US Regulations Seek To Expand AAM, Restrict Drones

Here’s a breakdown of key drone, UAS, and AAM regulations from the past month.

Jack Daleo

Monday, May 15, 2023 at 07:26 PM ET

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DJI’s Mavic 2 Enterprise (pictured) is one of several drone models facing an FCC blackout. [Photo: DJI]

Key Takeaways:

U.S. federal and state governments are actively introducing legislation to restrict the use of foreign-manufactured drones, particularly from China and Russia, by government agencies due to national security concerns, alongside new bills addressing drone misuse for crime and border security.
The FAA is preparing an Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) implementation plan and aims to certify the first eVTOL aircraft for commercial operations by late 2024, with several states also taking steps to facilitate AAM development and infrastructure.
Internationally, India and the European Union are collaborating on drone and AAM regulations, while EASA has published the world's first proposal for assessing air taxi noise, potentially influencing global certification standards for emerging aviation technologies.

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As federal officials, state lawmakers, and agencies such as the FAA tackle the massive aviation industry, they now must also contend with regulating an entirely new sphere of companies, technologies, safety protocols, and more.

A new era of aviation—encompassing drones, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), advanced air mobility (AAM), electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL), and other new ways to fly— is coming. Now, around the country, federal and state lawmakers are trying to figure out how to manage it.