale in the U.S. Expeditious
implementation of the Beyond Visual Line Of Safety Aviation Rulemaking
Committee's recommendations is an essential component to enabling
expanded UAS operations and allowing companies to operationalize and
scale in the U.S.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Raphael Warnock to
Lisa Ellman
FAA Engagement with New and Traditional Aviation. From commercial
aircraft and private jets to airports and air force bases, the aviation
industry is critical to Georgia's economy and national security. The
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is an essential partner in
aviation, certifying existing and new aircraft models and ensuring they
meet Federal safety and operational standards. As emerging aviation
technologies such as advanced air mobility (AAM) and unmanned aircraft
systems (UAS) promise revolutionary changes to commercial and business
aviation, the role of the FAA will become even more important.
Question. How should Congress and the FAA engage with new aviation
entrants while also sustaining proper engagement with the traditional
aviation community, to help foster innovation and growth? Does the FAA
have the resources it needs to adequately manage its engagement with
new entrants and traditional aviation users, as both experience record
demand?
Answer. As a threshold matter, we would note that there are certain
challenges with bundling UAS and AAM together as they are on different
deployment timelines. As you know, commercial drone use--whether for
delivery, inspection, or other beneficial use cases--is ready for roll
out (as happening somewhat domestically with limitation, and more
robustly in some areas overseas). More complex operations, like
autonomous passenger electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL)
operations, are still maturing.
Proper engagement with all aviation stakeholders is critical;
however, there are deficiencies with the FAA's current organizational
structure that hinder the agency's engagement with new entrants,
particularly with respect to UAS stakeholders. Congress should
reorganize the FAA to better align responsibility for UAS integration
with authority over UAS approvals, which would help the FAA be more
efficient and timely. The UAS Integration Office is tasked by Congress
to lead the FAA's efforts to safely integrate UAS and AAM operations
into the NAS. Despite this mandate, the FAA's UAS Integration Office
has no authority to actually integrate UAS. Instead, responsibility for
UAS integration is diffused and splintered across many different FAA
lines of business, each with its own existing set of traditional
aviation responsibilities and mandates.
This disconnect between responsibility and authority is a critical
weakness in the FAA's current UAS framework. To address this systematic
misalignment, Congress should create a new position of Associate
Administrator to oversee UAS integration and thereby empower the FAA's
UAS Integration Office with the resources and authorities to fulfill
the mandate of UAS integration into the NAS. This office should have
the dual mandate of ensuring the safe integration of UAS into the NAS
and encouraging and promoting a commercially viable UAS industry and
American leadership in UAS. The Associate Administrator should have the
authority to approve UAS rulemaking, as well as certification and
operational approvals for specific low risk categories of UAS.
Efficient Integration. New aviation entrants like UAS and
commercial space flight promise new and exciting opportunities for the
commercial aviation and space industries. However, as the two
technologies grow in adoption and increase their use of the National
Airspace System (NAS), I believe it will be critical that Congress, the
FAA, and the aviation industry work together to ensure smooth
integration that prioritizes safety and the American public.
Question. What specific actions should the FAA and new aviation
entrants take to ensure effective and efficient integration in to the
NAS?
Answer. Policy has lagged behind technology, and integration
efforts have lagged behind the pace of innovation in America.
Notwithstanding the valiant efforts of certain staff at the FAA and
other industry stakeholders, progress toward safe and scalable UAS
operations integrated into the NAS has been slow and halting, and
America is being left behind. To deliver on its promise to integrate
UAS into the NAS, it is essential that the FAA work diligently to
enable expanded operations and allow UAS operations to scale safely. To
that end, Congress should direct the FAA to issue a timely notice of
proposed rulemaking enabling BVLOS operations in alignment with the
Beyond Visual Line Of Safety (BVLOS) Aviation Rulemaking Committee's
recommendations.
Congress should also direct the DOT and the FAA to improve and
expedite the airworthiness approval process for UAS technologies. For
several years, the FAA has tried and failed to adapt the existing and
burdensome airworthiness process to UAS.
