The commercial drone industry continues to grow and evolve, with companies innovating technologies that increase flight duration, data capture, autonomy, safety, and more. But taking advantage of this innovation within national airspace is difficult. Despite government investment in programs to drive deeper integration of drones and our shared airspace, flight is still narrowly confined by necessary and reasonable regulatory limitations.
Progress is being made. Civil aviation authorities allow customers and industry partners limited permissions (in the U.S., known as Part 107 Waivers) to fly outside today’s standard constraints. These extremely valuable waivers are helping to advance the industry toward critical flight use cases like package delivery, long-line infrastructure inspection, search & rescue, and more.
Today, Iris Automation is pleased to announce the launch of our new Waiver Resource Center, to improve access to beyond line of sight (BVLOS) waivers.
Why does the industry need Waiver Resource Center?
Commercial drone operators are really good at complying with federal and local regulations. But they aren’t experts at navigating the waiver process. Unless you’re a huge US logistics company, the FAA probably isn’t on your speed-dial. BVLOS waiver approvals today most often happen when drone program leaders team with industry partners who can bring experience and CAA access to the waiver process. And the race is on to work with these partners.
Iris Automation designed Waiver Resource Center to scale our knowledge, expertise, CAA access and capabilities to all customers seeking BVLOS waivers. WRC is an online tool supported by aviation policy expert consulting that manages waiver application end-to-end, reducing the time to approval while optimizing approval outcomes. Iris Automation’s trusted aviation policy specialists have thousands of man-hours assessing operational risk and establishing compliant BVLOS flight operations.
- Simplifies and streamlines the process, for novices and experts alike
- Structures compliant documentation preparation, while opening transparency to regulatory analysis and review
- De-risks the transition to BVLOS flight operations
The service is delivered as an annual subscription, with unlimited users, and offered at 3 tiers:
Close partnership between CAAs, drone operations leaders and industry innovators is the only way to realize the societal benefits of #dronesforgood. The less time customers and regulators have to spend educating and iterating on waiver documentation, the more time the industry gets “in the air” to realize the benefits of BVLOS, and closer to good standards for safety. Waiver Resource Center is one important step toward reducing today’s waiver friction and moving the industry forward.
Learn more about Waiver Resource Center by joining our Ask Me Anything session with Trever Linn, Director of Airspace Integration at Iris Automation, and transportation policy agency veteran.
