The remark interval for the FAA’s proposed Half 108 rule — essentially the most important replace to business drone laws in over a decade — closed on October 6, 2025. Within the time between the proposed rule was launched in August 2025 and now, roughly 2,000 public feedback have been dedicated. Now, the ultimate rule is within the company’s palms. And if there’s one factor that’s crystal clear from studying by means of them, it’s this: the drone (and broader aviation) neighborhood is way from united on what secure BVLOS operations ought to appear to be.
Revealed in August 2025 below Govt Order 14307 “Unleashing American Drone Dominance,” Half 108 represents the FAA’s bold try and lastly allow routine Past Visible Line of Sight operations with out requiring operators to leap by means of the waiver course of. However because the feedback reveal, getting there may be going to require threading a really difficult needle.
The DJI elephant within the room
Maybe essentially the most shocking development within the feedback wasn’t about operational security in any respect — it was about DJI.
A whole lot of commenters, from disabled veterans to small enterprise house owners to senior residents, submitted passionate pleas asking the FAA to not exclude DJI drones from Half 108 operations. I dug into this final week, however the crux is that the present guidelines embody a provision that may limit a key approval to both drones made in America or in any other case made in nations with “a Bilateral Airworthiness Settlement addressing UAS” (which might very possible exclude Chinese language-made drones).
Feedback ranged from leisure customers anxious about their investments to skilled operators warning that eradicating DJI from BVLOS eligibility would devastate their companies.
“DJI drones are the most effective out there. There are not any drones at the moment made by American producers that even come near the function set and reliability which can be present in DJI drones,” wrote one commenter named Richard Lutz, echoing a sentiment repeated all through the docket.
These feedback seek advice from all the things from low cost digicam drones just like the DJI Flip and DJI Neo to extra strong DJI enterprise drones just like the Matrice sequence.
David Whitehouse, proprietor of Aerial-Inspection LLC which is a search and rescue firm that makes use of drones to search out misplaced pets, was extra direct. “To exclude the most secure and most dependable plane out there right now will improve accidents with BVLOS operation and endanger folks and property…and drive me out of enterprise,” he stated.
The irony? Half 108 doesn’t really point out DJI by identify. However the specter of potential Chinese language drone restrictions clearly loomed massive in commenters’ minds, with many conflating the BVLOS rule with broader nationwide safety issues.
The fitting-of-way controversy
If DJI dominated the amount of feedback, right-of-way provisions dominated the standard — significantly from the crewed aviation neighborhood.
The proposed rule’s method to right-of-way sparked fierce opposition from helicopter operators, agricultural pilots and basic aviation pilots who function under 400 ft AGL. Their concern facilities on provisions that may give drones conditional right-of-way in sure eventualities, significantly in “shielded operations” close to buildings.
Terry Blakemore, CEO of Quantum Helicopters, didn’t mince phrases: “Annually, we fly round 13,000 hours of scholar coaching. Every of those younger women and men can have their lives put unnecessarily in danger in case your proposed proper of means provisions go into impact.”
The criticism targeted on a number of interconnected points: Half 108 drones can weigh as much as 1,320 kilos (practically the scale of a Robinson R22 helicopter), the rule prohibits UAS from transmitting ADS-B Out (making them invisible to manned plane tools), and present detect-and-avoid expertise is primarily forward-looking and doesn’t reliably detect plane from all instructions.
“I’ve had two close to misses with drones already, and in each instances I couldn’t stand up with the operators,” wrote Chuck Travis, an aerial applicator who says he has 33 years of expertise. “I hate to say nevertheless it’s going to take any person getting killed earlier than the federal government realizes this received’t work.”
Even non-pilots raised issues. Tana Satterfield, who works as floor and chase crew for warm air balloon operators in Albuquerque, questioned how the rule would shield the 70+ balloons that fly in her space weekly when ADS-B hasn’t been developed for balloons but.
What folks really favored
Not each remark was damaging. A number of themes emerged from supportive commenters:
Public security operators appreciated the potential however wished express carve-outs for emergency operations. A number of regulation enforcement businesses emphasised they want the power to launch small drones just like the DJI M4T “at a second’s discover” for fugitive apprehension, lacking individuals searches and tactical overwatch. These are operations that require pilot management all through, not full autonomy.
Supply advocates noticed Half 108 as important infrastructure. Carlo Capua, former Chief of Technique and Innovation for Fort Value, Texas, emphasised the general public profit for supply drones, which have proliferated particularly within the Dallas Fort Value space with choices together with Wing’s partnership with Walmart.
“Each drone supply means yet another automobile off the street,” he stated. “This implies fewer site visitors accidents and potential fatalities, in addition to much less site visitors and carbon emissions.”
Safety professionals wished their distinctive operational wants acknowledged. Ryan Smith, Founder and President of Titan Safety, wrote: “We function 24/7 in managed environments. We reply to threats in real-time. We shield crucial infrastructure. These operational realities require totally different capabilities than package deal supply or agricultural monitoring.”
The small operator squeeze
A recurring grievance was that Half 108, as written, appears designed primarily for big, well-funded operations working totally autonomous techniques. Many have advised it’s much less useful to the Half 107 operators who’ve been safely conducting restricted BVLOS operations below waivers for years.
“The NPRM as drafted focuses completely on advanced, totally autonomous BVLOS operations, heavy cargo carriers, final mile supply, and multi-drone operations equivalent to mild exhibits,” one commenter famous. “It doesn’t adequately tackle the wide selection of BVLOS operations already carried out safely and successfully below Half 107 waivers.”
David Whitehouse put it bluntly: “To exclude plane managed by an precise FAA licensed pilot and solely embody automated techniques unfairly handicaps companies like mine who cannot cowl the ridiculously excessive prices of those techniques.”
What occurs subsequent
Now comes the onerous half: the FAA should assessment all these feedback, tackle substantive issues, and finalize the rule by February 2026. That’s a deadline mandated by Govt Order 14307.
The company faces some genuinely troublesome choices. How do you allow innovation and financial development whereas defending helicopter pilots coaching for search and rescue missions? How do you accommodate each billion-dollar supply corporations and small inspection companies? How do you write technology-neutral laws when commenters are demanding particular producers both be included or excluded?
The FAA might want to both defend its proposed right-of-way provisions with compelling security knowledge or revise them to deal with aviation neighborhood issues. It might want to make clear how (or whether or not) Half 108 interacts with nationwide safety restrictions on sure drone producers. And it might want to resolve whether or not the rule ought to concentrate on enabling massive autonomous operations or present a sensible path for the hundreds of current Half 107 operators.
One factor is for certain: regardless of the last rule seems like, not everybody goes to be completely happy. The query is whether or not the FAA can discover a center path that advances BVLOS operations with out sacrificing the security that’s made U.S. airspace the most secure on the earth.
The clock is ticking. February 2026 is simply 4 months away.
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