Congress should direct the FAA to adopt industry-based standardized
airworthiness compliance standards, modeled after the FAA's light-sport
aircraft certification process, to provide manufacturers with clear
guidance on how to obtain FAA airworthiness approval. Improving these
critical processes will promote UAS innovation while ensuring that
technological, safety, and security advances are implemented
efficiently. It is also important that Congress provide adequate
resources for the FAA to implement advanced aviation certification
programs.
Congress should direct the DOT and FAA to consider inter-modal risk
tradeoffs when authorizing BVLOS UAS operations.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2018.
Assessing the Risks of Integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into
the National Airspace System. Washington, DC: The National Academies
Press. Found at https://doi.org/10.17226/25143.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Given the rapid advances in UAS technology, it is also essential
that industry stakeholders actively engage with and work to educate
policymakers and regulators on new technologies and the ways in which
technological advancements can improve the overall safety and
efficiency of operations in the NAS. The Commercial Drone Alliance
looks forward to continuing its many years of engagement and education
with policymakers and regulators.
New Entrant Contributions. From investments in our Nation's
airports to improvements to the air traffic control (ATC) system, the
Aviation Trust Fund plays a critical role in supporting and enabling
the day-to-day operations of the aviation industry. Traditional
aviation users of the ATC system, such as commercial airlines and
airports, pay into the Aviation Trust Fund through a number of Federal
taxes and fees. However, new entrants are not currently required by
Federal law to contribute to the fund.
Question. Should the new entrants in the uncrewed community pay
fees or provide other contributions to the Aviation Trust Fund? How can
Congress and the FAA ensure equitable contributions to fund the costs
of ATF?
Answer. Modernization of our overall transportation infrastructure
is critically important, and comes with costs, but it will provide
significant and broad benefits to society.
CDA sincerely appreciates this question because, we believe, the
emerging UAS and AAM industries are currently contributing to the
system through ongoing work to develop and deploy protocols and
technologies to safely integrate new entrants into the NAS.
For example, as you and your colleagues know, our industry
stakeholders are investing heavily in coordination and deconfliction
technologies, like UTM and Detect And Avoid (DAA) systems, to allow for
scaled commercial deployment. Furthermore, many of the companies and
organizations represented by CDA are deploying internationally and are
sharing lessons learned with government entities like the FAA and NASA.
For instance, NASA is partnering with CDA board member Zipline to
answer questions about the future operations of autonomous fleets and
CDA board members Amazon, Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research
(NUAIR), and Wing to answer questions about future UTM integration.
These and other investments and efforts are essential to America
remaining a leader in future aviation systems and critical to America's
abilities to set global norms and standards.
The Airport & Airway Trust Fund was established in 1970, 35 years
after a group of airlines started the first Airway Traffic Control
Station. There is certainly room for improvement to reflect today's
aviation ecosystem. The UAS industry appreciates the need for
innovative partnerships--including public-private partnerships--as well
as new approaches to ensure that a modern sustainable infrastructure is
available to provide the greater societal benefits that are possible
with drone technology. An important principle established by the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) notes that, ``. . . an
equitable cost-recovery system could comprise charges based on the
allocation of total air navigation services costs incurred on behalf of
users.'' \2\ Consistent with this principle, it is understood that many
drone operations will use UTM systems to manage low altitude air
traffic, rather than rely upon direct service from ATC controllers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ ICAO Doc. 9082, ``ICAO's Policies on Charges for Airports and
Air Navigation Services'', Sec. III, p. 15.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is also important to note that there are a lot of efficiencies
the agency could gain in its UAS integration efforts. There is often
inconsistent and heavy staffing of simple projects, but if our FAA
reorganization proposal was implemented, it could lead to efficiencies
for the agency without affecting safety.
The Drone Advisory Committee (now AAAC) has done a lot of thinking
on this topic and published a report in 2018 with some ideas on
equitable sharing of costs. We look forward to engaging with the
broader aviation community on this important topic.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Roger Wicker to
Lisa Ellman
Question 1. Getting airworthiness approval, or a type certificate,
for UAS aircraft is a critical part of advancing UAS technology. After
more than four years of work, only a single type certificate has been
issued for the entire UAS industry with dozens more applications
sitting at the FAA. Recognizing the low-risk nature of small UAS, what
are the challenges that remain before the FAA issues type certificates?
