The FAA’s recently released Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations is set to transform the way drone missions are conducted across industries. But with this advancement comes plenty of questions, opinions, and predictions of what the future of the airspace will look like.

Following The BVLOS NPRM Has Been Released. What Now? session at Commercial UAV Expo, the conversation will open into a roundtable discussion on the following day. In the Part 108 Proposed Rule session Greg Reverdiau, co-founder of Pilot Institute will kick off the session with an overview of what the NPRM means and what the next steps for the industry are.

This proposed rule gives the opportunity for the drone industry to give their input on the rule during a 60-day commenting period through the federal register. Navigating a federal process like this can be complicated, and if you are going to put the time and effort into commenting, you want to ensure what you submit makes a difference. Part of this roundtable session will feature conversations dedicated to best practices for submitting comments. Providing guidance on the commenting period, with an extensive background in drone law is Zaida McGhee, founding partner at Angulo McGhee APC. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions to leaders with legals experience in the unmanned industry to best position themselves in this process.

Looking beyond the commenting period, this rule is going to have a large impact on how drone operators are trained and how drone project management is carried out. With a shift from personal responsibility for certifications to organizational responsibility, training personnel is going to look different. Bringing with him years of experience in the field aeronautical training, Josh Olds, president, CEO and co-founder of Unmanned Safety Institute will help answer questions and offer insights on what the future of training in the drone industry will look like.

The NPRM highlights that future decisions around aircraft airworthiness will rely heavily on “industry consensus standards.” This roundtable will provide a forum for the drone community to start defining what “airworthy” should mean under the new rule, and why it matters. The standards set today will directly influence the future of drone operations, shaping hardware requirements and impacting both current and emerging programs. For drone program managers, understanding and contributing to this conversation is critical to ensuring their operations remain compliant, efficient, and ready to scale.

Come ready with your biggest questions and boldest opinions and leave with insights, strategies, and the confidence to make your voice count. This is your chance to not just prepare for the future of drone operations, but to help shape it.