Here Come the Drone Highways in the Sky

Where America once built railways, the new lanes for commerce are drone corridors in the sky.  Getting a handle on drone package delivery for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) routes is an urgent priority for the FAA.  Secretary of Transportation Sean P. Duffy has the lead, and the backing of Executive Order 14307, to advance domestic commercialization of UAS technologies at scale.  The EO also mandates that the U.S. “accelerate the safe commercialization of drone technologies.” 

On July 30, Papillion, Nebraska, became the newest site to offer Amazon Prime Air drone delivery.  “Prime Air is all about getting customers what they need, when they need it,” said Taylor Candage, Prime Air operations coordinator for ultrafast drone delivery to the Omaha area.

Scaling up the drone highways requires revamping the Part 108 rules for beyond visual line of sight flights.  This applies to agricultural drones, utility drones and, of course, delivery drones.  The FAA has been striving to enact new procedures, but despite the enthusiastic start last year, the Feb. 1, 2026 deadline originally set by the White House has come and gone.  Department of Transportation Chief of Staff Pete Meachum said recently that the “BVLOS was held up again because the Secretary really wanted to have a full conversation about locking ourselves into technology.”

What’s clear, however, is that Secretary Duffy can’t let the FAA wait much longer.  The FAA needs to move quickly to issue final rules; but most important, to resolve issues in favor of safety at scale. 

Investors are watching.  More delay could “ice all private investment,” warned Zipline CEO Keller Cliffton in an interview with FedScoop.  So far, commercial drone flights have operated under a stringent FAA process of case-by-case waivers to permit certain BVLOS flights.  Because of that complicated process, “I don’t think we saw the innovation we should have in America,” Duffy said last year when he announced that the FAA would devise new national airspace management procedures.  “The rules are going to completely change,” Duffy added.

Yet this process has also raised real concerns about how to regulate drones over suburban areas in particular. 

Here’s an example.  As written, the draft FAA rule could open loopholes in what the FAA calls Category 3 population centers (areas with 25 or fewer people within one statute mile).  Small drone operators might be able to fly without their drones carrying automatic non-cooperative detect and avoid systems. This would be a mistake.  “Deconfliction between BVLOS drones and manned aircraft will require multiple mitigation layers,” as a group of 12 aviation operators put it.  They urged the FAA to require drones to include non-cooperative detect and avoid systems that will enable drones to avoid manned aircraft in all airspace.  These operators know what they are talking about, because their aircraft regularly use low-altitude airspace for air medical services, firefighting and more.

The FAA would be short-sighted to finalize rules without addressing gaps.  Semi-rural and suburban overlap areas may see some of the highest future growth in drone delivery.  Take the case of fast-growing Frederick, Maryland, a city of 90,000 set in a county with just over 300,000 residents.  Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s LandScan data on population density indicates a patchwork of areas with less than 50 people interspersed with dense areas of 51-500 people across the county.  Areas like this show why the FAA rule should include so-called Category 3 and 4 population densities from the outset.  Otherwise, just a few years’ growth in population, and drone deliveries, could create new safety hazards in dozens of locales across the U.S.

Commercial drone delivery safety standards should be high.  Utility drones operating at lower altitudes and in remote areas may be a separate case.  For agricultural drones, it’s reasonable to have a framework where “individual operators can get on the first rung of the compliance ladder,” as one advocate phrased it.  Agricultural drones are a potentially enormous segment of the market but typically operate at 25-50 feet versus around 150 feet for package delivery drones.  Commercial drone deliveries go to places where people live and work.  Only operators following the strictest rules should be able to fly beyond visual line of sight in areas where people live. 

This is just one example of the complexities.  Fortunately, the FAA has a solid database of flight experience to draw on.  To explore how to move beyond waivers, the FAA put together a group called BEYOND to gather data with partners such as Causey Aviation, Drone Racing League, Guardian Agriculture, UPS Flight Forward, Amazon, Florida Power & Light, Wing, Xcel Energy, and Zipline.  That led to a first set of 140 recommendations and monitoring by the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General.

For years, the FAA has taken a deliberate approach to drone operations, building from its exemplary record in aircraft safety.  Future rules for BVLOS will open the way for innovation in drone commerce.  But the FAA should never compromise where public safety is concerned. 

Once its rules are set, America also has the chance to set a strong standard and become a global leader in commercial drone delivery.  However, at the moment, the U.S. is lagging.  Great Britain updated its BVLOS rule in 2025.  One commentator noted that “China, the European Union, and Japan already have expanded rules for autonomous and BVLOS operations on the books.”

Speaking of China, NBC AI reporter Jared Perlo recently posted his office coffee and tea order in Shenzhen, China, delivered by drone to Meituan’s delivery site.  In the new model, the drone does pickups as well as deliveries to a cubby scanned by QR code.  Meituan’s pickup and delivery process is evolving and innovating.  It’s a reminder that the tempo of the tech race with China doesn’t wait for the U.S. regulatory process. 

Dr. Rebecca Grant is a national security analyst based in Washington, DC specializing in defense and aerospace research and national security consulting.

This article appeared originally at Lexington Institute.