Answer. Type certification has traditionally been considered key to
accelerating the integration of complex, safe drone operations into the
National Airspace System. Yet, as you point out, after several years of
work, there has only been one type certificate issued. The CDA hopes
that, since the FAA has now done this successfully once, the FAA can
expeditiously incorporate lessons learned and streamline and improve
the process for the agency and the broader industry.
There are several challenges that remain for issuing type
certificates for small UAS. For example, the FAA has tried and failed
to adapt the existing and burdensome airworthiness process to UAS. It
is critical that the type certification and airworthiness processes be
improved, adapted, and tailored for small UAS. The inflexibility of the
type certification process to accommodate iterative technological
advancement of UAS designs--more akin to once-a-year updates of cell
phone models rather than once-a-decade updates of large passenger
aircraft models--suppresses UAS innovation. Under the current process,
by the time the FAA issues a type certificate for a UAS model, the
certificated technology might no longer be the state of the art.
Another challenge revolves around noise certification. Under the
current regulatory process, the FAA may only issue an original type
certificate for an aircraft after the FAA determines that the aircraft
meets prescribed noise standards. There are no prescribed noise
standards for small UAS, which means the FAA needs to undertake a
lengthy (years-long) and resource-intensive rulemaking process for
every individual small UAS going through the type certification process
to establish custom noise standards on a case-by-case basis. Rather
than requiring the FAA to establish unique noise standards for every
single different type of small UAS going through the certification
process, Congress should direct the FAA to gather data necessary to
establish generally applicable noise standards for small UAS and should
exempt low-risk small UAS from noise certification requirements.
Given the lack of progress on UAS type certification, the agency
should work diligently to implement a new regulatory framework that
right-sizes the risk analysis for scaled UAS operations. In particular,
as discussed more fully below, the FAA must expeditiously implement the
BVLOS ARC recommendations.
Question 2. The BVLOS Aviation Rulemaking Committee issued its
recommendations in March 2022. Can you highlight some of the most
significant recommendations in terms of safety and pilot training?
Answer. The BVLOS Aviation Rulemaking Committee report (``ARC
Report'') contains a number of critical expert recommendations, advice,
and information that the FAA needs to safely and effectively update its
regulatory framework and normalize safe, scalable, economically viable
advanced aircraft operations in the United States. Below is a brief
summary of what the CDA considers to be the most significant
recommendations in the ARC Report in terms of safety and pilot
training.
Right-of-Way Rules. The ARC's proposed aviation right-of-way
rules recognize that the airspace is shared and collaborative.
Since the current right-of-way rules do not address autonomous
aircraft, the ARC's recommendations reflect a shared risk model
in order to safely integrate autonomous aircraft, taking into
account the volume and nature of aircraft operations currently
at this altitude and aircraft collision avoidance roles and
responsibilities. This recommendation enhances safety for all
airspace users. It will better protect pilots who operate at
these critically-low altitudes from potential collisions, and
will allow thousands of extremely high-risk low-altitude
operations (such as power line inspections or chemical spill
monitoring) to be accomplished instead by drone more safely,
saving lives every year.
Pilot Training and Qualification Based on Levels of
Automation. The ARC recommended that the BVLOS training and
qualification requirements be tailored to levels of automation
(AFR Levels 1, 2, 3, 4). Under this proposal, as UAS control
automation becomes more robust, the number/types of control
tasks that require human in-/on-the-loop tend to decrease, and
thus the level and depth of training required to operate such
UAS safely correspondingly decrease. In sum, BVLOS UAS training
programs must be tailored to focus on those functions that the
responsible pilot has the ability to control or affect through
the system.
Establish New BVLOS Rating for Remote Pilot Certificate. The
ARC Report also recommends that the FAA establish a new BVLOS
rating for the remote pilot certificate, and that the BVLOS
rating process incorporate additional knowledge and examination
areas to support advanced BVLOS (including Right-of-Way Rules
for BVLOS operations, BVLOS Strategic and Technical Risk
Mitigation Strategies/Approaches, and Principles of Uncrewed
Traffic Management, among others).
