President Donald Trump and Congress reauthorized this week the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) ability to demand registration of drones by their owners and operators and earned the praise of the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA).
The move was included in the National Defense Authorization Act for 2018. ALPA has long supported strong regulations of unmanned aircraft systems, and demanding their registration is a move they say will help keep the skies flown safely by airliners carrying both passengers and cargo.
“Before the U.S. Court of Appeals overturned the FAA’s successful registration process earlier this year, over 800,000 operators had registered their devices,” ALPA wrote in the wake of the move. “Maintaining safety must stand as the first priority as we integrate UAS into shared airspace. ALPA looks forward to working with the FAA and industry on evolving this process even further to a point-of-sale registration requirement, which would make certain that UAS owners and operators are aware of the rules and responsibility involved with the aircraft they purchase.”
ALPA is a union made up of thousands of pilots from both the United States and Canada. They have seen a great deal of change since their founding in 1931, but drones definitely represent one of the most significant changes to life in the skies in their lifetime. Their position remains that UAS operator registration not only makes the skies safer, it helps law enforcement ensure compliance and regulation among those unfamiliar with operating in the skies.