The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded Daedalus Drone Services with unprecedented approval to fly in and around Boston. With the waiver, Daedalus Drone Services now offers on-demand commercial drone services throughout the greater Boston area.
Without this first of its kind waiver, it can take more than 90 days to receive approval for a single commercial drone operation in Boston’s restricted airspace, which significantly limits an organizations ability to utilize drone technology. Federal law prohibits commercial unmanned aircraft operations in Boston Logan’s Class B (restricted) airspace without prior authorization (see 14 CFR 107.41). The restricted airspace encompasses an 18 mile wide circle surrounding Boston’s Logan airport; expanding into Saugus, Brighton, and Quincy. To operate in the restricted airspace, the FAA requires that authorization requests be made at least 90 days prior to the anticipated operation. This prohibits routine and on-demand commercial drone services in much of the greater Boston area.
Daedalus Drone Services filed a special petition with the FAA requesting blanket permission to offer on-demand commercial drone services in Boston’s restricted airspace. In support of their decision, the FAA considered Daedalus Drone Services’ safety record, safety management and flight operations manuals, training programmes, and experience offering commercial drone services across the country. The FAA concluded that the operations and procedures proposed by Daedalus Drone Services met or exceeded the equivalent level of safety necessary.
As a result, the FAA issued Daedalus Drone Services a Certificate of Waiver or Authorization: 2017-P107-ESA-16746. This waiver allows Daedalus Drone Services to bring widespread commercial drone services to the greater Boston area.