Question 3. Are there actions that the FAA can take today--through
policy changes and other measures already within the FAA's authority--
to make progress on the ARC's recommendations while a more
comprehensive rulemaking process unfolds? Additionally, can you
describe the economic and public safety impacts if the FAA does not
complete a timely rulemaking on BVLOS operations?
Answer. (A). As recommended by the BVLOS ARC, the FAA should
develop an interim, expedited pathway to allow small-scale BVLOS
operations that do not present significant impacts on the environment.
Such a pathway would enable UAS operations at a sufficiently meaningful
scale to enable the industry's viability, provide significant benefits
to the American people and ensure American competitiveness, while
simultaneously facilitating data collection to inform future
rulemaking.
One of the most significant actions that the FAA can take right now
is to immediately implement the BVLOS ARC's recommendation for enabling
low-altitude ``shielded'' operations that permit drones to fly above
and within very close proximity to structures and terrain where crewed
aircraft are unlikely to operate. Shielded operations, sometimes
referred to as ``masked operations'', can enable public safety missions
such as search and rescue, as well as more efficient inspection of
critical infrastructure like long range powerlines, pipelines and
railroad tracks, that require drones to fly at low altitude and in
close proximity to structures and the ground. Other governments,
including the European Union and Australia, have already established
frameworks to enable shielded operations at scale using standard
scenarios or pre-defined risk assessments. Congress should direct the
FAA to issue guidance similar to what other civil aviation authorities
have done to provide a near-term pathway to enable shielded BVLOS
operations before the completion of more comprehensive BVLOS
rulemaking.
The FAA should also look for opportunities to streamline current
processes and timelines for issuing waivers and exemptions that enable
BVLOS operations, prior to completion of more comprehensive rulemaking.
Additionally, the FAA should use its existing authorities to enable
test sites and public-private partnerships to move UAS integration
forward and promote U.S. leadership in aviation, including immediate
implementation of 49 U.S.C. Sec. 44803. To support carrying out the
objectives of the UAS Test Site program, the FAA should also revise and
clarify its current interpretation of public aircraft operations
(``PAO'') so that UAS operated for R&D purposes at UAS Test Sites meet
the definition of ``public aircraft'' in 49 U.S.C. Sec. 40102(a)(41)
and qualify for PAO status under 49 U.S.C. Sec. 40125.
Finally, the FAA should implement rules it has already finalized--
such as the operations over people (OOP) rule--and finish work that has
been started. To date, only a single drone model has an FAA-accepted
Declaration of Compliance authorizing operations over people under the
OOP rule. BVLOS operations at scale will need to include flight over
people, and the lack of attention to this issue will impede the
industry's growth.
(B). BVLOS operations are critically important if scalable,
beneficial UAS operations are to become a reality in the United States.
There will be significant economic and public safety costs if the FAA
does not timely complete the BVLOS rulemaking. The failure to
promulgate a final BVLOS rule in a timely manner would prevent the
industry from bringing the countless benefits of UAS operations to the
American public (e.g., drone delivery of medicines, PPE, and day-to-day
commercial products; post-natural disaster inspections and assessments,
delivery of emergency equipment; search and rescue; environmentally-
friendly and sustainable operations, enhancing worker safety, and
more). Pages 14-19 of my written testimony include details on the many
societal benefits of civil BVLOS UAS operations.
The lack of a path for scaling BVLOS operations in the U.S. (as
reflected by the absence of a final BVLOS rule) also significantly
undermines U.S. competitiveness and jeopardizes the longstanding global
leadership of the U.S. in aerospace. What can and should continue to be
a booming American commercial UAS industry will see companies forced to
move overseas or close. If companies can iterate new models of aircraft
and operations and scale their businesses in other countries, the U.S.
will continue to experience a loss of UAS investment, innovation, and
competition. Once a company is operating abroad, it is unlikely to
shift its investments back to the U.S. without regulatory certainty,
and the American UAS industry will fall behind.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to
Stephane Fymat
U.S. Leadership in Sustainable Aviation Technology. You note in
your testimony that the United States must maintain its global aviation
leadership and enable the development of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM),
which can make flight more sustainable through hybrid electric systems,
batteries, and hydrogen fuel cells. In more traditional aircraft and
propulsion systems, developing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at scale
is critically important to reduce aviation's growing carbon footprint.
