2018 FAA Reauthorization Act

2018 FAA Reauthorization Act & 14 CFR 107

For this week's discussion, I would like to talk about the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act and how it shaped the aviation industry by using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and the 14 CFR 107 regulation as examples.

The 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act was put into place with the goal to reauthorize Federal aviation programs and improve aircraft safety certification processes (FAA, 2018). It updates the old FAA Authorization Act of 1994 and includes modern considerations like lithium batteries and UAVs, allowing changes in regulations to match the current challenges faced in the aviation industry.

This reauthorization brings present-day relevancy into the decades-old act. For this very reason, I believe that this law is instrumental in shaping the aviation industry. Although there are many examples under this act that could be used to display how it has influenced the aviation industry, the one example that I would like to focus on is their approach towards the usage of UAVs. UAVs have been used widely for military purposes but it was only in recent times where it was noticed by common folk and was widely used by enthusiasts for recreational purposes and also not too long ago – commercial purposes. The FAA realized that this was a rising concern as UAVs operated by civilians and businesses could invade airspace and cause disruptions (FAA, 2018). This is why they included new conditions for recreational use of drones as well as introduced 14 CFR 107 waivers for commercial drones, essentially opening the skies for business using UAVs (FAA, 2019). 

Figure 1. A photo of Amazon's commercial drone used for delivery

This changed the aviation industry as recreational UAVs are now flown safely without disrupting commercial airspace while businesses can make use of commercial airspace to propel the advantages of the aviation industry. 

Although this is just one small example of how the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act addresses present events, it still goes to show how important this act is. This example is a good representation of how the law adapted to modern additions in technology and applied the respective changes to the aviation industry. Therefore, I believe that this law is playing an important part in shaping the aviation industry. 

References

FAA. (2018). FAA Reauthorization Bill Establishes New Conditions for Recreational Use of Drones. Retrieved 18 September 2020, from https://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=91844.

FAA. (2019). Section 352 Responses to the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act. Retrieved 18 September 2020, from https://www.faa.gov/uas/resources/policy_library/section_352_responses/.

FAA. (2020). Recreational Flyers & Modeler Community-Based Organizations. Faa.gov. Retrieved 18 September 2020, from https://www.faa.gov/uas/recreational_fliers/.

U.S. Government Publishing Office. (2018). H.R.302 - FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 [Ebook]. Retrieved 18 September 2020, from https://www.congress.gov/115/bills/hr302/BILLS-115hr302enr.pdf.