Departing FAA Leader Says Agency Is Being ‘Nudged’ to Embrace Risk

Chris Rocheleau became acting administrator in January 2025 and is expected to leave the agency this week.

Jack Daleo

Monday, August 03, 2026 at 01:00 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Deputy FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau is soon expected to depart the agency and return to his role as chief operating officer of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA). [Credit: NBAA]

Key Takeaways:

The FAA is experiencing a "healthy tension" between balancing the drone industry's push for more permissive integration and its own safety-first culture, particularly regarding the long-awaited Part 108 rule for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations.
Departing Deputy Administrator Chris Rocheleau indicated the FAA feels "nudged" to accept "more risk" for uncrewed drone integration, a concept not easily embraced internally due to the agency's focus on safety, especially after a recent midair collision.
The FAA is undertaking significant air traffic control (ATC) modernization efforts, including digitizing systems, which is seen as a foundational step to safely integrate drones and other advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft into the national airspace.

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The FAA’s departing deputy administrator said Friday that the agency is being “nudged” to embrace “more risk” when it comes to the integration of uncrewed drones.

Chris Rocheleau, who is expected to rejoin the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) this week after serving as FAA deputy administrator since July 2025, was speaking at the Commercial Drone Alliance’s (CDA) American Drone Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., before a crowd of drone industry stakeholders.