International coordination will be important. Last month in Montreal,
the United States and other civil aviation authorities, met for the
41st session of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to
discuss aviation decarbonization among other topics. The United Nations
expects aircraft carbon emissions to triple by 2050.
Question 1. What steps can the United States take with
international partners to foster the development of sustainable
aviation technologies? How can FAA leverage existing bilateral safety
agreements and technical assistance programs to further AAM
technologies, harmonize safety standards, and facilitate the
certification process?
Answer. Chair Cantwell, thank you for your questions. With respect
to your first question: ``What steps can the United States take with
international partners to foster the development of sustainable
aviation technologies?''
Step 1: Ensure we have common regulatory frameworks for
aircraft certification, aircraft operation, vertiport design
and environmental impact. This will provide aircraft developers
and operators with a clear and global set of rules on which to
develop business plans, raise investment capital, operate
businesses and be compliant to sustainability obligations. This
fosters innovation of sustainable technologies and ensures that
focus is placed on the solutions that provide the maximum
impact.
Step 2: Conclude rulemaking on Beyond Visual Line of Sight
(BVLOS) operations for drones and have them take effect in
2024, not 2029. Enabling long distance drone operations will
drive demand for better batteries, fuel cells, detect-and-avoid
systems, GPS-denied navigation systems and autonomy software--
over and above that driven by Electric Vertical Takeoff and
Landing (eVTOL) air taxis.
With respect to your second question: ``How can FAA leverage
existing bilateral safety agreements and technical assistance programs
to further AAM technologies, harmonize safety standards, and facilitate
the certification process?''
The majority of Advanced Aerial Mobility (AAM) vehicles are being
developed in the United States, United Kingdom and Europe, subject to
FAA, U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (UK CAA) and European Union Aviation
Safety Agency (EASA) regulation for aircraft certification,
respectively. The U.K. has decided to harmonize its aircraft
certification standards with that of EASA. The U.S. has an existing
bilateral aviation safety agreement with EASA that provides a framework
whereby each region can accept the airworthiness certificate of the
other. Furthermore, 14CFR Part 21 Sec. 21.29(a)(1)(ii) also enables the
FAA to accept EASA's airworthiness requirements where they are the
State of Design of a product with which a bilateral exists. This would
be valid where the EASA requirements provide an equivalent level of
safety to those that would be provided by the FAA for the same product.
Step 1: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) can decide
and issue a policy or Advisory Circular (AC) that any applicant
that chooses to certify its aircraft using EASA's Special
Condition for small-category VTOL aircraft (known as ``SC/
VTOL'') standard will be an acceptable certification basis by
FAA.
This step has several major benefits:
All European and U.K. aircraft developers will have the
assurance that their vehicles will be certifiable in the U.S.
at no extra cost. This helps enable their success in certifying
their vehicles and beginning flight operations in the US. This
is important, as U.S. technology companies--such as Honeywell,
but including others--are key providers to them. U.S.
technology leadership in key AAM technologies is thereby
enhanced.
U.S. aircraft developers who are targeting a global market
will have to comply with EASA's SC/VTOL standards anyway,
regardless of what the FAA decides. This step therefore
provides them a clear and immediate pathway to get their
vehicles certified--which helps them and the technology
providers.
The FAA retains all of its latitude to develop its
regulatory framework as it sees fit. SC/VTOL is widely seen as
a more stringent set of requirements than what the FAA
envisions, i.e., a superset of its envisioned requirements.
Therefore, any SC/VTOL-compliant vehicle will exceed the FAA
requirements.
It costs nothing and can be acted upon immediately.
Step 2: The FAA has discussed making its certification
framework a ``safety continuum'' whereby different regulatory
requirements would apply to a vehicle depending upon the size,
passenger capacity and other characteristics of the vehicle.
Make it a mandate that this continuum provides at least one a
pathway that is harmonized with EASA, even if it also provides
other pathways that are not harmonized.
This step has the same benefits as Step 1 but provides a formal
means by which U.S. applicants can apply for aircraft certification
using a U.S. regulation, knowing that it will be able to be validated
by EASA and U.K. CAA.
Question 2. U.S. leadership at ICAO is important. This is something
we stressed as part of reform enacted through the Aircraft
Certification, Safety and Accountability Act, including raising the
safety bar globally in areas like pilot training standards. What
policies and strategies should the United States pursue at ICAO for
advancing AAM and sustainable aviation technology?
Answer. Advanced Aerial Mobility (AAM) aligns with all of The
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO's) strategic
objectives--aviation safety, air navigation capacity and efficiency,
security and facilitation, economic development and environmental
protection. It also aligns with several of ICAO's key initiatives--
innovation in aviation, humanitarian assistance and disaster response
in aviation, and state action plans for aviation CO2
reduction. ICAO does a lot of work to develop standardized regulations
and policies across the globe that are then adopted by its member
nations.
The United States should engage with ICAO to create the task forces
to perform the research and arrive at guidelines that can be adopted on
a global scale. This ensures that AAM can be deployed globally in a
straightforward fashion.
Linking the ICAO initiatives on efficiency with their targets for
environmental protection can provide a roadmap for near term
initiatives to improve Airline operations at the same time assisting in
meeting travel demand during a time of supply chain disruption. Clear
guidance on the benefits of improved efficiency of Airline operations
and ``Scope 4'' impact to Airport and infrastructure requirements will
incent investment decisions that may not currently be under
consideration.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Raphael Warnock to
Stephane Fymat
FAA Engagement with New and Traditional Aviation. From commercial
aircraft and private jets to airports and air force bases, the aviation
industry is critical to Georgia's economy and national security. The
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is an essential partner in
aviation, certifying existing and new aircraft models and ensuring they
meet Federal safety and operational standards. As emerging aviation
technologies such as advanced air mobility (AAM) and unmanned aircraft
systems (UAS) promise revolutionary changes to commercial and business
aviation, the role of the FAA will become even more important.
Question. How should Congress and the FAA engage with new aviation
entrants while also sustaining proper engagement with the traditional
aviation community, to help foster innovation and growth? Does the FAA
have the resources it needs to adequately manage its engagement with
new entrants and traditional aviation users, as both experience record
demand?
Answer. Senator Warnock, thank you for the question. This is an
excellent question, the foundation of Honeywell Aerospace is more than
100 years of safety innovation, and we work with the full breadth of
the civil and defense aviation community--including commercial,
business, and general aviation. Safety is our number one priority.
At the moment, the FAA does not have a formal mandate to foster
innovation, it only has a formal mandate to ensure safety. Furthermore,
the FAA seems to be of the mindset that innovation is de facto a risk
to safety and that the way to way to manage this risk is to go slowly
and minimize the capability of these innovations when introducing them
into the airspace. We have seen this before with light sport aircraft--
where the performance limitations imposed did nothing to improve safety
and hobbled what should have been a new wave of modern aircraft. We are
seeing it now with Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) Beyond-Visual-Line-
Of-Sight (BVLOS) rulemaking, where it seems increasingly likely that we
won't have fully scalable BVLOS operations in the U.S. until 2030--
making the U.S. one of the last countries in the world to have broad
commercial and public sector UAS operations.
How should Congress engage with new aviation entrants? First,
Congress should change the mandate of the FAA to be a dual mandate--
safety and innovation, with safety always remaining the top priority.
The FAA can and should enable safe innovative operations. Second,
Congress should hold the FAA accountable for the safety impacts of not
enabling innovations into the airspace soon enough, such as the number
of lives lost by not allowing the use of drones for agricultural
spraying, wildfire fighting, etc. Third, Congress should hold the FAA
accountable to deadlines by which it will accomplish certain regulatory
objectives. Nothing ever got done on time without a deadline. These
three changes go far beyond Advanced Aerial Mobility (AAM) and UAS and
enable the FAA to embrace any new innovation, especially those that
improve safety.
We believe that the FAA needs to be resourced to succeed in both
Advanced Air Mobility and traditional aviation, today they are not.
These industries are not mutually exclusive, but together will
determine if the United States retains its global leadership position
in aviation or not. This will require securing additional talent,
focus, and commitment. We believe the FAA needs more resources in order
to adequately address the growing certification pipeline of the novel
UAS and AAM platforms which are increasing rapidly, and to expedite the
necessary rulemakings. This includes the need for additional dedicated
personnel focused on UAS/AAM certification and rulemaking.
Many industry players in the traditional aviation community are
also heavily invested in new companies or AAM products so the lines are
blurred. Traditional aviation is using AAM to advance key technology in
electrification and autonomy. The FAA needs to engage the AAM community
to advance aviation safety and innovation across the board.
Efficient Integration. New aviation entrants like UAS and
commercial space flight promise new and exciting opportunities for the
commercial aviation and space industries. However, as the two
technologies grow in adoption and increase their use of the National
Airspace System (NAS), I believe it will be critical that Congress, the
FAA, and the aviation industry work together to ensure smooth
integration that prioritizes safety and the American public.
Question. What specific actions should the FAA and new aviation
entrants take to ensure effective and efficient integration into the
NAS?
Answer. Senator Warnock, thank you for your question. We certainly
agree with you that collaboration between government and all aviation
stakeholders is essential to integrating new entrants into our shared
National Airspace System (NAS).
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) should continue to work
with Advanced Aerial Mobility (AAM) entrants to pragmatically and
safely integrate UAS/UAM operations. To this end, the FAA should
organize more robust industry pilot programs to expand and standardize
UAM/AAM Concepts of Operations (CONOPs) with NASA and solicit industry
input. The FAA should identify existing gaps to current flight rules
(including establishing pilot training requirements for UAS and AAM
pilots), establish flight corridors, procedures, and separation
services to scale AAM operations without overburdening the Air Traffic
Control (ATC) system.
Looking forward, the FAA should accelerate the development of
digital flight rules to scale up the capacity of the NAS for all users
and aviation modalities. In this context, Advanced Aerial Mobility is a
key leading market and technology accelerator to advance the
development of next generation flight management and airspace
integration technologies like end-to-end trajectory-based navigation,
digital communication and management of flight intent and automated
airspace management. These technologies and operational enablers will
increase the safety and capacity of the NAS for all users--from crewed-
commercial aircraft to AAM. This is why it is important for all of us
to remember, the choice before us isn't the advancement of technology
or safety, it is that advancing technology can and has historically led
the U.S. and the world to greater degrees of aviation safety.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Roger Wicker to
Edward M. Bolen
Question 1. The FAA recently announced plans to regulate AAM
vehicles as a ``special class'' of aircraft rather than relying on the
``Part 23'' framework which governs small airplanes. How has this
change affected your operators and how can we on the committee be
helpful in assisting operators in their certification processes?
Answer. When the FAA changed the process for advanced air mobility
(AAM) aircraft certification, our AAM members adjusted without changing
their prearranged timelines. What is paramount in the certification
process is transparency and certainty from the FAA.
The agency committed to introducing a Special Federal Aviation
Regulation (SFAR) by December 2024 to coincide with the planned
introduction of the first AAM commercial operations. This is a critical
step in the path to enable commercial AAM operations and pilot
licensing, and we welcome the agency's declaration that this change
preserves consistency in certification for safety without introducing
cumbersome delays to the necessary processes for marketplace
introduction. To date, Joby Aviation has completed half of the four-
step certification process.
We ask that this Subcommittee closely monitor the agency's stated
goal of completing the process for AAM introduction into the NAS by
2024, and continue to encourage transparency and certainty in the
process.
While aircraft and operational certification are a major priority,
we must also acknowledge the significant work happening in parallel to
address other critical components of this new entrant capability,
including Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM), air traffic operations,
and heliport and vertiport design considerations. Each of these work
streams must integrate seamlessly if we hope to realize the potential
benefits of our efforts.
For example, in addition to AAM operations that focus on passenger-
carrying operations, UAS aircraft continue to demonstrate growing value
in critical areas such as search and rescue, public safety and
security, package and cargo delivery, life-saving medical supply
delivery and other innovative transportation models. Proof-of-concept
projects in the U.S. have shown public acceptance and desire for these
services. We strongly believe these projects should set the stage for
more predictable aircraft and operational certifications.
As part of the upcoming FAA Reauthorization, we look forward to a
continued dialogue on how the agency can utilize the existing
regulatory structure and innovative operational and aircraft
certification concepts to facilitate the safe introduction of these
technologies. Providing general aviation with certainty for
certification, airspace integration, operational approvals, airport
investment and infrastructure standards development will all be
critical for the United States to remain a global leader in aviation.
Question 2. In recent months, some in the legacy aviation industry
have called for new entrants to begin paying into the national
airspace, just as commercial aircraft operators do today. As UAS
aircraft begin to operate in the NAS more frequently, what steps do you
see as necessary to ensure an equitable allocation of FAA fees?
Answer. Business aviation will continue to pay the share that is
determined by Congress.
NBAA would recommend that new entrants only pay into the system
when they are using controlled airspace and existing or automated air
traffic services.
Thankfully the current fee structure works to capture most AAM or
``Air Taxis'' which will operate under Part 135, a charter-type service
with a ticket tax, segment fee, cargo waybill and aircraft registration
fee. For commercial space and UAS, a percent of the cargo or payload
being transported, seems appropriate.
We look forward to working with Congress to find for electric
aviation-eVTOL and eCTOL-an alternative to the fuel tax by converting
energy to gallons at the same rate.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Roger Wicker to
Gregory Davis
Question 1. In order for the United States to lead in AAM, what
must the FAA and industry do to create a pathway for current rotor
aircraft pilots to be certified to operate AAM aircraft at levels
adequate to keep pace with the growing AAM industry?
Answer. Thank you for the question, Senator Wicker. We appreciate
the longstanding leadership of you and your congressional colleagues in
advancing the adoption of low-emission aviation technologies. Your
efforts are critical to ensuring the aviation industry continues to
play its part in achieving our Nation's sustainability goals.
In order to create a pathway for current rotor and fixed wing
aircraft pilots to be certified to operate AAM aircraft at adequate
levels, the FAA must partner with AAM companies to pioneer new training
methods for aircraft operators as the industry prepares for all-
electric flight. We must work together to address the need for holistic
and comprehensive training resources.
With the collaboration and support of the FAA, we will have the
resources necessary to develop and scale robust training programs,
provide state-of-the-art flight simulation and unparalleled expertise
for a new way of operating aircraft. We must establish our leadership
in immersive pilot training programs that put safety and readiness at
the forefront of our mission.
Question 2. What are some of the regulatory, legislative, and
operational challenges that the industry is facing and is the FAA
adequately preparing for these challenges?
Answer. I'd like to reinforce my statements from my original
testimony, encouraging the FAA to look beyond the borders of the U.S.
and work with global regulators, focus on clear requirements for
certification of battery technology, and work with agencies from other
Departments, such as the Department of Energy, on the development of
charging infrastructure and battery technology. These are critical
elements in moving the industry towards sustainable aviation.
Additionally, the next generation of aviation will impact airport
facilities in a multitude of ways, beginning with three main segments:
facilities, utilities and sustainability. As the industry and the world
starts to adopt electric aircraft, the existing airport structures will
need to adapt for electric transit.
On this front, I believe the FAA and other agencies such as the DOE
and NASA, should work together the expansion of aircraft charging
networks to service rural and urban airports across the country. These
agencies have the opportunity to identify existing airports for
electrification and ensure the adequate supply of power to those
airports for electric charging networks. This includes electrical
utilities that are sufficient to charge and maintain electric aircraft
anywhere from 1200 to 4000 amps.
The installation of airport charging systems can be handled through
a mix of private enterprise, airport investment and Federal investment
to ensure equitable access to sustainable aviation across well-
established and underserviced airports, such as those in rural
communities.
Last, the FAA should make funds available to push forward
sustainability initiatives that support the infrastructure outlined
above. For example, acquiring funding for solar power, or industrial
battery storage, would be a major investment with a huge sustainability
offset.
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